question about ballistae

[tzentri]

I was playing a BtR campaign and the Turks attacked (as usual). This time though, they brought a unit of ballista that reduced my wall defenses of Constantinople in about ten volleys. I know catapults and trebuchet can do that, but ballista?? First three shots took the wall segment down by 30%.

I dont recall any besieged settlement falling to anything under the use of stone-throwers in one way shape or form(with the exception of espionage and/or mining). Its just that if ballista were more aimed against troops for a reason, should they be this effective vs. walls?

[King James I]

What kind of walls are we talking about here?

If the walls are wood, then that would be reasonable that the ballista bolts would be effective at blasting them open, because it is a hard metal headed projectile against timber walls - the ballista wins.

Against stone walls, I would not see ballista being effective at all, because the ballista bolts, even thrown as hard as a ballista can fire them, just do not have the hardness necessary to punch through stone walls - the bolts would just shatter on the walls. There's a reason why catapults and trebuchets hurled massive rocks at the walls - only another stone is hard enough to break through a stone wall.

[Emperor of The Great Unknown]

you know they have 4 seige engines right not 2

its constantinople so it has to be a stone wall.