Army loss while under siege

**Hieronymus** · 08-03-2010, 16:34

Hi, I have a question:

what's the reason my army shrinks while i'm under siege? Is it because of some assassin poisoning their food, because of some particular unit the besieging army brought with them or is there still some other reason?

And what determines how much soldiers I will loose?

I'd expect quite the opposite: the besieging army should shrink, much like Achilles got shot while besieging Troy

[edit]I think I may have posted in the wrong forum category, sorry :P [/edit]

**anubis88** · 08-03-2010, 17:05

It represents the fact that your city is cut from the supplies. Soon food and water would be scarce, and that would be followed by diseases and stuff. In the meantime the besieging army can forage and rob your countryside, and there's nothing you can do about it, so they stay well fed :)

**Titus Marcellus Scato** · 08-03-2010, 17:17

Simply put, troops in a beseiged city are on rations. And the longer the seige goes on, the shorter the rations get.

The shorter the rations get, the less well fed the troops are, and the more likely it is that they will fall sick due to poor nutrition. Once they are sick they can't fight, and join the civilian population as 'useless mouths'.

The besieging army doesn't shrink because their troops are harvesting your city's fields, and eating the crops. They have access to the fields, you don't. They might be on short rations too, but not as short as you since they get supply wagons and you get nothing at all.

The rate at which units deplete under seige is hardcoded, so I don't know what it is. I know it gets worse and worse the longer you are under seige, the rate at which you lose people gets higher and higher as your rations get shorter and shorter turn by turn.

**Hieronymus** · 08-03-2010, 18:11

I see, it makes sense in a way.
Will building a granary make the loss smaller then?

It's kind of boring to break out of a siege again and again on one border while trying to expand your empire at the other end of the world so it would be cosy to keep the siege for a while if it weren't for the losses.

**anubis88** · 08-03-2010, 18:27

Well the granary will give you a longer time for the siege to last... You'll be able to hold more turns, but your army will still lose soldiers

**Ludens** · 08-03-2010, 18:48

Originally Posted by anubis88

Well the granary will give you a longer time for the siege to last... You'll be able to hold more turns, but your army will still lose soldiers

Does the granary affect siege times? I though only the walls improved the siege duration.

Historically speaking, attrition due to disease, desertion, poor logistical support, etc. was a major problem for any army, even when not besieged. However, the developers decided to spare us this kind of micro-management.