I have been thinking about the siege works which surrounded the town of Alesia for a game at Cold Wars for time. Finally I have finished the town and have this last month moved on to building Caesar's siege works or fortifications. You can see it at Cold Wars along with the Roman fortifications. All is done in 28 mm.

This may seem like a lot of work and you would be right. Unlike the town the siege works were a completely different problem. I examined a number of different maps and selected that used by Rice Holmes'.Below is a jpg of the map. Just click on the photo to make it larger. Then hit the return or back button.

The main thrust of the Gauls who wished to break Caesar's siege works came from the western end. Their attack was to be supported by a counter attack from the town. Several attempts were made but in the end Caesar beat off each attempt. The Gauls rushing to the relief of the town hoped to attack where the terrain was so broken that the Romans would have to fight in both fortified areas and areas in which no fortifications could be placed. Most games which attempt to recreate the battle seldom take advantage of either terrain or the obstructions Caesar used to make up for his lack of number. I think I have added these little extras in. These include all manner of stimuli such as ditches, brambles or brush and goads to name a few.