Sieges

A siege is a prolonged confrontation in which an invading army surrounds an enemy castle and spends several seasons building siege weapons. Capturing a castle by siege is the only way to win a county that has a garrisoned castle.

Historically, Medieval armies besieging a castle had to contend with moats, 10-foot-thick stone walls, arrows, boiling oil, and other dangerous objects being hurled at them by the castle defenders above. You will face these same obstacles as you command sieges.

Once the siege battle begins, it will proceed just as a normal battle; you will issue orders in the same fashion. During a siege battle, however, you will have specialized weapons (catapults, battering rams, and siege towers) at your disposal. To win a siege, you must do one of two things:

• Kill all the soldiers defending the castle,
• Break into the castle and capture its flag. A castle’s flag will be clearly visible in the castle, in the color of the defender’s kingdom. If one of your men reaches it, the castle is yours.

Laying Siege

The height and protection of a castle give its defenders a great advantage over an attacking army. The advantage becomes greater the larger and more complex the castle is. Taking an enemy castle requires planning, manpower and perseverance.

To begin a siege, select an army and move it to the castle you desire. With the army selected, place the mouse pointer directly over the castle, so that the movement indicator turns gold, and click.

Preparing a Siege

When you begin a siege, a panel will allow you to prepare the siege by choosing the type and number of siege weapons (catapults, battering rams and siege towers) you want to build.

Click on the up and down arrows to the left of each siege weapon to select how many to build. The panel tells you how many seasons it will take to prepare for the siege—in other words, how long it will take your army to build the siege weapons. The bigger your army, the less time it will take to build each weapon.

When you are satisfied with your selection of siege weapons, click the Proceed button.

While your siege weapons are being built, a symbol will appear over the besieged castle showing the number of remaining seasons of siege preparation. Click on the besieging army to monitor its progress.

When the siege battle is about to begin, a panel will inform you that the siege battle is about to begin. The panel lists the breakdown of units for each army and asks you if you’d like to take the field. If you choose not to, the computer will immediately calculate the results of the siege battle.

The Siege Screen

If you choose to take the field, the battlefield screen will appear, with the castle dominating the landscape. The siege weapons you have built will be present. Your army, complete with siege weapons, awaits orders outside the entrance of the castle—or on the opposite side of the moat if there is one. The garrison defending the castle is stationed inside. Survey the positions of both your army and the castle’s defenders before the siege begins so you can devise your attack strategy.

Winning a Siege

Offensively, there are two ways to win a siege. One is by killing all the castle defenders. Archers, firing from outside the castle, will help you accomplish this, but you will most often have to send soldiers into the castle to fight hand-to-hand. The other way is by capturing the castle’s flag. To do this, you must break into the castle in some way and at least one soldier must reach the flag, which will be clearly visible in the main screen view. The area surrounding the enemy’s flag will often be guarded heavily. There are several ways to get into a castle: you can • Use a siege tower to climb over the wall. • Punch holes in the wall with a catapult. • Destroy a gate with a battering ram. • Have your soldiers hack the gate to pieces. (This will not work on Drawbridges). ONLY castle walls—not towers—may be knocked down or climbed.

Siege Weapons

Siege weapons are catapults, battering rams, and siege towers. When the siege battle begins, your siege weapons will be on the field along with the rest of your troops. Siege weapons do require soldiers to man them. These soldiers will be represented in the control panel when you select a weapon, but will not be visible on the field. When you give an order to a siege weapon, you are effectively ordering its crew.

While any siege weapon is within range of enemy archers or crossbowmen, it is vulnerable to attack. Siege weapons are especially vulnerable to crossbow fire. Close range units can also be used to attack and destroy siege weapons.

Once the entire crew manning the weapon is killed, the weapon is destroyed and will disappear from the field.

Catapults

A catapult can knock down a castle wall from a distance, including from across a moat. To use a catapult, maneuver it to face the wall you want to attack. With the catapult selected, move your mouse pointer over the target spot on the wall and click. The catapult will fire repeatedly until the wall is breached. Once this happens, you may march your soldiers right through the hole in the wall.

Battering Rams

A battering ram can knock down a castle gate. A battering ram must be moved right against its target to work. To use a battering ram, move it against the gate you would like to attack so that its ram faces the gate. The battering ram will pound on the gate until it is breached. Your men will then be able to march through the opening and into the castle.

Siege Towers

A siege tower allows your soldiers to climb up and over a castle wall. To use a siege tower, move it right against the target wall. When the siege tower is in place, it will open up automatically, signalling that it is accessible. You may then march your troops over the tower and into the castle.

Walls, Towers, and Gates

Walls and towers will provide protection for a castle’s garrison. Archers and crossbowmen may be positioned along the top of a wall or atop a tower in order to target attackers below.

Neither archers nor crossbowmen will be capable of firing over a wall or tower from the ground level. This means that those inside a castle must be on top of a wall or tower to fire at those outside, and those outside may only hit troops that are on top of a wall or tower.

Troops atop walls or towers will be somewhat protected from missile troops firing from below and will endure fewer casualties than they would if they were on the same level.

The various siege weapons must target areas of a castle with care: battering rams may only attack castle gates; catapults can only break through walls; and siege towers will only work on walls.

Once inside a castle, the only way to move from walls to higher towers is via stairways. Send your troops through the stairways to move from level to level.

Defending troops may move in and out of gates at will. Attackers must destroy a gate to go through it.

Moats

A castle with a moat presents a special challenge. As the attacker, you must fill in part of the moat in order to enable your men to attack and enter the castle. Any unit is capable of moat filling, with the exception of knights.

Before ordering units to begin filling in the moat, choose the section you would like to fill. It might be the narrowest section of moat, or it might be the section adjacent to the area you’d like to attack.

To order units to fill in a section of moat, select the units, and then click on the area of water you want to fill in. The selected units will march to the edge of the water with shovels and begin digging.

Your diggers will be open to attack while they are working. You may find it best to use peasants for this task, since you will eventually want to send your skilled fighters into the castle.

One solid strategy is to fire a catapult over a moat to breach a wall, and then send your troops over the moat and through the breach.

Defending a Castle

If you are defending against a castle siege, your goal is obvious: hold the castle at all costs. The first step is to create a large and powerful garrison, complete with archers and crossbowmen to pick off attackers before they can reach you. As defender, the advantage is yours and you must exploit it to its fullest! Remember: if the attacker gets to your flag, the castle is lost guard it well!

Boiling Oil

Along with missile troops, another effective weapon for castle defense is boiling oil. Each castle will be automatically supplied with one or more cauldrons of boiling oil. Boiling oil is very effective when dumped on troops and siege weapons who get too close to your castle walls.

Move and dump your cauldrons just as you move attack with your troops. The effects of a boiling oil attack can be spectacular and deadly.

Defending the Flag

Remember: a castle siege can be a game of capture the flag. If an attacker reaches your flag, the castle is lost. You must make sure your flag is well defended on all sides. Keep a close eye on your flag and don’t let your opponent sneak up on your from behind.

The Drawbridge

Castles that have moats will also have drawbridges, which you may open by using the lower castle drawbridge button. You may want to lower the drawbridge in order to send hand-to-hand combat troops out of your castle to destroy siege weapons. Once you open a drawbridge, your troops may move in and out of the castle but so can the enemy. Make sure your drawbridge is well guarded while it is open.

The Outcome

If you have won the siege, the contested county is now yours and you’ll see a flag bearing your game colors flying atop the castle when you return to the main screen.

If the castle is damaged, set about repairing it as soon as you have the materials and builders. (See Repairing a Castle.) Damage will carry over from siege to siege unless you repair it.