How does one silence stone wall towers?

**hoof** · 09-28-2004, 04:15

I'm in the process of invading Memphis (I'm playing the other Greek faction, the one who's name I can't remember who have a capital at Antioch). This is my first city assault with stone walls. So I build 2 towers and 2 saps. The first unpleasant surprise is discovering that the game is very picky as to where you can use a tower. Here I was thinking I could send the tower against a diagonal piece of wall. Nope. Thus my towers become useless, as hauling them to an assaultable section of wall would take far too long.

So my sappers create two breaches in the wall. In go my troops and they fight a pitched battle to claim the area behind the wall. After the area is cleared of enemy soldiers, I see that I'm still losing men. It turns out the towers can shoot both inside and outside.

No problem, I think, I'll use this convenient doorway on the base of the tower and clear the tower out. However, all I get is an "X" with "unit cannot attack tower" or some other message when moving the mouse over the tower after selecting a unit of ground troops. This seems very odd. I cannot believe that CA would make the towers uncapturable. After losing a couple dozen men to futile attempts to silence the towers, I alt-f4'ed in disgust.

Is the only way to silence the tower to take the wall above (via ladders or a tower)? Or do your troops take the wall above, then march down through the tower, only to be shot at when they exit from the very same tower? Or can you only clear out a tower from the walls?

I'm using Levy Pikemen in my assault. Are pikemen prohibited from assaulting stone towers? Why can't they go into the doorway in the bottom and get to the wall tops?

I cannot believe that you have to charge to the center of town under hail from completely surrounded and unassaultable towers. The walls are problem enough w/o this artificial extra hazard.

Does anyone have an idea on how to silence the towers on stone walls in an assault?

**Morindin** · 09-28-2004, 04:17

Originally Posted by hoof

I'm in the process of invading Memphis (I'm playing the other Greek faction, the one who's name I can't remember who have a capital at Antioch). This is my first city assault with stone walls. So I build 2 towers and 2 saps. The first unpleasant surprise is discovering that the game is very picky as to where you can use a tower. Here I was thinking I could send the tower against a diagonal piece of wall. Nope. Thus my towers become useless, as hauling them to an assaultable section of wall would take far too long.

So my sappers create two breaches in the wall. In go my troops and they fight a pitched battle to claim the area behind the wall. After the area is cleared of enemy soldiers, I see that I'm still losing men. It turns out the towers can shoot both inside and outside.

No problem, I think, I'll use this convenient doorway on the base of the tower and clear the tower out. However, all I get is an "X" with "unit cannot attack tower" or some other message when moving the mouse over the tower after selecting a unit of ground troops. This seems very odd. I cannot believe that CA would make the towers uncapturable. After losing a couple dozen men to futile attempts to silence the towers, I alt-f4'ed in disgust.

Is the only way to silence the tower to take the wall above (via ladders or a tower)? Or do your troops take the wall above, then march down through the tower, only to be shot at when they exit from the very same tower? Or can you only clear out a tower from the walls?

I'm using Levy Pikemen in my assault. Are pikemen prohibited from assaulting stone towers? Why can't they go into the doorway in the bottom and get to the wall tops?

I cannot believe that you have to charge to the center of town under hail from completely surrounded and unassaultable towers. The walls are problem enough w/o this artificial extra hazard.

Does anyone have an idea on how to silence the towers on stone walls in an assault?

Just take the wall by putting men on it and it becomes yours, and shoots the enemy.

**discovery1** · 09-28-2004, 04:17

First, congradulations on doing so well as the Selucids.

As for your problem, order the troops onto the city wall. They will then enter the tower and silence the archers. Suggest you use light troops for this since they can cover the distance between towers faster.

