Sandbags

Sandbags

Bags of locally-sourced dirt or sand, stacked for use as cover. Sandbags are ugly, but provide better cover than other low objects.

Base Stats

Type

Building – Security

Beauty

-10

HP

300

Flammability

0%

Path Cost

42 (24%)

Building

Size

1 × 1

Minifiable

False

Placeable

True

Passability

pass through only

Cover Effectiveness

55%

Blocks Wind

False

Terrain Affordance

Light

Creation

Work To Make

180 ticks (3 secs)

Stuff Tags

Fabric, Leathery

Resources to make

5

Deconstruct yield

2 - 3

Destroy yield

1 - 2

Sandbags are a security building that can be placed to provide pawns cover, sheltering them from ranged attacks.

Acquisition

Sandbags can be constructed, each requiring  5 Stuff (Fabric/Leathery) and 180 ticks (3 secs) of work modified by the construction speed of the builder and the work to build factor and offset of the material.

Once constructed, they cannot be re-installed; they can only be deconstructed.

Summary

See also: Barricade

Sandbags provide 55% cover effectiveness, meaning that bullets aimed at targets behind them have a 55% chance to hit the barricades, leaving only a 45% chance to hit anything behind them. Cover won't shelter pawns from melee attacks, thrown projectiles, or explosions. Both colonists and enemies benefit from cover, as do turrets. They provide identical cover to barricades.

Sandbags are placed on the ground. They slow down pawns walking over them, and do not allow a pawn to "stop" to fire or take cover if they are standing on one. They take damage from bullets and explosions.

Sandbags are largely interchangeable with barricades, as they both have identical cover, base HP, and similar material costs. However, sandbags are made of textiles and are always nonflammable, while barricades are made of metal, wood, and stone materials and their flammability depends on the material chosen. Sandbags also require much less work to make, but barricades are somewhat more beautiful. Unlike barricades, sandbags cannot enclose a pen like the fence.

Analysis

Sandbags and barricades are, in most respects, identical. The material affects the building's health, but not its defensive properties. Sandbags are generally faster to create, making them better in an offensive operation. Barricades are slightly more beautiful, but require more work to make, so are marginally better at permanent defenses. Just remember that raiders will use cover to the same effect, so deconstruct unneeded buildings when you can.

Either building can be combined with walls for more cover. Walls provide superior cover, but a full wall will block line of fire. Having a wall with multiple 1-2 tile gaps of sandbags will give more cover than simply using sandbags, while still allowing pawns to fire through.

Sandbags can also be used to slow down raiders, as the process of entering (but not walking through) a sandbag slows pawns down. In a hallway, sandbags can be placed with a 1-tile gap between them. Fences are cheaper for this purpose, but sandbags do let pen animals in. This can be occasionally relevant against yttakin pirates, who bring wild boars as raiders.

Note that sandbags and barricades can no longer be used to prevent enemies from standing in a specific position; as of 1.6, enemies can now stop and fire while standing on any object. They can still be somewhat effective in causing enemies to path around a position of cover, but if the enemy does path to that cell with the barricade, sandbag or any other object, they can always fire.

Material table

As sandbags and barricades are largely interchangeable except for their aesthetics and material properties, both are included in the following table for convenience.

Note that cover effectiveness is 55% regardless of material or structure choice.

