Castle Seige

[GeoRElrod]

I have searched through the forums for this question and found no answer.

When you besiege a castle or other fortification, it tells you how many years the siege will typically last. What I want to know is, how do I increase the number of years a siege will hold out in my own fortifications.

If I check on a castle (not being sieged) without a garrison it says I have supplies and stocks to last 8 years. Does the number of years that a castle can hold out depend on what size the garrison is?

Also, lets say that a enemy faction invades a province with a fortification in it, and I choose to meet the enemy on the battlefield, then withdraw to my fortification after I have lost the battle. Does the fact that I withdrew from the battle has anything to do with the the number of years that the fortification can hold out under siege? I posed that last question because it seems that I usually can only hold out for 2 years or so.... when I would expect to be able to hold out longer.

[Accounting Troll]

Greetings GeoRElod, and welcome to the forum

The smaller the garrison, the longer a castle can hold out under seige.

If you want a castle in a province to hold out longer, either reduce the garrison or upgrade the castle. A big castle can hold more supplies so it will take longer to starve the garrison. A citadel with about 40 defenders will probably have to be stormed and the attackers will suffer massive casualties.

A castle will hold out longer if you choose to fight rather than retreat to the castle, but only if you lose so many men in battle that the castle is not fully garrisoned. It can actually be worth fighting a battle that you can't win in order to ensure that your castle only has a small garrison that can hold out a long time

[Xiphias]

When you right click it it shows how long it will hold out with the current garrison. If you've got a seperate army in that province and retreat to the stronghold then obviously the number of men will be increased.

The average time for a large army does seem like only a couple of years.

[Bhruic]

Accounting Troll nailed it, but a few extra points: Once the time remaining is set, it appears to not change, even if the garrison sallys forth and loses a bunch of men. For example, I've had a castle garrison go from 400 men down to 15, thanks to a sally, but the time remaining didn't change.

Also, the reverse of what AT said is also true. While you want to minimize the number of men in your castle while you are being besieged, you want to maximize the men in enemy castles to decrease the time it takes you to siege it. With that in mind, if you are fighting an army, and you know they can retreat to their castle, try not to kill/capture too many of them. The more of them that get off the field, the more men packed into the castle, and the faster you can take the province.

Bh

[Mouzafphaerre]

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You can make defensive use of it as well. Seen a huge crusade upon you and you're sure you can't beat'em? Leave a single unit of peasants and retreat to your castle. Then pound the infidels with your numerous jihads.
_

[JAG]

Quote[/b] (GeoRElrod @ May 01 2004,20:11)]Does the number of years that a castle can hold out depend on what size the garrison is?

You answered it yourself

And welcome to the org

[Xiphias]

Oh, and the AI does seem to try and break the siege if your army is too small so if it looks like you can hold out a long time the AI will usually assault.

Also, I've noticed that sieges that 'have no chance of falling without a direct assault' will usually slip and eventually fall without assaulting them.

[Eastside Character]

Just to add to what all you here have said; increasing castles' capacity makes them hold longer during sieges, and also the AI assaults castles more often. Well, pretty often in fact.

Regards,
EC

Edit: Oh, and welcome aboard GeoRElrod

[katank]

@ xiphias, that is usually about 16 years in reality.

thus, really annoying when I have an ally being sieged by rebels and I want the province bad but also can't afford to lose that ally. this mean waiting for 16 years before I can bribe. GAH

[Maychargewithoutorders]

Just after i read this thread i fought the almohads and gave them a whooping to remember. The rest of the army retreated and about 15 men fled to the castle. The garrison is well stocked and the castle will have to be assaulted

Spooky.......

Since it was at the start i had no seige weapons, after all that effort i put into minimising losses as well

[Bhruic]

Yup, that's why if I figure there's no way I can manage to kill/capture the entire army (usually because they have fast cav), I try to make sure a significant chunk of their army escapes. Generally peasants, whenever possible, because I'm not worried about them trying to break the siege. That way, the castle falls quickly, and my army can move on.

Bh

[HopAlongBunny]

Quote[/b] (Maychargewithoutorders @ May 02 2004,21:55)]The garrison is well stocked and the castle will have to be assaulted

That's what mercenaries are for :)

[Impaler]

Send the meat....ah sorry i mean the mercs to assault while the siege engines are crushing down the walls and towers. As for the garrisons keep it in a logical level. Keeping a small but strong force, halberdiers or/and CMAA for defense of breaches while artillery towers are killing the attackers is a nice strategy.

[son of spam]

Actually, I believe you CAN change the time for a siege by reducing the number of men. The AI did that to me a couple of times. They had maybe 400 men in a castle or a keep or something, and the siege duration was 1 year. Then they sallied out with support from a neighboring army. I defeated them handily (with plenty of frenetic double clicking on enemy gen) and only about 100 men escaped. However, the siege duration increased now to 3 years

I finally had to assault the castle to avoid excom. Too bad-- I got excommed anyways

[GeoRElrod]

Thank you for the warm welcome I have received from the community here. Also, thanks for answering my question so quickly.

Just a side note, am I the only one that just purchases merc siege equipment? I have never been forced to develop siege buildings in my fortifications. Get a few merc mangles and they can pretty much knock down anything. Although, I have to admit I have never assaulted a Citadel or Fortress.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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As a rule of thumb, I purchase whatever mercanary unit worth the price on sight, given that my economy isn't struggling to make ends meet. That's especially valid for such siege engines as catapults and mangonels. I won't pay for ballistae or trebuchets nor will I make them myself.

OTOH, I like the challange of having to build a cannon in three years.
_

[Xiphias]

I build my own siege units and use them in normal battles. Nothing like a valour 4 serpentine for smashing down a few walls.

[katank]

I love merc siege.

so cheap to support too. BTW< often I get silver armored ones too at the start of early??