Is it just me or.....?

[Swoop]

Playing on expert now, havn't had a castle assaulted by the AI since my very first campaign (pre patch) on normal difficulty.......and even then it was only once.

Anyone else noticing this or am I just really unlucky?

http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/626629.jpg

[Azrael]

Hey Swoop,

Well, for an assault on a castle, there's a number of pre-conditions that have to be met.
Any assaulting army is going to meet the Armies in your Province first, unless they have retreated to the castle.
Even then, even if your Castle has enough stores to last 8 years, it's usually worth the wait.
Campaigning against Egypt as the English, I came accross a Castle that would not fall, except by means of a direct assault.
By the time I'd constructed the technology near by to facilitate building seige equipment, then began to build a few catapults and such, the Castle's stores were beginning to run out and had about 6 years worth of stock in them.
Seemed more economical by then to starve them out by then, even though I had seige equipment.

I'm thinking a surefire way to be assaulted is to launch a successful Crusade in the Near East, and hope the Castle there is big and accommodating. Wait for the Muslims to react with a Jihad against you, and maybe... just maybe...

Azrael

(As an aside, I have never had a castle attacked by a direct assault)

[Gregoshi]

I can only speak from pre-patch experience, but it does seem that the AI prefers siege to assault. I only recall one assault and my defenders stood no chance of winning. There may have been one more, but I'm not sure.

Does anyone know if this was more or less the actual historical preference too?

[The_Dude]

I never been assaulted to, maybe the IA just play like the player, waiting it fall...
But I didn't find the siege longer than before, the patch info suggest it should be longer now, someone notice something? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif
Other question, the support cost, I didn't see any increase of the suport of my siege army, should be X3 as I play in expert level, but the support cost is the same when right click on the unit... Is it only show on the Taxe table (income/ outcome in every region)?

PS: sorry if my english hurt you, I am just a poor french http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Swoop]

Well, the only issues as I see it are:

a) Support costs for the troops used while seiging are x3.....surely the AI must take this into account.

b) When you take a castle by letting the defenders starve the level of the building is reduced by 1 (ie, seige a castle and it becomes a keep, seige a keep and it becomes a fort....etc), why would AI choose not to assault a castle that'll take it 12 years and 2000 florins to rebuild when it could seige the caste and get to keep the castle....er.....as opposed to keeping the keep?


http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/626629.jpg
P.S. Damn I hate English, it's the only language in the world where you can be blunt and yet make cutting remarks.

[Swoop]

hmmm, ok where's the EDIT button?

That should read: assault the castle. Not: siege the caste.

http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/626629.jpg

[Swoop]

And thats a good point The_Dude, patch info does state seige time is now longer.....but I havnt noticed that it is.....

http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/626629.jpg

[Gregoshi]

Here is a thread from the old forum (didn't find it in the new one) about sieging with the patch: Sieging now works a treat Well done CA (http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/Forum7/HTML/003425.html)

It doesn't say where you'd see this, but the right-click unit parchment seems the logical place.

Welcome to the Guild The_Dude. Don't worry about your english, I understood you.

[The_Dude]

Thanks Gregoshi, I am happy to be a member, the org is a great site, continue good job

[Swoop]

Ya know.....one day I really must read the manual for this game......

http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/626629.jpg

[Cooperman]

Whatever the economics of attacking castles versus sieging it'd be fun just for once to get to defend a castle from an attack by the AI.
Although judging by the way the AI attacks in normal battles it'd most likely march it's entire army up to the gate and stop just short letting your ballista towers slaughter them until eventually the casualties get too much and they break.
On second thoughts it's probably better that the AI doesn't attack castles theres too many vulnerabilities in the AI that we can exploit as it is.

[Arcane]

I have had the AI attempt to storm a castle of mine just once (prepatch) They had 500 + men including 3 or 4 siege engines of various types and I only had a 18 or so feudal knights and the odd peasant within the walls. Setting up the defence I placed the knights outside the castle perimeter.. the peasants inside.

Once the battle began I rushed the siege engines (which were well ahead of my opponents other units and distributed on 3 sides of the castle), I destroyed the first one on the eastern side of the castle before the AI even reacted and rushed for the second catapult which was on the northern side. I managed to destroy that also but the enemies archers (2 units I think) were in range and firing into my knights, in total I lost 1/3 of my knights but got the job done... I rushed for the last remaining ballista dragging my persuers past my castle's arrow turrets which did their work http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif I managed to get to the last ballista but was surrounded by hostile spearmen and urban millitia, my knights routed before they could destroy it http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

To my delight they didn't rout off of the field they headed for my castle gates dragging still more of my adversaries forces within range of the arrow towers. It amazed me to see the remainder of my attackers suicide trying to get to my remaining 5 knights and eventually I won the battle

The way they attack is it any wonder they prefer to siege http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

Arcane

[solypsist]

Never had the AI storm a castle. It might be nice once in a while.

