A question about the artillery in seiges

[nuGGet524]

Can you use artillery to shoot over your settlements walls? I've seen it done in videos but i just can't seem to get it done...everytime i tell my units to shoot over they just sit there and do nothing . Is there some sort of special placement you need with it? or am i just doing something wrong...or am i just a moron? lol

[Theseus1234]

it depends on the type of artillery

the ai of the artillery tells it not to fire if its going to hit their own troops or fortififications (like walls). This depends on the firing arc of the artillery in question. artillery like trebuchets and mortars have a high arc, and can fire over walls. balistas, cannons, basilisk etc. etc. have a low firing arc and cant fire over the walls

[nuGGet524]

mainly trebs and catapults...i already assumed cannons and balistas wouldnt be able to shoot over walls, unless theres sorcery in the game and we just don't know about it lol.

So if my troops wernt manned directly infront of the treb on the walls it wouldnt fire?

ill try it in a little bit its actually been a while since ive attempted it again

[Pater Familias]

So if my troops wernt manned directly infront of the treb on the walls it wouldnt fire?

I dunno about that. I've accidentally shot the crap out of a lot of my own troops.

[unknownblob]

Cannons realistically wouldn't be able to shoot over castle walls, unless they were positioned 45 degrees upward (not trying to sound geeky).
But in my experiance it's never happened, cuz there to damn stupid to aim the siege weapons accuratly.

[Bob The Fearless]

I did manage to get a Balista (if thats how you spell it) to fire through the gates.

Mind you there were open at the time, I was being beseiged by the Scots at York.

I stuck the Balista a little way back behind the gate then when they rammed the gate open I opened up.

Surprising thing was it actually worked and held them at bay. They just stood infront of the gate and I fired striaght into them.

Still lost the settlement in the end but had a good go at keeping it though.

[jehanzeb]

I used Artilery (playing as Teutonic) over Lituanians but that didn't work at all. I was using that oil throwing barralles over the walls. It shows the baralles are hitting over the walls but no damage was done.

I don't know what else to use to hit people inside the castle tbh.

[Thompson45cal.]

In regards to artillery firing, it can be finicky inside fortification walls....if, it won't fire, move it, then stop it and try again....if you have it on auto fire, and it refuses, you have something blocking your artillery (your units too close, walls too close) and you'll have to move it to another position...Also I've noticed at times, the indicator on my unit shows it firing but no ammo loss and no activity on the part of my artillery crew (the damn thing ain't firing, and must be repositioned). Artillery inside a fort can be hard to get rolling and even when you do, once the enemy moves, the process of getting it back on-line can take too long to help against the onslaught.

As far as defensive artillery..... on-line against people I seldom use it.... but when I do... use it in the following manner.

Trebs....throw cows at um...... then retreat the trebs back to my center, lined up on one street or another.
Catapults... locate them back in my center lined up on one street or another.
Ballistas...same
Cannons in most cases seem impractical due to trajectory issues and rates of fire.
Mortors are the Kings of seige in both offense and defense. I deploy them directly behind the walls as long as practicable then retreat them to my center.

On the other hand..... all forms of artillery can be effective hidden behind a wall, till that wall has been breached by an opponents artillery fire....then moved into the open breach to open fire on said adversary.

Hope to see ya in the game.
Thompson45cal.