Siege weapons & defence

[The magical wonder pigeon]

I just finished (got bored and quit) a 110 turn Chosokabe campaign, but i never used any siege units, not even the fire bomb throwers.

As i was browsing the forum i saw a few people recommend the Hojo, so i started a campaign with them. I reseached one of the very first technologys and have a mangonel, but i'm wondering if you can use them in defensive battles.

The majority of my Chokosabe siege battles were in Strongholds, which really aren't great to defend. But if you can use siege equipment in them, then that'd make things a lot easier.

Also, how effective are fire bomb throwers manning the walls? If they target individual untis climbing the walls then i can imagine lots of friendly fire as they hit units too close to themselves, but if they attack the masses of units clumped at the bottom of the wall then i can imagine heavy enemy losses.

Any other general siegey defencey strategies/thoughts are welcome

[Gaizokubanou]

You can use the mangonel in defense. You just have to make sure that you position it right and aim at the right spots so that you don't end up hitting your own castle wall.

Fire bomb throwers are not that effective. Bow Ashigarus tend to score twice the kills that fire bomb throwers do on average, while costing only half as much.

For general tip, on those multi level castle battles, sometimes it's better to vacate the lowest ground and setup your defenses around 2nd or 3rd tier. This way enemy archers have to climb up one level to shoot at you, which means while they are coming up and reforming group your own archers will be killing them before they get any real chance to respond.

[Morbanth]

Don't use fire bomb throwers at the walls, keep a unit in the center of your castle. When you see an enemy unit climbing up into your courtyard, move the 'throwers near them. Once most, but not all of them are up and before they can charge, throw the bombs into their midst... they are mostly helpless when half-in half-out.