Siege Tactics

[Sun Tzui]

Hy everybody Txs for graciously reading this topic, hope you'll contribute with some worthy and valid tactis and advices, or just post your opinion...:gossip:

How do we, TW universe fans/commanders command our Battles? (Both in STW & MTW)

What are the best units for sieges, and how do you use them?

What's your favorite artillery and how do you go about using it?

Looked up for this topic and didn't find anything straight to the point(much like Drewlake in the entrance hall), so Drewlake...this one's for you kiddo http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

[el_slapper]

_Siege attack? Autosolve.
_Siege defence? Use 1 suicide cavalry to kill catapults, then hold the first door as long as possible with bait, then same with second. While your towers pepper the fool attackers.

[Doug-Thompson]

If it's a large garrison I can't bribe, I usually leave a large besieging force of second-rate troops and starve them out.

If it's an assault, however, I will make a rare exception and hire mercenaries.

I don't really care how many casualties they take. They're going to be disbanded anyway. Loyalty's not a factor. Expense is not a big factor since it's a one-time cost.

Armored infantry and, of course, siege weapons are the best hires for a major assault.

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Siege artillery? I like the trebuchet, in part because I can get them for "free."

For some reason, Jihads will often give you trebuchets and other siege weapons from provinces with no siege workshops. I think you have to have a siege workshop somewhere in your empire, but I'm not sure about that. You also have to have had several successful Jihads before, I think.

Sometimes, I've invaded a province, driven the garrrison inside the castle, then retreated. Control reverts to the faction with the garrison. Then I invade again while declaring multiple Jihads on the "lost" province. The Jihads come with trebuchets and can be shipped in by sea.

Cheesy? Absolutely, but also quite effective.

You don't have to pay maintenance costs for Jihad troops until the Jihad is over and they become "regular" troops. The infantry that comes with Jihads, therefore, make for some very economical and massive castle assaulting forces.

[RisingSun]

Usually, when on the attack, I knock down some walls. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-builder.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif Sometimes, when i have no siege engines, I have to resort to this: http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-wall.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-jester.gif

[lancer63]

If I have more than 5 siege engines I encirle and begin to shower rocks inside the castle´s yards and leave one or two pieces to break the walls. Sometimes I even kill the general. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-yes.gif
But if my arty is killed before knockin' down some important wall, well there's where peasants, unloyal generals and mercs. prove their worth. Beating down doors and geting the hot oil treatment. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-wall.gif

[The Wizard]

Usually just to stay out of range until my long-range siege weapons take care of the walls and towers that threaten my advance.

After that, I storm the castle with my best troops, followed by the lesser troops. All the while, my arty pounds the castle.

The best ever siege I had was as the Turks, assaulting Constantinople approx. a hundred years after I had bypassed it, saving for until I had siege cannons and JHI. I assaulted it, and the first shot from the barbican tower hit my general. Flat on the head. My best general, 9 stars, most loyal, most acumen, best V&V's... dead. Kaboom. Just like that. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-furious3.gif

[Nelson]

When attacking a castle, show up with plenty of siege engines.

Whatever engines you have should be placed where they can penetrate more than one line of walls such as the seam where the outer bailey meets the inner courtyard. When the assault is made, all sections of the castle should be breached to avoid costly gate crashing.

If the castle has artillery, concentrate fire first on the closest towers that threaten your own engines, taking care that you have enough ammo left to effect a breach afterwards. The sooner you neutralize counter battery fire, the fewer engines you will lose.

Assault with the cheapest troops who can get the job done.

When defending a castle, simply hold the gates or breaches as long as you can. Hold formation, hold position. Let the castle do the killing. Shield armed defensive troops are best. If you can arrange to have a few catapults in your castle they can be used to wreck attacking artillery which is great because that will force the enemy to crowd through your gates. A small mounted forlorn hope sortie can do this job too, as el_slapper has suggested.

In any event, be sure mention your bravest soldiers in dispatches. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Brutal DLX]

For STW, I defend with naginatas and archers/musketeers, but usually it's tough to win.

For attack.. 6 Kensais, and a couple of warrior monks for backup while my archers try to hit theirs.

[Basileus]

i never enjoyed sieges, nowdays i rarely play em myself i just autoresolve or starv em.. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-afro.gif

[Lord TangMo]

I throw the money in to the castle. Those poor defenders were knocked down by those coins get confuse and simply open the gate.

[Ashen]

I *always* sit back with seige, knock down the balistae /cannon towers with my seige, take down a wall *never the gate* and hit it with my toughest infantry; Usually Swiss Halbs or JHI to make a breah then swing in light infantry afterwards.

Works a charm.

[makkyo]

Using seige weapons I justs knock down all their towers and the walls on either side of the gate. I storm in with my calvary (tactic may change due to enemy spearmen) or my weakest/cheapest units. They are expendable, so if or when they rout I send in the elite of my army to mop up what is left. Could cause large casualties but only with cheap and easy to replenish units.

[PseRamesses]

At lwer defeces than castles I always use archers - they rock 5-6 units will bring down a house in one fire, a gate in 8-10 and a fort in 10-12 fires.

[TheSilverKnight]

I fight out my siege battles to the last man I usually do a forward rush, scale the wall, capture prisoners, and execute them then and there http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-builder.gif But I do bring along a fair amount of catapults and trebuchets to pound the walls into oblivion, then bring up archers to slaughter the peasants in front of the gate, then bring in mounted knights and foot knights to finish the job. That's what I usually do, and it ends up with not too many men lost for me, but a good amount for the enemy, also resulting in the lost of some good generals for both sides, as well as a Prince or two.