Type	Material	Beauty	Work to Build	HP	Flamma­bility	Terrain Affordance	Market Value
Barricade	Bioferrite	-3	000,800 ticks (13.33 secs)	600	75%	Light	6.6
Barricade	Gold	17	000,288 ticks (4.8 secs)	180	40%	Medium	500
Barricade	Granite blocks	-3	002,060 ticks (34.33 secs)	510	0%	Heavy	12
Barricade	Limestone blocks	-3	002,060 ticks (34.33 secs)	465	0%	Heavy	12
Barricade	Marble blocks	-2	001,900 ticks (31.67 secs)	360	0%	Heavy	11
Barricade	Obsidian	5	001,760 ticks (29.33 secs)	150	0%	Heavy	31
Barricade	Plasteel	-3	000,704 ticks (11.73 secs)	840	0%	Medium	48
Barricade	Sandstone blocks	-3	001,740 ticks (29 secs)	420	0%	Heavy	11
Barricade	Silver	3	000,320 ticks (5.33 secs)	210	40%	Medium	51
Barricade	Slate blocks	-3	002,060 ticks (34.33 secs)	390	0%	Heavy	12
Barricade	Steel	-3	000,320 ticks (5.33 secs)	300	40%	Medium	11
Barricade	Jade	7	001,600 ticks (26.67 secs)	150	0%	Heavy	31
Barricade	Uranium	-3	000,608 ticks (10.13 secs)	750	0%	Medium	32
Barricade	Vacstone blocks	-3	002,060 ticks (34.33 secs)	540	0%	Heavy	17
Barricade	Wood	-3	000,224 ticks (3.73 secs)	195	100%	Light	6.8
Sandbags	Alpaca wool	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	20
Sandbags	Armadillo leather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	17
Sandbags	Bearskin	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	18
Sandbags	Birdskin	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	9.6
Sandbags	Bison wool	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	14
Sandbags	Bluefur	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	12
Sandbags	Camelhide	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	12
Sandbags	Chinchilla fur	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	33
Sandbags	Cloth	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	8.1
Sandbags	Devilstrand	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	28
Sandbags	Dog leather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	11
Sandbags	Dread leather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	18
Sandbags	Elephant leather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	450	0%	Light	16
Sandbags	Foxfur	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	18
Sandbags	Guinea pig fur	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	180	0%	Light	26
Sandbags	Heavy fur	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	450	0%	Light	17
Sandbags	Hippo leather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	450	0%	Light	19
Sandbags	Human leather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	22
Sandbags	Hyperweave	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	720	0%	Light	46
Sandbags	Lightleather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	10
Sandbags	Lizardskin	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	11
Sandbags	Mastodon leather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	450	0%	Light	16
Sandbags	Mastodon wool	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	14
Sandbags	Megasloth wool	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	14
Sandbags	Mink fur	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	27
Sandbags	Muffalo wool	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	14
Sandbags	Muskox wool	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	14
Sandbags	Panthera fur	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	16
Sandbags	Patchleather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	8.1
Sandbags	Pigskin	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	10
Sandbags	Plainleather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	11
Sandbags	Rhinoceros leather	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	450	0%	Light	22
Sandbags	Sealskin	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	21
Sandbags	Sheep wool	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	300	0%	Light	14
Sandbags	Synthread	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	21
Sandbags	Thrumbofur	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	600	0%	Light	71
Sandbags	Thrumbomane	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	660	0%	Light	101
Sandbags	Wolfskin	-10	000,180 ticks (3 secs)	390	0%	Light	16

Version history

• Alpha 16/17? - In earlier versions it used to have 70% cover rating.
• Beta 19 - Received a new, extended description and a retexture, and its cost was reduced from 6 steel to 5.
• 1.1 - Crafting recipe was changed to use textiles rather than steel, and its health was nerfed (450 -> 300), along with its cover value (65 -> 57%).
• 1.3.3066 - Fill percent (i.e. cover) reduced from 57% to 55%.
• 1.6 - Enemies can now stand on a sandbag when damaged; standing on a sandbag no longer prevents enemies from taking cover.

• 

  Old Sandbag Texture

See also

• Stone chunk
• Defense tactics
• Defense structures

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Architect

Security

Barricade • Sandbags • Spike trap

(research)

Autocannon turret • Foam turret • Mini-turret • Rocketswarm launcher • Uranium slug turret • Mortar • Hunter trap

IEDs

IED trap • IED incendiary trap • IED EMP trap • IED firefoam trap • IED smoke trap • IED antigrain warhead trap • IED tox trap • IED deadlife trap

Related

Antigrain warhead • EMP shell • Firefoam shell • High-explosive shell • Incendiary shell • Smoke shell • Tox shell • Deadlife shell