ladders vs siege towers: real difference

[Edi Birsan]

From what I can tell IN GAME there is no attacking strength difference between them.
Additionally the towers take longer to make and burn where as ladders do not break.

Does anyone have real in game differences in attacking strength?

[Warmaster Tibs]

Siege towers are a bit weak compared to ladders in my opinion. They can burn and can only be used on first wall in fortress or citedal sieges.

[deadhero]

The big difference seems to be that with siege towers the soldiers wait upstairs until a group is ready and then they open the door. With ladders they go inside one by one. I allways make at least two siege towers just for keep working the defenders in the front of the castle and lots of ladders (also they move faster) for atack the flanks.

[Warmaster Tibs]

. With ladders they go inside one by one.

Actual they go up in large masses and can quickly do what the siege towers can do in terms of swarming. Also men climb up on ladders quicker then they do siege towers.

[HighLord z0b]

I find that sometimes men get stuck in siege towers, and then get burned alive when it gets set on fire.

[Warmaster Tibs]

I find that sometimes men get stuck in siege towers, and then get burned alive when it gets set on fire.

I have seen that happen also. Usual its when units route of the walls and run back down throught the tower.

[Caesar Clivus]

Siege towers provide some degree of protection for the men pushing it, whereas the men carrying ladders are more vulnerable to fire from archers and towers. Ladders do have the advantage though of getting more men onto the walls at once though as they provide 4 points of access to the walls versus the 1 that a tower provides. Ladders are best used if you get a cannon fodder unit to carry them to the walls and then once the ladders are up against the wall, then send in your best troops.

I seem to find that most times I use siege towers, they end up in flames before they even reach the walls so I end up resorting to ladders.

[HighLord z0b]

Also if your attacking a castle, fortress or citadel, ladders can be reused to attack the inner walls whereas you can't use siege towers unless you've already knocked a hole in the outer wall.

[bɑne]

I prefer the flexibility of ladders - one ram, maybe two, rest of the slots are always ladders for me allowing for multiple attack points and also fast deployment of archers onto the enemies walls (and often his back). Often enough you find mercs that make good first waves cancelling the exposure problem of the ladders

[campbela]

And you can run with ladders, much quicker to the walls and possible control of gates.

[HighLord z0b]

Could siege towers be modded in any way to make them more powerful? Say more resistant to burning arrows, or a morale boost the troops using it?

[Caesar Clivus]

You can control how easily they catch on fire. In descr_engine.txt the siege towers have an "engine_ignition" setting. I think this is what determines their flammability. Not sure if a higher or lower number is better here though

[Theseus1234]

You can control how easily they catch on fire. In descr_engine.txt the siege towers have an "engine_ignition" setting. I think this is what determines their flammability. Not sure if a higher or lower number is better here though

You could always go through trial and error. Just set the number really high and see what happens in-game

[Caesar Clivus]

According to a thread in the Mod Workshop, a higher number means it'll catch fire quicker.

[bɑne]

Somehow I'm always dissapointed that defenders never ever push ladders away. At least a "fall to death" probability would have been nice compared to those instant-sauna-siegetowers.

[Caesar Clivus]

Somehow I'm always dissapointed that defenders never ever push ladders away.

Yeah me too. Polearm units especially should be able to do it.

[HighLord z0b]

Yeah but it would also be nice to have crossbowmen be able to provide cover fire for those putting the ladder in place and siege towers that had rams at the bottom and for the defenders to be able to drop big rocks down onto the attackers and for the attackers to be able to build trenches, ditches and palisades and for sieges to last an accurate amount of time rather than 15 years etc. etc....

[bɑne]

Not to mention flaming sheep attacks.

[deadhero]

Well, it seem that ladders wins.

[SamZi]

I've found siege towers to be much better in RR/RC. If the defender has at least decent sword & shield men defending, your first ladder unit will get decimated. The siege tower is much safer as all your men will come flooding on the wall from one spot and can get a foothold easily. With ladders your men will struggle getting a foothold of several spots and will take huge casualties. I mainly use ladders for flanking wall attacks. Siege towers burn pretty easily so it's good to have a couple extra.