Defensive Siege AI...

**alpaca** · 11-28-2007, 21:29

Yeah I've been using that tactic, too, until I got bored with it and introduced a house rule that forbids using the cats for anything but breaking down the walls.

Besides: This is also the reason why I'm playing with the thought of removing cats/trebs/cannons altogether from my game.

**Cadwallon** · 11-29-2007, 01:33

Clausewitz said that an attacker needs a 3 to 1 advantage to ensure victory in a siege situation. The AI needs that when attacking me, but I only need parity to attack his cities.

Storming a city needs to be more costly - there is a reason why long sieges and blockading were favoured. The problem with any AI is that after a while it stops giving you trouble, and you work out what it will do in any given scenario.

I've played VH/VH with most factions and find them almost laughably easy - still enjoy the game though, and every now and then it suprises me.

**Askthepizzaguy** · 11-30-2007, 21:10

Interesting....

I've been so focused on the campaign aspect of the game that I haven't bothered too much with reducing casualties unless I have critical battles ahead and I need the troops. Typically I disband troops I don't need anyway, and being lost in battle saves me the trouble.

I will use this tactic if I ever decide I need artillery for some reason. Not sure when or why I would need any.

If I were playing a serious campaign or against a human, I would actually bother with such details. Good tip, though!

**Invar** · 12-02-2007, 11:08

I have sometimes taken a wall near a gate, but when I try to order my troops onto the top of the gate (with a tower intervening) they "refuse". Their movement arrows go away and they just stay on top of the wall. Do I have to order them into each tower/wall segment one at a time?

**Ramses II CP** · 12-02-2007, 17:05

Yeah, one at a time and only small groups of men can fit between the towers over the gate.

**mir** · 12-03-2007, 04:00

This then begs the question:

Why is it that sometimes the walls have archers firing at you (even without any defenders) and sometimes not at all?

In my current game, the Moors declared a Jihad on Spanish-held Cordoba. After many years of sailing, I arrived, laid siege to the city and in the ensuing battle, I did not lose a single man storming his walls!

Of course, all he had was a single General's Bodyguard in the city square waiting for me.

So, do the walls only fire arrows when there are troops manning them?

And unlike RTW, my troops can no longer capture the Wall Towers and make them fire on the troops inside... :(

**Cheetah** · 12-03-2007, 04:24

Originally Posted by mir

So, do the walls only fire arrows when there are troops manning them?

Yes. You need troops standing nearby the given wall section. Actually the towers firing not the walls. Flags show up when the towers are active.

**WhiskeyGhost** · 12-03-2007, 04:32

Originally Posted by mir

This then begs the question:

Why is it that sometimes the walls have archers firing at you (even without any defenders) and sometimes not at all?

In my current game, the Moors declared a Jihad on Spanish-held Cordoba. After many years of sailing, I arrived, laid siege to the city and in the ensuing battle, I did not lose a single man storming his walls!

Of course, all he had was a single General's Bodyguard in the city square waiting for me.

So, do the walls only fire arrows when there are troops manning them?

And unlike RTW, my troops can no longer capture the Wall Towers and make them fire on the troops inside... :(

yes, a unit needs to be nearby, or on the wall for the towers to fire. And no, you cannot turn them, but getting an archer unit onto the walls works much better