Many travelling groups have 'circled the wagons' over the centuries when attacked, from the pioneers travelling across the Great Plains of America all the way back to the steppe nomads of distant antiquity. While traditional nomad mobility is sacrificed, it is better to have some kind of fortress, no matter how weak, than be caught strung out on the march. A wagon may not seem like much of a defensive structure, but when it is all there is, it’s better than nothing. And in the middle of the empty steppes any advantage in a fight might have been the difference between victory and defeat.
