Quote Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] (Eastside Character @ Aug. 24 2003,20:37)]It takes 2 years to build a balista. Why is it so? It shouldn't be like that as most of the siege weapons used in medieval period (including huge mangonels and terbuchets) were constructed right on the spot, and it didn't last years but DAYS
When you create a unit in a Siege Engineer, you are in fact training a crew and not constructing the weapon itself.

You can have a catapult destroyed in a battle and the crew may skirmish away & survive, withdraw & come back in a later battle...

Given the complexities involved with building a Siege engine in the field and then shooting it effectively, I think it would take a lot more skill and training in itself.

I saw a TV programme once where some guys built working Trebuchets with the tools of the time... and found it extremely difficult to aim effectively even with modern-day mathematics to calculate angles of fire, weigth ratios etc. They gained a new appreciation for the skills Medieval Siege crews had.