Defending archers do not do enough damage in siege.

[Shahed]

Particularly elite archers such as Retinue Longbowmen, do not do enough damage in sieges.

It looks to me as the targetting mechanics is fuzzy on this one. The archers don't shoot what's RIGHT IN FRONT fo them but aim high and the massive arc makes the projectile impact much less devastating, it seems. I've been playing England, defensive at Antwerp, as everyone wants that town and it's a great place to slaughter HRE, Danes, French. Retinues do about 30 kills at maximum per siege battle. They also seem to have a hard time targetting units approaching the walls and gate, even though all they have to do is shoot straight. When they do actually shoot straight they obviously get more kills.

Of course I've been deploying them one rank deep etc, so no n00b tactics as far as I can see.

Imagine them being up there on the wall with a clear shot for 150 meters, a longbowman's dream.

IMO this needs official tweaking. I'm still trying to figure out how I can change it myself.

[Daveybaby]

It seems like they cant get a direct line of fire - i.e. the wall itself is blocking them, and thus they fire in a 'parabolic' trajectory rather than a direct one - thus missing a lot more and doing less damage when they do actually hit.

People have documented archers on walls firing nearly straight up in order to hit enemy units close to the wall.

[Miracle]

This is a fairly well known bug.

It is caused by the merlons of the battlements preventing a clear line of sight for many missile users on the walls. As a result they are forced to shoot either over them or through the tiny crenels.

The obvious solution is simply to shorten the height of the parapet to about waist-height.

Terminology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlement

[Lusted]

Well with 1.2 missile units work much better on walls, with them actually shooting though the crenels, but archers still favour the high shot. But if you reduce the max angle for arrows to 45, most will shoot through the crenels whilst those behind fire at the max angle which still allows them to do a lot of damage.

[FactionHeir]

Actually I found that they shoot better if you put them max ranks deep on the wall and clustered against one of the towers.

[Shahed]

Thanks for the replies all. That explains everything. Where can I change the max angle to 45 ? Is it possible to mod the battlements so they no longer obstruct the archers' line of fire ?

FH when you deployed them that deep, were they shooting up or straight. When I deployed them 2 ranks deep, as a test, I found they did even less damage. I was assuming if I deployed them deeper still the damage would reduce porportionately.

It would be better if 2-3 groups of elite missile troops could do more damage in this defensive situation. They are protected by the battlements, supported by the towers, have nowhere to run to, they are elite marksmen.

BTW Sherwoods do better in siege.

Does anyone know how the unit's projectile accuracy is determined.

Thanks for the help.

Salute !

[Lusted]

Where can I change the max angle to 45 ?

descr_projectiles.txt

Is it possible to mod the battlements so they no longer obstruct the archers' line of fire ?

Nope.

[Shahed]

Thanks. blaaaaaaaaaarg!!!!! Official fix is required for this.