**hoof** · 09-28-2004, 04:37

Selucids, that's what they're called. Thanks. Yeah they're a tough faction. The trick is to get very good at using Phalanxes and Milita Hoplites (I think that's what they're called). Oh, and make sure you prepare for the inevitable Egyptian onslaught north! :)

Hmmm ... I may be in trouble then. The one attempt to send the troops up to the walls ended up with a bunch of pincushions that used to be men, and the rest standing at the base of the tower twiddling their thumbs. I'll have to try again. It could be that the game won't let me put a 240-man unit on the wall. It could also be that the towers they would have had to climb were next to walls that had been sapped. But it does seem that there is a way to silence the towers. Thanks for your help.

**Morindin** · 09-28-2004, 04:40

Its very costly taking walls with siege towers. The units only "debus" from the towers one and a time and if they're not heavily armoured they will end up pincushions. Best thing to do is the stretch the defender thin by engaging the breachs in the walls with a token force, making him think that is the main assault, but slip your men onto the walls using the towers unopposed on the flanks.

Once on a wall you can run from wall to wall capturing them.

**discovery1** · 09-28-2004, 05:23

Most of the time that I use towers they are unopposed, although the first time I used them I was. I lost a unit of hastati b4 I figured out how to reinforce those already on the tower(order other troops onto flat part of wall and will go up tower themselves).

**hoof** · 09-28-2004, 07:12

Well, Memphis is in Selucid hands. One more city and the Egyptian threat will be no more (except for one little island and their sizable fleet). Then it's off to crush the backstabbing Greek Cities.

The Egyptians had only four units for defence (two of them were Chariots, which are very very nasty). I sapped two walls, but send my main force towards a side entrance. The Egyptians went to defend the smashed walls while ignoring the real threat. Two units captured the walls/gates (via the towers that I had built), and the remaining forces walked in. Then it was simply a matter of Phalanxing down the streets. Most of my casualties were due to one group of Chariots, who decimated one of my Levy Pikemen units with arrows (until the Chariots chose to commit suicide by charging my set phalanx head-on). A group of axemen also took a chunk out of another pair of phalanxes.

One note: Hoplite/phalanx troops are useless for assaulting units from the rear. In phalanx mode, they don't press home the attack, and in non-phalanx mode they are dismal, even attacking a unit's rear. It could be that that unit of Egyptian Axemen are particularly nasty, however.

That's ok, because I just drafted several hundred Memphis citizens to replenish the ranks ... I was -)(- this close to enslaving the lot of them

**hoom** · 09-28-2004, 08:35

Umm, can you imagine trying to manouvre a 15 foot pike up a stone stairway that has been specificially designed to make it hard to fight up?
Thus pikes aren't allowed to go in towers.
I recall a CA person saying so a couple of months ago.

But running around capturing towers is good fun, cos you get to watch enemy units dissapear under the withering fire of those towers

**Captain Fishpants** · 09-28-2004, 09:12

You can selectively bombard towers with onagers, of course, and silence their fire that way.

**The_Emperor** · 09-28-2004, 09:27

Originally Posted by Captain Fishpants

You can selectively bombard towers with onagers, of course, and silence their fire that way.

And then have to fix the damage afterwards?

**andrewt** · 09-28-2004, 10:37

I'm not sure about the expense, but you can repair up to 9 buildings all at the same time (8 if you are constructing something else and have no construction queue), no matter how damaged they are.

**Thoros of Myr** · 09-28-2004, 12:29

Repairs are pretty cheap as you only pay a %, unless you go around the castle for hours destroying everything it wont cost you much to fix a few broken towers.

**hoof** · 09-29-2004, 00:06

Pikemen not allowed up towers is a problem for factions that have no other decent footsoldier. All my troops are pikemen. And the pikemen have no trouble climbing the siege tower, or descending from the walls back through those very same towers. Having to resort to mercenaries or archer/javelinmen to take towers is a bit silly.

Anyway, if I was informed beforehand that the pikemen can't take towers, I would have changed my tactics (and strategic plans emphasizing a few units that *can* take empty towers). It's very frustrating finding youself unable to silence those towers because your Greek army consists of nothing but Pikemen/Hoplites, Cavalry and Archers. And the idea of plane-jane Archers assaulting towers seems kind of silly :)