Roark
08-29-2005, 05:11
(English/GA/1258/High/2.0)
Well, last night I experienced my first castle assault... on the receiving end, and DAMN it was fun.
Alfonze, the King of Spain, assaulted my Castle (with ballista towers), which they had beseiged two years earlier. I guess the siege casualties were getting a bit annoying for him, hehehe...
In the red corner: My latin opponent was packing 2 units of Royal Knights, 1 Pav Crossbowmen, 3 archers, and a unit of Feudal Sergeants.
In the blue corner: I had remnants (under 50% strength) of 2 FMAAs and 2 Militia Sergeants. Roughly equivalent to 1 of each.
I had all my men locked in the inner courtyard, safe in the knowledge that he had no siege engines, and few assault troops. Nevertheless, he made a move which I wasn't expecting, and which proved to be reasonably effective: His full squad of Pav Crossbowmen started inching up the hill towards me, with the rest of his army staying just out of my towers' bowshot. The unit took light casualties, but were mainly protected by their Pavises. Before I knew it, they were under the shadow of my outer wooden stockade, and hammering away with their melee weapons.
I scrambled my troops, charged through the portcullis, and arrived under my outer walls just as they hit 100% damage (and fell to the ground with a crash). I was pretty surprised by how quickly the wall came down, and therefore how effective his move was (initially anyway).
The Pavise Crossbowmen tried to haul ass inside to set up a defensive wall, as the rest of his army started the climb up the hill to my castle. My FMAAs and Militia Sarges fell upon them in a desperate attempt to route the unit before the rest of the army arrived. The Pavs were decimated. I ordered my men to get back inside the inner defences, as the Royal Knights charged over the lip of the hill, and the portcullis clanged shut in the face of King Alfonse. This was exactly what I had hoped for. The 2 units of Royal Knights, whose pursuit of my men had failed, were now used for target practice by every arrow and ballista tower in the complex, while the rest of his army struggled up the hill. It was butchery. Switching to loose formation didn't slow the casulaties, and one of the RK units routed at 5 men.
The Spanish Feudal Seargents had finally arrived and were busy getting hot oil poured on them. After a ballista bolt took out one of their men, they began to waver. My gatehouse was at 80% damage, so I grabbed a remnant of FMAA and of Militia Sarges, opened the portcullis, and charged them in a suicide run to the outer defences. I wasn't expecting them to return.
The timing was perfect. The Feudal Sarges routed, shortly followed by the second unit of Royal Knights after Alfonse's lucky death (courtesy of my arrow towers), and my troops chased them down the hill and out of my province.
OK, so maybe a little long-winded, but "you had to be there". It was lots of fun seeing my boys (which were my worst troops at the time) hold on like that, and I've never been the defender in a castle assault before. Awesome.
Well, last night I experienced my first castle assault... on the receiving end, and DAMN it was fun.
Alfonze, the King of Spain, assaulted my Castle (with ballista towers), which they had beseiged two years earlier. I guess the siege casualties were getting a bit annoying for him, hehehe...
In the red corner: My latin opponent was packing 2 units of Royal Knights, 1 Pav Crossbowmen, 3 archers, and a unit of Feudal Sergeants.
In the blue corner: I had remnants (under 50% strength) of 2 FMAAs and 2 Militia Sergeants. Roughly equivalent to 1 of each.
I had all my men locked in the inner courtyard, safe in the knowledge that he had no siege engines, and few assault troops. Nevertheless, he made a move which I wasn't expecting, and which proved to be reasonably effective: His full squad of Pav Crossbowmen started inching up the hill towards me, with the rest of his army staying just out of my towers' bowshot. The unit took light casualties, but were mainly protected by their Pavises. Before I knew it, they were under the shadow of my outer wooden stockade, and hammering away with their melee weapons.
I scrambled my troops, charged through the portcullis, and arrived under my outer walls just as they hit 100% damage (and fell to the ground with a crash). I was pretty surprised by how quickly the wall came down, and therefore how effective his move was (initially anyway).
The Pavise Crossbowmen tried to haul ass inside to set up a defensive wall, as the rest of his army started the climb up the hill to my castle. My FMAAs and Militia Sarges fell upon them in a desperate attempt to route the unit before the rest of the army arrived. The Pavs were decimated. I ordered my men to get back inside the inner defences, as the Royal Knights charged over the lip of the hill, and the portcullis clanged shut in the face of King Alfonse. This was exactly what I had hoped for. The 2 units of Royal Knights, whose pursuit of my men had failed, were now used for target practice by every arrow and ballista tower in the complex, while the rest of his army struggled up the hill. It was butchery. Switching to loose formation didn't slow the casulaties, and one of the RK units routed at 5 men.
The Spanish Feudal Seargents had finally arrived and were busy getting hot oil poured on them. After a ballista bolt took out one of their men, they began to waver. My gatehouse was at 80% damage, so I grabbed a remnant of FMAA and of Militia Sarges, opened the portcullis, and charged them in a suicide run to the outer defences. I wasn't expecting them to return.
The timing was perfect. The Feudal Sarges routed, shortly followed by the second unit of Royal Knights after Alfonse's lucky death (courtesy of my arrow towers), and my troops chased them down the hill and out of my province.
OK, so maybe a little long-winded, but "you had to be there". It was lots of fun seeing my boys (which were my worst troops at the time) hold on like that, and I've never been the defender in a castle assault before. Awesome.