[History] How to Take a City

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Author: genrally amusing
Original Thread: Not Available

How to Take a City

A step by step guide in taking a city

Here you will find all you need to know about beseiging, treachery, night attacks and many, many more ways to take a city.

Part One, Seige Equipment

The basic way to take a city is by using siege equipment. It has gone on for many centuries, from the days of the Pelopennese to the post-Jesus days. The most used equipment is the 'ram'.



The battering ram. The fundamental usage was to attack the gate of a city or town. However, the men moving the ram would often be fired upon by missiles thrown by the defenders. This causes a problem. How would one take such a huge thing all the way to the city walls when there are no men left to move it?

Another problem, this time for the defender. When the ram touches the walls or gate, according to ancient Greek warfare, no surrender will be allowed. This is the same for both sides. However, this does not mean the men can rape, pillage and burn, this just means that the enemy army will not be spared. But, hey, if a couple of women complain of harsh treatment, well, that's not too bad, is it?



The nice Time Team here model the ladder. In Roman times, the ladder would have obviously had to be big enough to scale the walls, but not too big, otherwise the soldiers would have trouble getting onto the walls. This, quite obviously, would not apply to small towns or cities with no real fortifications or large walls. However, any city of real importance had large enough walls to hold off invaders, therefore ladders were quite the necessity.

Part Two, Treachery

Now we move onto treachery. So many times have cities and towns been given up by residents that are in favour of the invading army that it largely outnumbers the amount of times that the towns and cities have been stormed and taken by fighting. Many famous cities were taken by treachery, more famously in the Second Punic War, for example, the invasion of New Carthage.

However, if you want to take a city by treason, you must win the favour of the inhabitants, some way or another. Portraying the opposition has the enemy, or defeating them in decisive battles or even minor ones, may win the approval of factions in these cities. This, however, is more probable in civilised states such as the Greeks, where the more honourable factions will allow you access, rather than the barbaric men of Gaul and Spain, who would rather die than face blissful Roman civilisation, famously shown by Publius Cornelius Scipio as he took over Spain.

Part Three, Surrender



This image, above, is the famous painting of the Count of Tripoli accepting surrender of his city. In this way, many cities can be taken. Either by starvation, or by treachery (look above), or without either, any army can make a city surrender. All you need to do is take control. Make the enemy stand on the wrong foot, and with this sway the masses. Any city has gossip, and such gossip is your key to success. One must imagine a citie's population as thatch roofs. One roof begins to burn, then another, then more and more burn until the whole city lies in cinders. In this way, you must work the enemy to your advantage, and cause a surrender. And, when they do, use my example above, and burn their houses.

Part Four, Night Attack

This is last, for it is the most likely to fail en route, as well as the easier to explain. The title says it all, night attack. This, however, is harder than it sounds. For example, imagine that your camp is a mile away from the city. One must walk one whole mile to the city, in pitch black (so as not to arouse the suspicion of pickets and sentries) and there must be sufficient men to take the walls by storm and open the gate for the army, as well as cause some havoc. Siege equipment (look above) will have to be used, most probably scaling ladders (although in some examples, treachery and night attacks have been used, look above) Once inside the city, it is just the point of surprising the sentries, and opening the gate. And, there you have it, a city asleep, soon to be shocked.