[SideshowBob]

I have had multiple AI assaults at my castles. It's probably the way I play, I have 2 peasant units holding most provinces and the biggest fort I can build. As soon as they are attacked the retreat to the castle. It can normally take 6-8 years for the castle to fall, by which time the my professional army comes along and breaks the siege. The thing is the AI is such an idiot at taking fortifications that 400 peasants can normally defend an assault. The AI likes nothing better than walking back and forth in front of your walls while getting showered with arrows. Even worse sometimes the walk upto a breach and stand outside while the rest of their army catches up. Of course by the time the rest of the army arrives the first unit has been reduced to 25% by arrow fire.

Basically once you get to the third level of fortification (the one that allows catapult towers) the AI almost never succeeds no matter how big his army. This is because your catapults will take out his siege engines, and the AI starts acting very dumb when he has no siege engines left and still hasn't made a breach. That's when he starts aimlessly marching about, I've even seen one unit do a full circle of the castle leaving a trail of dead all the way around.

I think the requirement for an AI assault is that their army needs to be much larger than the army in the fort. I have heard people moaning that castles are death traps for their troops and they attrition away, my answer to that is who cares if it's just a couple of peasants, that's what they are there for, to die holding that province long enough for my real army to turn up.

[boneyman1769]

Pre-Patch the computer would assault the odd fort with a very small garrison, once in awhile. Now Post-Patch the computer has more bollocks and will almost always assault an understrength fort. I believe the increased bollock size may be due to haveing FK and FFK attacking peasants as I am a firm believer in peasant garrisons to hold forts when you do not care to keep the province. As in more loyalist rebellions and the resulting good troops you receive.

[muffinman14]

I always play on expert and had my castles assaulted for timesWhoa.

It seems the AI likes to assault your castle when the castle is just about to fall.

[Cooperman]

yet another example of the genious AI at work attacking castles when they're about to fall rather than when the seige has 10 years or more to run http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

[Spetulhu]

The only time the AI has assaulted a castle of mine was when there were less than 100 men defending.

[Basileus]

Quote[/b] (Spetulhu @ Nov. 19 2002,17:56)]The only time the AI has assaulted a castle of mine was when there were less than 100 men defending..
same here heh..would be nice if it happend more often though its quite fun to get assaulted..:D

[Capnahab70]

I've definitely had the AI assault my castle more than a few times, and it's a lot of fun getting to use all those stone walls that you paid good florins for...

I'll just relate the last time it happened to me since that's fresh in my memory. I was playing the Spanish, and the Poles reappeared in 5 provinces, naturally tricked out with the very latest equipment that they would need at least a citadel and about 40,000 florins to make. I quickly squashed 4 of these troublemaking armies, but in the fifth province I just couldn't get the people there fast enough to deal with the threat so I holed up in my (basic) keep. I could have held out for 4 years, but since the Poles only had control of that one province maybe they felt antsy and attacked. I had the keep, one unit of spearmen, and two units of urban militia. Things got off to a promising start when the Poles foolishly put their lone catapult within range on my arrows. The crew fell after damaging one wall to the tune of 25% or so. Incidentally, they had quite an army, 3 units of chivalric knights, 3 of royal knights, 3 feudal men at arms, 2 spearmen, and one chivalric men at arms, so that could be why they felt confident in the assault. They ended up winning the assault, but with a 1 to 1 casualty ratio, which was fine with me since all their troops were high quality and all of mine were low. Most of their troubles came from taking arrow fire while trying to force the gates open, and then continuing to take it whilst trying to get by the spearmen standing in the (now open) gate. By the end of the next turn I was ready and willing to move in from outside the province and finsh them off, but their king died and they went rebel. At the start of the next turn the Hungarians came back in that same province (nice)and I let them handle the rebels and moved in for the kill immediately thereafter...

[Gregoshi]

Welcome to the Org Capnahab70.

Nice story. Like your Hungarians, I've had more than my fair share of rebellions work to my advantage. Gotta love those rebels, I almost feel guilty crushing the life out of them a year or two later. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif