Problem w/ Wall Take Overs?

[SMZ]

Good tips Celt but for those who like a lightning expansion and attack strategy, waiting 10 turns per city isn't going to settle very well.

Personally for wooden walls I use 1 or 2 Battering Rams, or Elephants if I can get them which are even better. By using your ranged units by carefully controlled fire you can force any enemy units guarding gaps made by your ram(s) to fall back. When they do, run in and secure... the rest is just going thru the motions.

For Stone Walls I favor 1 or 2 Siege Towers if they have a dominant force of infantry troops. If they are mainly cavalry then I favor several Ladders. If I am predominantly cavalry then I favor 1 or 2 Sap Points.

In the first case where they have a good bit of infantry. Taking the Wall Towers is always an extremely vital step. Those Towers can decimate your forces if you're not careful, and they can decimate the enemy to your great pleasure. I usually send two units of some kind of skirmishing, or other fast infantry up and send them running around in opposite directions. If you move your Siege Towers smartly, usually you will be able to land in a spot where there are no troops directly in front of it. They'll only move toward the spot after your first men jump out onto the wall. So if you send one group of heavy infantry towards the enemy and your light infantry scamper off to capture Towers, you'll be good. (Yes, you can load multiple units in the Siege Tower at the same time) If you've got the superiour heavy infantry than this will be easy enough.

Of course always rake the walls with any long range archers you may have. Ballistas don't work well because the direct line of fire usually hits the crenallations. Catapults don't work well because they're inaccurate, although if you can collapse the wall under them they'll take very heavy casualties. Regular range archers shouldn't be used unless the enemy has none. If you get in a missile battle you'll get an entire unit killed for maybe 10 to 15 of the enemy, not worth it. Slingers aren't much good at all for this, their range is about the same as the Towers, too dangerous. Once you've taken the towers then you can send a cavalry group, or infantry if you must, in thru an alternate gate. As soon as there are men inside the city, the defenders on the wall will climb down to regroup at the city center. (Getting shot by your new Towers on the way) Either ride them down as they're divided or let them so you can set up for a decisive engagement. It's all status quo battling from here.

If they're mostly cavalry then they can't guard their walls. (horses don't do well on twisty tower steps - lol) So then Ladders are much quicker, use them! Capture the towers, wait for them to get slaughtered trying to guard whichever gate you want to use, then move in and secure. Normal tactics from here.

If you're mostly cavalry then use sap points, so you can charge in. This is the most difficult because you won't have the Towers supporting you. The tactic here is to send several forces of your heaviest cavalry charging in. Don't worry about destroying the breach guarding troops, you just have to be strong enough to break through them and to overwhelm the normal one unit in the center. Break thru, go and kill the unit in the center. Then hold a city street as the enemy streams back to defend their center. As they leave the breech for the center, send in the rest of your forces onto their rear. Easy nuff.

Battering Rams should never be used on Stone Walls. You are asking for death. Spies are even better than Siege Towers for strong infantry defenders. Since the Spy opens the gates, you bypass those heavies on the wall completely, run to the nearest clear Tower, move up onto the wall and proceed to capture the Towers as normal. You'll still take some casualties from boiling oil, but not as bad as fighting to clear the wall.

Finally those engagement where reinforcements come up and the defenders sally out to meet me are one of my most looked forward to situations. As long as you destroy the enemy armies completely, (you should) then you get the city automatically. Perfect! A chance to destroy the garrison without Walls and Towers and narrow city streets and unbreakable morale giving City Centers!