Siege Help

[Benandorf]

I have a problem: I can't seem to do well in Sieges. No matter what I do, I'll lose huge numbers regardless of the size of the enemy. And not to the enemy troops, either; mostly due to towers as I go through winding streets, and the hot oil at the front. Should I just sap the walls and go through there? No matter how many times I go through towers, they keep their little flags up of the enemy faction and keep shooting, too; can I not turn off those arrows of death?

And this problem is doubled as Greek Cities, because Phalanxes are slow and get killed by the burning oil at the gate, and can't take walls.

So, any suggestions? Should I build lots of artillery? Any way to turn off that oil, or how to turn off the towers? How to win sieges with The Greek Cities?

Thanks in advance.

[Bootsiuv]

If you run through the towers and they're is no enemies laying claim to any of the surrounding area i.e. there are no enemies around, you should be able to capture them, and the arrows will start shooting down on the enemy.

I usually send a unit of skirmishers up on my towers and have them run around the walls anywhere I think I'll have to walk my troops. You can also capture the gatehouse, so hot oil won't drop on you. This is usually more difficult though, as there are often troops stationed at the gatehouse you start near, and walking all the way around would make sieges even more boring than they already are. Be careful though, because if your troops start fighting near the gates and you own them, hot oil will be spilt on enemy troops and your troops might get burned as well. Hope that helps.

[Benandorf]

Hm, guess there's been other stuff in the way when I try to capture towers, then.

Is there any way around the boiling oil? Because whenever I try to use rams it kills my people and usually the ram too. And any massive melees at the front end with boiling oil killing hundreds.

Thank you for the advice (I really do appreciate it), anyone else have anything to ad, or to address my other questions?

[Phoenix]

To avoid the boiling oil you need to capture the Gatehouse by moving troops on the wall onto it or destroying it...otherwise you have to enter the city by another way.

If you want to fight on the walls then Armored or Spartan Hoplites can beat any Pre-Marian Roman infantry but after the Marian Reforms you probably should use mainly Spartans for wall fighting. Training your troops at a settlement that has the Temple of Nike helps also helps as it boosts your troops' experience by up to 3 when you have the 4th Level of the Temple built.

The other way (probably the easier one) is to bring 3 or so units of Onagers and destroy the Gatehouse (you need to destroy both the door and the walls above it to turn off the boiling oil) and some wall sections as well as all nearby towers. If you sap the walls you can reduce the number of Onager units to 1 or 2 but relying on only sapping will result in alot of casualties from the towers if the defenders can put up a tough fight within their range. Sapping also isn't available for Epic Stone Walls.

Btw, if you send a spy into the city before attacking it there's a chance he'll open the gates when you attack it, if he does that then the boiling oil is turned off.

[Benandorf]

The boiling oil IS turned off? Can anyone else confirm this? Maybe it was because I was playing with an older patch (finally patched to 1.5 today), but it always seemed to burn me regardless of spies.

Thanks on the suggest on Onagers; I was afraid that's what I'd have to do, but I guess low casualties are more important than a blitzkrieg.

[Bootsiuv]

If your spy opens up the gates before the battle, then, yes, the boiling oil won't be on AFAIK.

[Severous]

Hello.

In the patched versions of RTW V1.5 and BI V1.6 gates:

Pour oil:
- if you follow routers inside an enemy held gate
- if you try to force your way in though an enemy held gate
- on the enemy if you capture the gathouse and open the door to allow the enemy to pass through

Dont pour oil:
- if your spy disables/opens the gates before battle
- if you 100% destroy the gatehouse with artillery
- if your wall top running troops capture the gatehouse

Hope this forum doesnt mind but we were swapping lots of siege tactics, with pictures, in a campaign thread on another forum. Its Barbarian Invasion..but it works the same as RTW. Lots of pictures so members with slow downloaders beware...
http://rtw.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/f...8&st=20#post21