Quote Originally Posted by Duke of Gloucester
How realistic is the lack of Artillery in STW? Does anyone know?
I forget if I read this in "The Way of the Daimyo" document, or if it's in the game manual but it said that, although siege-cannon were used, from time to time, they were unwieldy devices which took a long time to get into position and probably only fired a few rounds per hour. They made a conscious decision not to factor it into the gameplay because they didn't play a significant battlefield role in the real conflict. As you probably know, you can win the siege assaults by conventional means in any case.

There's an interesting historical footnote, which I reckon places this comment somewhere in the depths of the WotD document (worth a full read-through, if you've not done so already). It basically said that one of the Emperors had banned the use of the wheel at some stage and that tradition remained in place more or less until the early 20th c, as they began to open up to ideas from the outside world once again.

The original idea sounds like a whacky job-creation scheme but they basically kept large numbers of people gainfully occupied as bearers, carrying goods about on foot. It may even have had something to do with the regular rainfall and roads turning into quagmires which made even carts more a hindrance than a help. These were nevertheless traversable on foot, with the aid of shoes raised up on wooden blocks, apparently.

Needless to say, artillery pieces are useless without wheels but, if you have time on your side, like in a siege, dragging a heavy lump of iron into place on a sled or some such device is a practical proposition.