Hey guys Spirit of the Law here
What was I found as a newer player, It was easy to overlook siege
It's not as flashy as some of the other unit types, they're kind of slow and expensive, pretty weak to melee units
And aren't quite as intuitive to figure out how to use
At the same time, they're definitely not units you want to avoid altogether
In this video, I'd like to take a look at what roles I like to use each of the different siege units for
And hopefully give you some Ideas to try in your own games
If you're already a pretty experienced player
I imagine a lot of these will just reaffirm some of the things that you're already doing. Let's check it out
To start things off, lets take a look at the Battering Ram
When you think siege, you might think anti-building, and the ram definitely fits that role
On paper it has just 2 attack, but hidden behind that is a massive attack bonus against buildings
In addition to that, It's high pierce armor makes it unique in Castle Age at least
For its ability to take out defensive buildings and Town Centers
Which can only do 1 damage per arrow to them
The flipside is that they take 3 extra damage from villagers and other melee units
that's why you'll sometimes see players successfully fighting them off with villagers
And they seem to go down faster than their high HP would suggest
If not properly defended from cavalry or infantry
Rams can still perform a similar anti-building role in Imperial Age
Though in that case, they'll have to compete with the Trebuchet
Which demolishes buildings at a similar rate, but from the safety of being 300 meters away
The ram's high pierce armor also means they take 1 damage from Bombard Towers
Which kind of doesn't make sense when you think about it, but is a useful fact to keep in mind
That makes them a great counter unit to send in first against mass towers to draw a lot of their fire
Allowing other units to be sent in afterward
Bombard Cannons on the other hand do melee damage
So they end up doing 63 damage per shot to rams, making them be much larger threat
Now Trebuchet are an interesting one, because their pierce damage attack is similar to the ram's pierce armor
With both around 200
Where regular Battering Ram that equates to 11 damage per shot
But for the Siege Ram that's down to just 6
In addition to holding up well against defensive buildings
That high pierce armor also gives them a somewhat less obvious role, as a counter to archers
In fact, I'd argued they're the best counter to mass Longbowman
That's not so much because they actually fight them head-to-head
But because archers prioritize attacking the closest enemy unit
Meaning any of your own ranged units behind the rams
Are not gonna be hit without your opponent psychically targeting them individually
Another more obscure role that rams could sometimes play that might be handy in a pinch
Is that they have 40 bonus damage against other siege units
Letting rams take out many of them in just a few hits
That makes it an interesting counter against enemy trebuchet in a pinch, for example
Again, assuming there aren't enemy melee units nearby
Garrisoning units into the ram also speeds it up
And slightly increases its attack by 10 damage per garrisoned unit
Meaning the potential is there to increase their attack by about a third
The garrison process is a bit time-consuming to organise
So it's not something that most players online seem to consider being worth the effort
On occasion, it can help units or villagers get past a lot of arrow fire
And with a slow melee unit like the Teutonic Knight
That is weak against archers, you can make the argument there's some nice synergy there
it's also pretty cheap to upgrade to Capped Ram, which gets an extra garrison slot
A greater area of splash damage around it and even higher attack bonus against buildings
That's quite a bit of value for just 300 food
the Siege Ram upgrade on the other hand is quite a bit more expensive, at 1,000 food
With, again, more damage output, a greater damage area and faster movement
Each upgrade, of course, also comes with an increase to their defensive stats like HP and pierce armor
So overall, I'd characterize rams as a tanky anti-building specialist unit with a useful role to play against archers
And taking out the occasional unprotected Trebuchet
The next unit is my favorite type of siege, and that's the Mangonel and onager line
They do melee damage but attack from 7 or more range while featuring a large area of effect
Unlike the Battering Ram -- which is specialized in dealing with buildings
The Mangonel is primarily used against groups of enemy units
They were common counter to archers starting in the mid-game
Though, at a high enough level of play and with low enough lag, that becomes less and less true
In those situations the effectiveness comes down to the skill gap between the archer players dodging
And the Mangonel player's ability to predict the archers movements with the Attack Ground feature
Not only do both units have similar range, but the Mangonel also features some decent pierce armor
So in a game between average players, The Mangonel are usually going to trade effectively
