Favorite Siege devices when storming a settlement

[Terrak16]

I was wondering what players out there most frequently use during a campaign,
Whether it be predominantly ladders and rams, onagers and catapults, etc.
I was also curious as to the prevalence of using spies to gain free access to a settlement.

[Kallides]

Heavy Onagers baby! WOOOHOOOO! Destroy all ask questions later!

[Visarion]

Elephants...

[ISA Gunner]

Siege Towers. Lots of them. A lot of people don't know they if you select "fire at will" on a unit manning a siege tower, then while approaching the wall, arrows (stone walls) and ballista bolts (large stone walls) will be fired from the top of the siege tower on to the defenders on the wall softening up the defence. Much more effective than ladders too as they provide cover from arrows and it's a lot harder to stop 50 men rushing the walls at once as opposed to climbing up 1 at a time.

[Ybbon]

Siege Towers. Lots of them. A lot of people don't know they if you select "fire at will" on a unit manning a siege tower, then while approaching the wall, arrows (stone walls) and ballista bolts (large stone walls) will be fired from the top of the siege tower on to the defenders on the wall softening up the defence. Much more effective than ladders too as they provide cover from arrows and it's a lot harder to stop 50 men rushing the walls at once as opposed to climbing up 1 at a time.

I find they are ok against wall towers, you might lose the odd one to fire, but if they have archers on the wall a tower is toast. Also, there is that bug whereby against large stone walls, your troops will not go up the tower once it has reached the walls. So always best to have at least 3 I find. I have had one siege where I had 2 towers and both had that problem.

Of course, it's always best to mix it, I like 3-4 siege towers, and 2 onagers. Usually I will have 1 onager, 1 tower and a few troops at another side and the rest at the "front" so I can attack at multiple places. Put the siege towers on fire at will and leave the rest of the troops outside arrow range until the towers are against the wall.

Having some ballistas to fire through the gates when your onagers have smashed them down is quite good too.

[Gromovnik]

I love towers, but yeah, I usualy use 4. Mainly because of fire and the bug if I'm assaulting great walls.

[Logik]

Heavy Onagers and catapults.

[Delysid]

In the early stages of the campaign I just spam ladders and attack from as many points possible. Usually two units per ladder, the first being throw away mercenaries or cheapy things to soften up and fatigue the enemy. Then my proper troops climb the ladders and finish them off

Then later in the campaign.. ONAGER SMASH!!

[rsslcs]

RPG. /thread.


Ok, in reality, I use battering rams and onagers.

[Redolegna]

I go with a single unit of onagers. If the walls are wooden, I knock off the nearest towers, move my bowmen forward and enjoy the slaughter while the onagers bring down the walls in two places and the gates. Same thing when walls are in stone, except I keep the bowmen in reserve. And from experience and looking at this thread, I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't take two units of onagers when facing great Stone Walls. It probably would lead to fewer casualties on my side if I was able to storm from two or three breaches rather than the odd one.

Also, I have a question for you guys: is there a side you prefer to assault a settlement from?

[Taelok]

I find sap points and ladders suffice in all situations. Send the ladders to where the enemy troops are not defending and away you go.

[apple]

sap points or just waiting for the enemy garrison to starve out.

[Kallides]

waiting for the enemy garrison to starve out.

Evil!

[apple]

Evil!

No not evil, just a great way to spare your own mens life's.

[cupoftea]

Spies haha xp

[DoogansQuest]

sap points or just waiting for the enemy garrison to starve out.

I was just about to question whether or not my strategy was nuts, because all I really use is Sap points and patience.

[xXEsotericXx]

sap points or just waiting for the enemy garrison to starve out.

Excaly the same sap , or wait till settelment cant hold there hunger any longer :p

[rory o'kane]

Why evil? It's the least costly way to do it. If they do sally, you can usually use your siege towers' built-in weapons to shred enemy units as they come towards your troops (just set the unit carrying the tower to Fire at Will, and you'll see what I mean)!

[Lupus]

Why evil? It's the least costly way to do it. If they do sally, you can usually use your siege towers' built-in weapons to shred enemy units as they come towards your troops (just set the unit carrying the tower to Fire at Will, and you'll see what I mean)!

Never too old to learn.

Guess what I am going to do next.......

[TTRouble]

Why evil? It's the least costly way to do it. If they do sally, you can usually use your siege towers' built-in weapons to shred enemy units as they come towards your troops (just set the unit carrying the tower to Fire at Will, and you'll see what I mean)!

Ahhh.. now thats a pretty wee lil trick I didn't know about... I usually pull my units away from the towers and line up in battle formation to wipe the defenders out ..

I only ever use towers and rams (only against wooden walls). Usually 3-4 towers at different points with damage limitation's usually my game plan as I hate to spend all of that $$$ rebuilding !

Now as a defender .. if I'm besieged, I go on the counter on the first turn and if they have heavy artillery, I make sure that I take those units and the opposing general out asap. Samaritan Horse archers and Syrian Archers are just great for this as they can pin down the opposing units from a safe distance, setup another diversion with a few other units and while thats all going, just take out the General and all of the artillery units.

TTRouble