defending or attacking walls

[brokguitar]

What is the main attribute to look for when defending/attacking walls?
Is there a better unit type to use when defending/attacking?(such as spears or hvy inf?)
I understand you want higher defence or high attack power. Mainly this question is for what unit type is better.

[brokguitar]

Sorry I don't know how to edit my messages. I was also curious if anyone has compiled a list of retinues that are tradeable? If so, can someone link me?
Thanks

[IPoseTheQuestionYouReturnTheAnswer]

Spears are definately no good for wall defense. Spears get a bonus vs. cavalry, but swords get a bonus vs. spears. Since you won't be finding any horsies 50 meters up on your walls, spears are just a liability. Put them down at your gates if the enemy army is cavalry-heavy.

I use Janissaries to do wall defense, they are your one-unit-does-all bunch of guys. I'd say halberds are the best for taking walls, because most of the time their long weapons can peg the single-file enemies as they come in one by one and massacre them with little to no losses. Swords are also good for walls. You really can't go wrong with swords - just make sure your sword unit is better than the one that's attacking. Then again, any unit that's defending a wall gets huge attack/defense bonuses anyway, so sometimes an inferior unit that's defending can actually defeat an elite unit that's attacking. Case in point: my Naffatun regularly beat Feudal Knights in sieges when I'm defending, despite the Feudal Knights being almost the best sword unit in the game stat-wise.

So in summary, I go with halberds or polearms to defend walls. Spears are no good. Swords are good too, especially when you're using those elite archer units that can double as effective sword-armed melee units, like Retinues, ottoman infantry, guard archers, and Janissary or Cossack Musketeers. Being able to soften up an attacking enemy with missiles before engaging them while they have to ascend your walls always gives you an enormous advantage.

[Murfios]

Happy New Year.


-Murfios

[akodo]

As far as i've seen, fighting on walls is very much diffrent than on the ground. Inferior wall defenders can easily destroy units that would normally cut them to pieces, so having peasents defend against dis. feaudal knights isn't such a ludecris idea.
As for attacking walls, the thing to look for is attack speed. Even heavily armored 2 handed swordsmen and axemen will fall to the defenders if they climb one-by-one, so you need to look for units that can swiftly kill those around them to secure some more space to fight in. Swords do well, and spearmen are also quite good.

[Quillan]

I've seen my town militia send off dismounted chivalric knights on a wall before. The most important factor to keep in mind when contemplating assaulting a city or castle is this:

You'll take far more casualties from the towers than you ever will from the defenders

It's missile fire from the towers that causes most of the casualties. It will kill some friendlies too, but the ratio isn't 1:1, it seems more like 3 attackers for every defender who happens to get in the way of a bolt. What's more, the towers seem to do more casualties than any missile unit would. I don't know if it's that they have an absurdly high attack rating, they have the effective against armor ability, the game treats them as shooting at the rear of the unit so it doesn't count shields as well as defense skill, or some combination of the above.

If you have artillery, destroy the towers near where you're going to launch the assault at the walls; you'll do much better that way. On the other hand, if you have artillery it might be better just to breach the walls and make a dash for the square. It depends on circumstances.

[A. Smith]

If you have artillery, destroy the towers near where you're going to launch the assault at the walls; you'll do much better that way. On the other hand, if you have artillery it might be better just to breach the walls and make a dash for the square. It depends on circumstances.

Or a combo of both, if you have enough ammo.

[Zenicetus]

Yeah, the very effective fire from the towers dominate wall tactics right now. When defending, almost anything will work on top of the walls, but if I have 'em to spare I'll use pavise crossbowmen. They'll do a little damage to attackers before they reach the walls, and they have a decent defense rating to handle combat on the walls... which basically comes down to a delaying action while the towers shoot up the attackers. Remember to keep units near the towers so they're active, even if it's just peasants at the base of the walls.

When attacking, I take out the nearby towers with artillery if I have it, and I might break the walls at one or two places if I have enough ammo. If that's not an option, I'll usually just go for ramming the gate and a zerg rush there, instead of trying to get men up on the walls. Whenever possible I attack at two points; the front and one side of the settlement, so I can get flanking units (cavalry, preferably) to rush in and hit the main gate defenders in the back. It's important to have fast units that can get through the secondary break quickly, and away from the defending towers.

FY, auto-resolving sieges as the attacker will result in fewer casualties, since (I think) the tower fire isn't calculated.

[Sir Boo]

I personally bellieve sticking speer units on the walls and a decent walls of speers at the gate is an undefeatable tactic against any foes despite the speers aparent disadvantages...

[katank]

Spears indeed work fine. Then again, anything does. The key to sieges is to achieve a sufficiently big blob to hold the enemy in place while your towers maul em.

[Snoil The Mighty]

Spears indeed work fine. Then again, anything does. The key to sieges is to achieve a sufficiently big blob to hold the enemy in place while your towers maul em.

+1. A nice big blob works better than any fancy tactics I've tried. Spears are good blobsters, but whatever ya got. Swords, pike, whatever, just have a lot of it so the missiles can do their thing.

"Quantity has a quality all of it's own"

[Von Nanega]

I generally have 2 units of peasants at seige likely locations. Fast attack animations, low upkeep. They seem to hold walls pretty good.

[sapi]

The trouble with peasants is that they can't move off the walls to chase routers, so you need at least one good unit if you don't have the battle time limit on.

[Von Nanega]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The trouble with peasants is that they can't move off the walls to chase routers, so you need at least one good unit if you don't have the battle time limit on.

Absolutely right sapi. I usually have those same few peasants moved up from a secured area then up to a city that gets attacked lots. Some merchant cav, or scouts, or hobbilars depending on the faction. Also part of the city defense team is some spear militia. Usually 4 spear militia, 1 merchant cav or other light cav, and those peasants. Also two archers almost always in a city near my accursed enemies.

EDIT: As an aside, these peasants that I have been using have got a gold chevron now. Probably that is why they do the job so well now!

[gingergenius]

Well defending seems to be very easy for me, whether or not I have my own missile troops or even a wooden wall its all very simple. I held Antwerp with 5 units of town militia spearmen, against a Danish stack of dismounted huskarls and Warrior priests (or whatever). Similarly I held Rennes with an army of peasants and militia against a much larger and more experienced French army.

The trick is to pack the gate area with spears, keep any cavalry in reserve till they are needed, and don't focus too much effort on holding the walls - they are useful while the enemy is advancing but once they have broken in then all their efforts are on fighting their way to the main square. If they take the walls then they still have to do all of that.

[Von Nanega]

I defended another city against the accursed Milan forces of darkness. I rushed some cav out to wreck the ram. Note to self.....get back quickly or they will chase you inside and butcher your militia with Dismounted Broken Lances. But you know, I lost the city but the very fact that I CAN lose makes it all so much better.