Under siege..any strategies?

Hey. Im currently playing as Baktria, got a fairly decent kingdom going, but the Saka are still alive.
To the point of this thread; the Saka are currently besieging Chach with an army lead by a general and consisting of several units of horse archer types, plus a couple units of heavy bodyguard cavalry. My garrison consists of a general with something like 11 units of archers, either subeshi or archer-spearmen. All have at least 2 bronze chevrons of exp, some with silver.
Any ideas as to how to effectively sally and defeat the besieging Saka scum? They seem to plan on sitting there and starve Chach into submission. I could rally a merc army close by and use that to assist, but Id much rather hear some useful strategies that might help in the future rather than resort to raiding the coffers. Thanks in advance for any help.

Sally, but don't. Basically what I would do is position my archers in range of the enemy army at the start of the battle. They will get off a couple of volleys and kill a bunch before the opposition runs out of range. Let the time expire and with the resulting draw. Do that a few turns and they'll eventually just retreat.

Ah thank you, I hadnt thought of that. Looks like I could be waiting for several battles then. Out of interest, by quitting the battle that I initiated by sally, would it be classed as a draw or a defeat resulting in me losing Chach?

I'm not sure, I've never done that.

Lol ok, looks like it'll be an experiment as well as a battle. Ill prob do it tomorrow then post what happened by quitting.

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Originally Posted by Xurr

Sally, but don't. Basically what I would do is position my archers in range of the enemy army at the start of the battle. They will get off a couple of volleys and kill a bunch before the opposition runs out of range. Let the time expire and with the resulting draw. Do that a few turns and they'll eventually just retreat.

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Although if it goes on too long, the FM in charge of the garrison starts getting some pretty negative traits about cowering behind walls.

As long as all your troops are inside the walls and the gates are shut, you will get a draw when you exit the battle. you can see when you confirm quitting if it is safe or not.

I am in a similar position in my Bactria campaign with Chach. I Sally and slaughter the HA's. If they charge, your spear men will make their money, and if they don't, you will kill most of them with your superior archers (Subeshi's out range HA's anyway, and Archer spear men are dangerous to them in melee). All of your archers have more arrows than the HA's do anyway, so after they run out you will be able to pepper them with arrows for an extra 10 volleys. Put your archers in loose formation during the arrow exchange. Use flaming arrows to kill armored units. Use your general to attack their FM, and you might well kill him (with heavy bodyguard casualties). After you have used all of your arrows, attack their force with all of your units. Try to focus them in one area. Most likely they will charge you and you will surround and destroy their cavalry in melee. Use your family member to pin their FM while this fight is happening, or flank the enemy and charge their rear during the main battle. They will break, and retreat, and at least 1/2 of your forces will remain.

During my ongoing war with saka I have fought many battles with only 6 or 7 archer units (and a FM/General) and I have won all of them while weakening the Saka. The problem becomes not how to keep Chach or other cities, but rather how to fund a proper offensive force into their northern territories while fighting in Parthia, India, and against the Selucids...

I do suggest that you augment your regional forces with 3-4 units of Dahae riders, and Parthian spearmen as well. The riders can move from Alexandria Eschate (spelling) to Chach in one turn, and they are therefore a force that allows you to quickly reinforce any city in the region with cavalry/archers.

If the defenses are good enough, you can also use them to aid you. Although the bolt-throwers in towers are indiscriminate and will hit your own men if they're in the path of it's missiles.

all HA have 40 arrows in EB, while foot archers for eastern factions have like 15-35, 35 being elite ones for AS. it is actually a huge disadvantage. but you outnumber the HA by a huge amount, just go forth and rain death.

Stone walls, put your archers on the walls, lure the AI closer to the walls with a sallying cavalry unit in order to get help from the towers, then when you run out of arrows move your whole force out onto the plain, and they will probably withdraw. If you dont come out of the town the AI doesnt tend to leave the battle in my experience.

Wooden walls exit your force through the gates directly opposite to where the besiegers are (ie on the other side of town) and then march round in order. This prevents your whole force getting shot to death while running through the gate. You can then fight as if it were any other normal battle.

If the AI is besieging you with an all cavalry army he will wait the the last, when you will have to sally, or he will eventually win. Dont wait in these situations, sally from the back door and advance at once. The rate of success is low, and there is a slim chance that you win, but kill how many you can of his army. The AI will retreat to high ground making it more difficult.

cheers.

Ive been busy with exams, so I only got the chance to put some advice into practice today.
It was a complete and utter slaughter......for the Saka of course lol. Sat all my archers on the walls, let them rain death on the besieging Saka, who retreated to a distance....then came back into range again. Thank god for dumb AI sometimes.
This happened till I ran out of arrows, at which point I quitted. Sallied again next turn and finished the job, what was left of them fled like whipped dogs.
Great result, cheers for all the advice.