used are almost like cheating. Particularly if they only have battering rams. If you place the stakes just behind the gate it turns into a massacre as the ai seems to be blind to stakes. It charges all its cavalry in and well a blood bath ensues, it made the hordes, particularly the tirmurids a cake walk. If you place more than one stake aswell i think it increases the killing ability so you can even take out most of the elephants. The ai also nearly always only knocks down the walls either side of the gate... so place stakes there aswell!!!!