It never occurred to me that the origins of the word "undermine" might have involved actual mining.
this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2024
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I see you understand now. Wait. Under stand? I don’t…
smacks forehead I never thought of that
Another use of undermine is when there’s flood and a river gets a ton of water going through it, it can undermine an overpass and take a bridge out without even going over it.
Does it suggest one can overmine?
Does it suggest one can overmine?
"I overstand."
Unpossible!
Wonder how many commanders had their diggers... just keep digging until collapse.
Tunneler: "Is this safe?"
Very Brave Commander, yelling down the tunnel from the surface: "Probably! Just keep going!"
"And light a big fire down there!"
You sort of need to know when the wall collapses. If it collapses too early, you can't press your advantage, and if it collapses too late, then your troops will be under enemy fire for quite some time while they wait for the wall to collapse.
I would definitely prefer to use a flaming arrow for step 2.
“Flaming arrows are not required and no budget is allocated.”
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How do they know how far to dig?
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Are there any cases where it is smarter to dig all the way under the wall and then up? (stealth operation anyone?)
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Math/measurement. If the distance is 100 yards and if you don't hit the wall after 100 yards, something has gone wrong.
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Generally, the enemy will be on watch (or rather, on the listen) for tunnelers, so the further you go, the higher the chance that you'll be intercepted and killed. Tunneling is slow besides, so you won't be able to get more than a handful of troops through at a time - perfect for an enemy to get the opportunity to rally their own forces and make that tunnel into a bloody bottleneck for your men. Nonetheless, there are a few examples, such as the Siege of Veii where just that technique worked out.
„They quickly overwhelmed the Veientines and began a general massacre.“
RUDE
Mostly self-inflicted when I play Dwarf Fortress....
A SECTION OF THE CAVERN HAS COLLAPSED
Sappers gonna sap!
Haha relatable