How Do They Do That?

**Tora** · 12-30-2006, 18:21

File under "One rule for the AI, another for the Human Player".

One of my cardinals came across an aptly named Byzantine general, Prince Vlasios the Mad, besieging rebel held Smyrna. Nothing unusual in that except it was with just 2 units of heavy cavalry, a ladder and a ram, miraculously occupying the fort with the same force the following go, 2 turns before the defenders had to sally or surrender.
I took a screenshot of the assaulting force's chart but Imageshack is out to lunch or something at the moment.

Is there some way I can dismount my heavy cavalry or train my horses to climb ladders and use battering rams?

**katank** · 12-30-2006, 18:39

Maybe the besieged sallied out voluntarily and were annihilated? Either that or it's really a bug.

**Quillan** · 12-30-2006, 18:48

No, I don't think it was. I think that's the auto-calc at work. I believe what the game does is first check if you possess a valid method of assault: spy who opened the gate, artillery capable of breaching a gate or a wall, or constructed siege equipment. If you do, it lets you assault. Only then, if you choose to fight the battle on the map does it worry about the difference between infantry and cavalry. I've noticed that it only places as much equipment on the map as you have infantry units. You can still construct siege towers, ladders and rams with an all-cavalry besieging army. It's just that when you get to the battlemap it won't be there. I've done that a few times and hired mercenaries on the final turn to make the assault.

However, I've also noticed that the autocalc results are way off what they would be in a real assault when cavalry are involved. I can autocalc a battle and win with minimal losses where I'd be slaughtered trying to take the city, just because of the calculations. I think what happened is he constructed the gear, the game let him assault because he had the gear, and the raw strength of his army outclassed the defenders and therefore he took the city.

Want to confirm it? Try it with an all-cav army. Lay siege, construct rams, and don't fight on the map, just use the auto-calculate function. I bet it works for you too.

**BlackAxe3001** · 12-30-2006, 19:23

I have had the same thing happen. It has worked for me.

One other thing that is kind of odd with auto-calc. I was sieging this castle and there was 13 defenders(yes only 13 men...), peasant archers, but I didn't want to loose hundreds of men to towers, so I used auto-calc and didn't lose a man taking the castle.