Battering ram event

**pyj99** · 11-02-2005, 20:30

Hi folks,

I just encountered a very annoying turn of events in one of my siege.

The horde wae attacking me with 1 tower and 1 battering ram. My archers burned that tower but the battering ram reached my gates.

After a few turn, it managed to break in

However, it so happens that the flaming oil pouring from my towers above the gate had killed at that instant every member of the unit carrying the ram.

So the gates were open but the ram was right in the way blocking access to the city. The AI never ever sent another unit to carry away the ram

so it never went into my city and I had to wait the whole 30 minutes til the battle was over

Do you know of anything i could have make to clear the way for the AI or to make it pick up the ram ?

(Before you ask, I diidn't went out of the city to fight them out because there was something like 10 000 horde men and I had less than 1000 men)

thanks,

PYJ

**Sir Chauncy** · 11-02-2005, 20:48

Short of actually destroying the ram yourself with flamming arrows so that it collapses, I don't know.

You could have asked the horde to shift it so you could get on with the fighting...

**Seamus Fermanagh** · 11-02-2005, 20:57

Originally Posted by pyj99

Hi folks,

I just encountered a very annoying turn of events in one of my siege.

The horde wae attacking me with 1 tower and 1 battering ram. My archers burned that tower but the battering ram reached my gates.

After a few turn, it managed to break in

However, it so happens that the flaming oil pouring from my towers above the gate had killed at that instant every member of the unit carrying the ram.

So the gates were open but the ram was right in the way blocking access to the city. The AI never ever sent another unit to carry away the ram

so it never went into my city and I had to wait the whole 30 minutes til the battle was over

Do you know of anything i could have make to clear the way for the AI or to make it pick up the ram ?

(Before you ask, I diidn't went out of the city to fight them out because there was something like 10 000 horde men and I had less than 1000 men)

thanks,

PYJ

Talk about your long-odds scenarios! Once it became apparent the Horde wouldn't pick it up, you pretty well have to hit the triple speed and go get a soda.

**Dutch_guy** · 11-02-2005, 21:47

well , in my experience, they wouldn't have assaulted even if the ram had managed to break the gates.

The AI always waits till it has captured the walls before coming through the gates - I guess it feares the boiling oil ;)

So you had pretty much won the battle when the tower burnt to the ground.

**Kraxis** · 11-03-2005, 01:33

Originally Posted by Dutch_guy

well , in my experience, they wouldn't have assaulted even if the ram had managed to break the gates.

The AI always waits till it has captured the walls before coming through the gates - I guess it feares the boiling oil ;)

So you had pretty much one the battle when the tower burnt to the ground.

No I have had them try to force the gate... And quite determined really.

But this situation is rather bad actually. Imagine you had set the timer off... Then it would never end. Just like when the AI doesn't kill the last of your troops on a wall that are fighting to the death. You would have to Esc out of the battle and suffer a humiliating loss.

**Dutch_guy** · 11-03-2005, 16:40

I've had them try it one time, when I killed al the Sassanid spearmen and archers on the walls ( yes they sent the archers in too )

Then as a last effort ( they HAD managed to breach the gates with the ram, they sent in the General, unsuported - even though he had camels and cav. - in the breached gate.

I waited till the enemy generals Cilibinarii were under the gates, when I chraged with my own general.

Needless to say the enemy got burned and beaten bad.

But that was a one time show, I ve never seen them going through the gate unless the walls were theirs.

**gmjapan** · 11-03-2005, 17:23

I had the comp break a Ram at the gate in a siege once but it still sent in its cavalry. What an easy battle! The blocked gate only let them through one man at a time! Took a while to kill units but then the elephants tried to get through and blocked it for everyone until the time ran out.

**Trithemius** · 11-04-2005, 00:57

A similiar thing happened to me defending Sirmium. A Hunnic ladder got "caught" on a corner of the walls and didn't move for most of the battle. Handy, because I could move archers away from that sector and pepper the rest of their lines; but kind of disappointing, since I was hoping for a pitched battle once they got to the walls.