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11 Settlements are the foundation of long-term play in Anvil Empires. A settlement might begin as a single homestead built by one or two players, grow into a hamlet with workshops and a marketplace, and end the war as a fortified town with multi-level keeps and dozens of residents. Almost every productive activity in the game ties back to a settlement somewhere.
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33 Town Centers
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55 Each faction's spawn locations are anchored on permanent Town Centers placed across the map. A Town Center is the public face of a settlement: it provides spawn points, vendor access, and the structural anchor for surrounding workshops and walls. Capturing or defending Town Centers is one of the war's victory conditions; in recent rules, controlling a set number of enemy Town Centers triggers a military victory.
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88 Homesteads
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1010 A homestead is a player or small-group claim placed in the world. Homesteads are bounded by a square area defined by the Homestead Keystone structure, and homesteads built inside a Town snap to the town's building grid for clean integration. Homesteads support modular building: foundations, walls, floors, roofs, corridors, and bridges connect into larger structures, and dedicated furnishings (Hearth, Oven, Pantry) turn a basic shelter into a living and working space.
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1212 From Hamlet to Town
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1414 StageTypical BuildingsPopulationSolo homesteadHomestead Keystone, basic shelter, Cooking station, storage chest1 to 4 playersHamletHomestead cluster, Smithing forge, Farming plots, simple palisade5 to 20 playersTownTown Center, Trade and Economy Marketplace, Tavern, Industry workshops, defensive towersDozens to hundreds of playersFortress townMulti-level Fortress Keep, full curtain walls, Sieges defensive equipmentHundreds of players
1515 Homestead Specialisation
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1717 Homesteads further split into two specialised branches depending on whether the keystone is placed inside a Town's footprint or out in the open wilderness. The choice is made at placement and the keystone cannot be converted afterwards.
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1919 BranchWhereBuildable AreaSpecialised BuildingsRoleTown homesteadInside a Town footprint16 metres per sideForge, anvil, hearth, oven, quenching stationSmithing and cooking; equips the front line with finished arms, armour, and prepared foodWild homesteadIn the wilderness40 to 48 metres per side (tier dependent)Tilled fields, stables, drying racks, heating vats for leather tanningFarming and resource processing; feeds the raw material chain for crafting and trade
2020 Both branches share the same inventory model (auxiliary slot, treasury, and general storage) and the same modular building palette. The split is in what specialised production stations can be placed inside the keystone area, which makes Town homesteads the natural location for a smithy or kitchen and Wild homesteads the natural location for a farm or tannery.
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2222 Production Chains
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2424 Towns concentrate the production buildings that make a faction self-sufficient. A typical fortified town will have a Forge and Furnace for ingots, a Grain Mill turning wheat into flour and seeds into animal feed, a Tavern and Pantry for player upkeep, and a Marketplace for selling barrels of bulk goods to other players. The trade economy adds three regional resources (linen from flax, lead ingots from lead, rosin from resin) that rotate annually to encourage inter-settlement trade.
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2626 Defense
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2828 A town that cannot defend itself will not survive a serious war. Towers, stockades, and weapon stockpiles cover the perimeter; deeper inside, fortress keeps house the most valuable crafting stations and serve as the fallback in a siege. Burning Oil placed on fort walls can both damage attacking troops over time and damage approaching siege engines directly. See the Sieges article for how attackers respond.
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3030 Related Pages
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3232 Logistics and Supply LinesCrafting and ResourcesSiegesFactions