In the Castle Age, military numbers are often low enough as well
That a nice Mangonel shot or 2 can take out a good chunk of a player's army & dramatically shift momentum
In the late-game, Onagers still have a useful role against large groups of enemies
But like Mangonels, have an easily exploited weakness of minimum range
That means they need to be combined with melee units to prevent cavalry from getting too close
Unlike some other siege units, friendly fire can also be an issue
Which is part of why they combined so well wood cheap throwaway units like pikes or Halberdiers
It's a simple and common pairing that allows both units to cover each other's weaknesses
In addition to that role, they're actually not terrible against buildings either
They have a bit of bonus damage against them
Though, between their fire rate and lower damage
They end up doing only about half the damage per second of the ram overtime
On the other hand, they out-range the Town Center by 1 tile
Letting you put pressure on your opponent with less risk of having your siege fought off by villagers
And speaking of villagers, they're also 1 of the most effective ways to stop villagers
From pushing through buildings, like castles or towers
Given their great damage and area of attack
Looking quickly at their upgrades
The Onager upgrade is a bit unique by giving you the ability to easily cut trees in the modern expansions
A couple of other units can do this, but certainly not at the same rate
That's useful on forested maps, of course
As you can show up a long way from where your opponent is expecting you
You also get an increase to their range, HP, attack and pierce armor along with a slightly larger area of damage
considering how many ways they're improved
And how expensive Mangonels are to begin with at 160 wood and 135 gold
It's a fairly common upgrade to see people pick up in Imperial Age
It's also available for every civilization except Huns & Turks, further contributing to how common they're to see
The Siege Onager on the other hand is a lot more restrictive and expensive to upgrade
And therefore more rare
Less than a third of civilizations have access to it
And those that do tend to have other siege bonuses like faster speed, attack rate and range etc
For their large cost, you get 50% more damage than the Onager, a bit more HP and armor
And they get another increase to their area of attack, making them even harder to dodge
In classic Age of Conquerors, this is the upgrade you need to cut trees
Making civilizations that have access to it important on forested maps
Again, assuming it's properly protected from cavalry
The Siege Onager is arguably the greatest weapon of mass destruction that you can find in the game
Next up, let's take a look at Scorpion
They make for an interesting contrast with Mangonels
Because they fire in a straight line to damage multiple units, rather than in a circular area
The actual attack works by dealing full damage to the unit they target
And half damage to any other enemy units that they happen to hit
It's not uncommon at all to see people use staggered formations against them
To try to reduce some of that extra damage
They also don't have friendly fire and are significantly cheaper
Giving them a few quick points over the Mangonel
Now unlike the 2 siege units we've seen so far though, Scorpions don't perform very well against buildings
And instead fill a purely anti-unit role
They generally considered to be a counter to infantry and archers, and any other slow-moving or low HP units
Though, enough of them can even do well against cavalry especially in close spaces
It really comes down to how many you have
And how well you using the terrain to squeeze the enemy into a line
As well, more than any other siege unit, getting Scorpion numbers up to a critical mass is incredibly important
As rather than diminishing returns, Increasing their numbers only makes them all work better
A single Scorpion isn't very scary, and their cheaper price reflects that
But a group of 20 or 30 in a chokepoint can make quick work of any passing army
part of the reason for that is they have a minimum range of 3 tiles
And an unfortunate habit of targeting the closest unit to them
So in practice they work best when set on stand ground
Taking a look at their upgrade, the Heavy Scorpion comes at a steep price
Especially considering how cheap the individual units are
But it's paired with a sizable increase to their attack and HP
Considering how many units you normally use at once
And how critical it is to stop enemies before they close the distance
The extra 4 attack makes the upgrade worth considering
Online they're definitely the least used siege unit that we've seen so far, which I think is for 2 main reasons
First of all, you need a large number of them to provide a proper threat to infantry and cavalry
Which leaves you vulnerable while you getting those numbers up
Second and I think more important is their slow speed and low HP
Make them very hard countered by Onager and Mangonel
That's not to say Scorpions are always a bad idea
But a problem that constantly plagues them is that even when used correctly
A lucky Onager shot can wipe out half your army
