Questions (do you use time limits)

[IRONxMortlock]

I'm getting curious now... does this passive AI happen to people in every single siege battle ?

Yes, I have never once had an AI army actually attack me during a siege they started.

I don't like having time limits in my battles so they are turned off. This means I that I have to run some light cav out of the walls and lure some of the enemy into the range of my towers. I repeat this over and over and I can generally destroy their entire army in this manner.

[John Johnston]

I have never once had an AI army actually attack me during a siege they started.

That's just plain bizarre. The programmed opponent attacks me close to 100% of the time when besieging.

It does often wait until it's made big holes in the walls with siege weapons, though, which is perfectly fair. It's what I'd do, I wouldn't throw my troops forwards to get pwned by intact defences if I had a bunch of trebuchets I could use first.

(It also does some strange things - if you sally with cavalry and slaughter troops manning a ram, it can be a very long time before more troops arrive to pick up the ram again. Not always, but often. It will eventually pick the ram up again, though.)

Even so, the opponent is not very good at coordinating assaults. I can confidently expect to defeat besieging armies which are two or three times more powerful than the garrison, and I'm not a skilled player. Plus, even when spies have opened the gates, the opponent doesn't take advantage of this - a critical flaw IMHO - and will attempt to attack the walls with ladders and crap instead of just punching through the gates.

[IRONxMortlock]

That's just plain bizarre. The programmed opponent attacks me close to 100% of the time when besieging.

It does often wait until it's made big holes in the walls with siege weapons, though, which is perfectly fair. It's what I'd do, I wouldn't throw my troops forwards to get pwned by intact defences if I had a bunch of trebuchets I could use first.

(It also does some strange things - if you sally with cavalry and slaughter troops manning a ram, it can be a very long time before more troops arrive to pick up the ram again. Not always, but often. It will eventually pick the ram up again, though.)

Even so, the opponent is not very good at coordinating assaults. I can confidently expect to defeat besieging armies which are two or three times more powerful than the garrison, and I'm not a skilled player. Plus, even when spies have opened the gates, the opponent doesn't take advantage of this - a critical flaw IMHO - and will attempt to attack the walls with ladders and crap instead of just punching through the gates.

I've seen them hammering at the walls and then I wait for the attack...

Never occurs.

They just punch holes in the wall then wait. My "cav lure" trick certainly works but I've NEVER once seen them even move a ladder towards my walls and when they chase my cav they are only pursuing and simply follow them wherever they go; oblivious to the holes created by their own catapults etc.

Perhaps this is the key point - I play by RTW "Smackimus Maximus" rules. I develop a strong economy and then come at enemies with such force that they cannot think of withstanding. I NEVER leave cities/castles lightly defended in places near enemies. Every time the AI has besieged a city I have either relieved the city with reinforcements from elsewhere or have such a force within the walls that it would be suicide to even approach them. I guess I can't blame them for not trying.