About Ballistas and Catapult: very not precise

[mavyalex]

Hello,

How come I can't destroy slow moving groups of soldiers with ballistas? It seems that the ballista is always one or two seconds too late to target, and the explosions happens in the rear of the soldier's group, killing only 2 or 3...Sometimes I get lucky, but not much.

Is ballista targeting better with DarthMod and with Broken Crescent 2.02? It's either the ballista aims very precisely, or very loosely..There doens't seem to be a compromise..I tried with different skill levels, and same thing.

As for the catapult, I tried targeting slow moving troops, and it's slightly better because of the higher destruction power,, but still imprecise..In reality, were these war machines really precise, not at all, or somewhere between the two? Did crew skill affect a lot precision?

I remeber in the movie Gladiator, in the beginning scenes: Catapults seemed very very precise..But it was only a movie, true...

[Nosjack]

Ballistas were meant to be shot strait towards the enemy, and weren't very accurate. Catapults really couldn't hit anything other than large stone wall.
So the poor accuracy is realistic.
TIP: Try to put the catapults/ballistas where they can shoot directly into the enemy, not at an angle. Only target large groups of soldiers with catapults, as they cause much more damage that way.

Try using catapults in RTW, then watch them decimate your own line that's standing right under them.

[Silverheart]

Artillery is designed to attack buildings - or other enourmous objects that are standing completely still - and so are not to be relied upon against enemy soldiers, unless used in large numbers.

I can honestly say that I never use Ballistas, because they are definitely the crappiest artillery there is - weak attack, no area damage, low range, not as accurate as one would think and doesn´t reload faster than any other artillery.
I do have a fancy for catapults, though, because they make up for the lacking accuracy with their area damage, and they are great for putting right behind Cannons or Crossbowmen.
For sieges however, I prefer Trebuchets or Cannons.

[mavyalex]

I wish we could see Catapults breaking off by themselves or ballistas exploding or whatever due to misuse..

[eXistenZ]

How would ballistas explode? you need gunpowder for that.

[Nosjack]

If not put together correctly, the stored force could easily send the whole thing flying in pieces.

[Bowden]

Is there any way to "attack ground" in stead of "attack people" or "attack building"?

[mavyalex]

Unless you want to chase rabbits, I don't see what's the point of "attack ground" you are asking..Or maybe it is to better target troops?

[Lennert]

What he means is how you could have your artillery fire on the same spot on the battle map continuously. I don't think it's possible in med 2, it would be extremely usefull and more realistic if you could though.. Real artillery always works that way, they fire at a set of coördinates, not some unit somewhere..

[Bowden]

I'll have

Unless you want to chase rabbits, I don't see what's the point of "attack ground" you are asking..Or maybe it is to better target troops?

answered with

this

What he means is how could have your artillery fire on the same spot on the battle map continuously. I don't think it's possible in med 2, it would be extremely usefull and more realistic if you could though.. Real artillery always works that way, they fire at a set of coördinates, not some unit somewhere..

[John Haukewood]

Catapults may not be very accurate, but when they do hit-- they hit. Trebuchets, though seem to hit less and do less damage.

[Silverheart]

Catapults may not be very accurate, but when they do hit-- they hit. Trebuchets, though seem to hit less and do less damage.

Unless they´re on the enemys´ side.
I dread facing trebuchets and catapults in battle, because the AI artillery crews seem to hit more often than not...

[eXistenZ]

Unless they´re on the enemys´ side.
I dread facing trebuchets and catapults in battle, because the AI artillery crews seem to hit more often than not...

So true.

It's one of the reason i don't like MEdievall II that much, i find the ranged combat is annoying very often. Especially when your archers won't retreat back although you told them a minute ago

[The Source]

so trebuhes vs cataphults, whihc is better

[thespaniard]

the movie gladiator the arty in that were scorpians they were much more accurite than trebuchets ballistas and cats but the were like archers with spears to bad they arent in medieval 2 they were in rtm

[Double A]

Balistae in TATW are pretty accurate... Probably because they're more complex (their altitude can be adjusted).

Serpentines or Basilisks (I can't remember which) are the only really accurate artillery. Most everything else is best used in flat areas... well, Mortars and Trebuchets can shoot over walls. I guess you could stick them at the bottom of a hill.

[Fireright]

Sometimes I feel embarrassed and ashamed of myself for having only a ballista in my army as my main siege attack weapon. So much time spent praying and sweating that the feeble ballista will have enough ammo left to knock out castle gates and all that "C'mon let me in yer piece of junk".

[Stack of Peasants]

The Ballista is nice for destroying enemy artillery during field battles due to its great accuracy against stationary targets.

Also, they are very useful for the infamous 'Side Skewer' technique. If you are under siege, sally out and line some ballistas up so they are parallel with the enemy lines. When they fire, the bolts will go straight down the enemy ranks, racking up hundreds of kills . This is completely exploiting the A.I., but still....

[painter]

I love skewering the enemy from their sides, but the AI isn't completely at your mercy even in such circumstances. Their cavalry or long ranged missile units still could be triggered to attempt to attack a unit of yours that is out in the open.

Sometimes I feel embarrassed and ashamed of myself for having only a ballista in my army as my main siege attack weapon. So much time spent praying and sweating that the feeble ballista will have enough ammo left to knock out castle gates and all that "C'mon let me in yer piece of junk".

You could move them up closer. They're much more accurate then and a single unit can destroy two or more gates that way. I usually use only the ballista when I have desire for siege equipment.

[Nosjack]

I hate siege battles, unless I'm defending they always bog down into street fighting. Takes forever.