The next siege units I'd like to discuss as a pair, since I feel they have very similar roles as long-range artillery
That's the Bombard Cannon and Trebuchet
These the 2 most expensive units in the game, though in the right situation they can be definitely worth it
Both out range most civilizations Castles, and force your opponent to bring their army to you
Unless, they want their buildings to be slowly chipped away
That being said, I wouldn't call the unit's completely interchangeable
Look at the Bombard Cannon first, it has anywhere between 12 and 15 range
Depending on the civilization and upgrades
Which they combine with high attack, accuracy, a reasonable attack rate
Lots of bonus damage against buildings and even splash damage if they fire into a group of units
The Trebuchet in contrast has a bit more range
even higher attack though with a lower attack rate and lower accuracy
They also require a bit of time to setup and takedown
For me, the Bombard Cannons big selling feature is their extra mobility
Making them an effective counter to lots of dangerous siege units, like the Trebuchet, Onager and Scorpion
That's why in addition to being anti-building artillery
I sometimes consider them to be a part-time defensive counter unit
At least much more so than the Trebuchet
The main 2 drawbacks of the Bombard Cannon in my opinion
Are first that it's a bit harder to get access to than the Trebuchet
Both because it requires Chemistry to be researched first
As well as the fact it's simply not available for every civilizations
Another drawback is they have significantly less pierce armor
Making them a lot more squishy, especially around archers
The Trebuchet in contrast is more specialized for cracking defences, thanks to higher damage and range
It's also available in every civilizations, assuming you have a Castle
Making it easy to get out as soon as you hit Imperial
A couple of other nice things about the Trebuchet are that it can destroy trees
As well as the fact that it doesn't deal friendly fire
Meaning unlike the Bombard Cannon
You can indiscriminately fire it into a blob of your own units without hesitation
At the end of the day, both units see a lot of play at every skill level
And 1 or both will inevitably make an appearance at some point in any game that extends to the Imperial Age
For me, the Trebuchet is the better building killer
And the more durable unit that I'll lean toward if I'm really stretched for gold
Where's the Bombard Cannon is the more versatile unit, I lean more on when my opponent is using a lot of siege
So those are all of the siege units, wait, what's that siege tower? You want me to talk about you too?
I suppose before I wrap things up, we should look at the newest addition to the siege family
Now I've been a little hard on the Siege Tower for not being very good, but let's try to give it a fair shake
It's available in the modern expansions, and it's unique for being the only siege unit that can't attack at all
Instead, it can garrison up to 10 units and ungarrison them across walls
It's pretty easy to see how that would be a useful trick in Arena
Or really any map as long as the walls you're jumping are only 1 tile thick
It does have to be pointed out though that the Petard can also kick-start a sneak attack in a similar way
If you happen to have a Castle, there a slightly cheaper option and much less finicky to use
In addition to sneaky wall hopping shenanigans
Siege Towers can also be used just as a fast way to move units around the map
And past enemy archers or defenses
That in itself might sound similar to the ram
But the advantage is that it does the same thing a lot faster, and with better garrison space
On the other hand, it doesn't provide the threat to buildings that the Battering Ram one does
And cost significantly more
It's not so much that the siege tower is useless
But that its cost and lack of attack capacity restrict it to a single use: Moving other units from point A to B
Even while doing that specific function, it's easily foiled though
By simply having double layered walls or 2 separate walls
At this point I think the general perception is that it's more of a novelty unit
Than one that really has a lot more to explore
But if you don't think that's fair, feel free to let me know
In fact, if you have some of your own tips on any of the siege units listed
You're more than welcome to share those
It's a diverse group with strengths and situations in which they excel
Many of which can also play multiple roles
Even in the Imperial Age, the Trebuchet and Bombard Cannon still don't completely replace the ram
Which still does better than either when it comes to actually cleaning up an opponent's base
Given their higher mobility, cheaper cost, and quick creation speed
You can start to see it's not really about picking a favorite siege unit and just sticking to that one
But more about figuring out how each plays a unique role, even if there is a bit of overlap
That's all for this one though
I hope you picked up a new little idea or inspiration to try using siege in a slightly different way
Thanks for watching guys, and I'll see you next time