So i've noticed that sieges are pretty lack luster both defensively and offensively. So this my idea of adding more flavor onto sieges.
Rework of sieges:
I want sieges to be a bit more lengthy and complicated. So my idea is to make the attacking siegers to try to take control of the entire castle or town before claiming victory. How we will do this is by having the defensive side slowly back up from the walls when it is breached, rather than going all out once the gate is open. How this would work is once the enemy has put on ladders or broken up the gates. All defensive troops will begin to get out of the walls and reach the front of the gate and the militias will begin to come out. Militias won't be in the battle until the walls were compromised unless the garrisons are strong enough, if that is the case then the militias will go outside of the castle and play defensive outside the walls. If your troops are losing and the enemy is inside the castle. Then your troops will begin to slowly backup into the castle/towns and some troops will even just directly run rather than slowly back up. The militia will act more of a backup plan rather than just extra men. If your in a castle and let's say for example. Thractorae castle. What would happen in the defensive side of this siege is that once the walls are compromised and the militia's attempt to defend the gates failed. The militia and any remaining garrison troops will then retreat into the small walls and house roof's as an improvised defense. Also stationed guards you would see when you walk around the castle will be idle until this occurs, when this occurs then they will no longer be guarding their post and they will begin to try to fight the enemy army. The improvised defense will remain until a lot of troops are lost, if this is the case then the remaining troops will retreat into the front of the lords hall where they would make a last stand. This is where the enemy basically won the siege, but there is more. If you are the player and your the one sieging. Then you will be taken into the lord hall in which you will be able to talk to the lord managing the castle/town. You will be given 4 options. You can just tell your men to charge and kill the remaining enemy troops and imprison the lord. Or you can try to persuade the lord to join your army (typical "your liege doesn't deserve your loyalty" stuff) The bonus of doing this in a siege is that you are more likely to persuade them due to them being cornered by your troops and you literally destroying their castle and entire army. You can also just say you will leave them alone for a bunch of cash. Or you can tell them to yield or die (there is a chance they actually might yield, saves you a bunch of time) This is my idea of a better siege than a siege we have currently and makes sieges more realistic and lively.
Starving enemies in sieges: If sieges take a lot of food then why not try to take advantage of that? Why fight them when you can starve them to death. This allows players to pillage/take resources of villages connected to castles or towns, as well as kill any caravans going to that town/castle. Basically cutting off their supplies, if you continue to do this after a while then the town/castle your sieging would decrease in troop count, soldiers will get debuffs due to them starving, and morale will be low as hell. This strategy could be very helpful early game when you want to take that cool town called Revolt but they have more troops than you. So this new strategy would make sieging early game way easier. Keep in mind though, if you just pillage all the villages and kill all caravans all in one day or too quickly, then kingdom will take notice and send an army to take you out. So it's not like you can just speed run it unless you want an army of 500 or more coming at you while you are setting up your siege, or even before you even get to that point. This process could take a while because you need to wait for all their food to go down, and also their resources to spill.
Defensive fortifications:
When in a siege, while the militias retreat into the towns or castles like discussed on the siege rework. They will be behind Redoubts(and Chevaux de frise) that will act like stationary spears. They will hurt any troops that get too close to it, not doing a lot of damage but it can take down injured troops. There will also be small improvised watchtowers ontop of houses, the troops on the tower can be killed with ranged units or spearman but that's basically it. So make sure to bring them. They will also have a bunch of Palisades around the insides of the castle. There would also be improvised traps inside of the castle walls for troops to step on and get damaged by
New defensive siege weapons
There will be new types of weapons that could be used against enemies. One example is pouring boiling oil, water, or hot sand over siege towers so any enemies climbing up the later would be burned by the flaming materials. Traps could also be setup outside of castle walls for enemies to step on and take damage, things like bear traps or Caltrops: would work nicely. Rolling logs will also be an available defense for castles and towns. How it will work is when the militias and the garrison troops retreat into the castle after losing the gate, the troops that got a head start to the center of the castle/towns will prepare 2 logs that will roll down a steep hill or just pushed onto the floor and rolled into the approaching enemy army, the logs can cause the entire army to fall (or lose all their posture)
Rework of sieges:
I want sieges to be a bit more lengthy and complicated. So my idea is to make the attacking siegers to try to take control of the entire castle or town before claiming victory. How we will do this is by having the defensive side slowly back up from the walls when it is breached, rather than going all out once the gate is open. How this would work is once the enemy has put on ladders or broken up the gates. All defensive troops will begin to get out of the walls and reach the front of the gate and the militias will begin to come out. Militias won't be in the battle until the walls were compromised unless the garrisons are strong enough, if that is the case then the militias will go outside of the castle and play defensive outside the walls. If your troops are losing and the enemy is inside the castle. Then your troops will begin to slowly backup into the castle/towns and some troops will even just directly run rather than slowly back up. The militia will act more of a backup plan rather than just extra men. If your in a castle and let's say for example. Thractorae castle. What would happen in the defensive side of this siege is that once the walls are compromised and the militia's attempt to defend the gates failed. The militia and any remaining garrison troops will then retreat into the small walls and house roof's as an improvised defense. Also stationed guards you would see when you walk around the castle will be idle until this occurs, when this occurs then they will no longer be guarding their post and they will begin to try to fight the enemy army. The improvised defense will remain until a lot of troops are lost, if this is the case then the remaining troops will retreat into the front of the lords hall where they would make a last stand. This is where the enemy basically won the siege, but there is more. If you are the player and your the one sieging. Then you will be taken into the lord hall in which you will be able to talk to the lord managing the castle/town. You will be given 4 options. You can just tell your men to charge and kill the remaining enemy troops and imprison the lord. Or you can try to persuade the lord to join your army (typical "your liege doesn't deserve your loyalty" stuff) The bonus of doing this in a siege is that you are more likely to persuade them due to them being cornered by your troops and you literally destroying their castle and entire army. You can also just say you will leave them alone for a bunch of cash. Or you can tell them to yield or die (there is a chance they actually might yield, saves you a bunch of time) This is my idea of a better siege than a siege we have currently and makes sieges more realistic and lively.
Starving enemies in sieges: If sieges take a lot of food then why not try to take advantage of that? Why fight them when you can starve them to death. This allows players to pillage/take resources of villages connected to castles or towns, as well as kill any caravans going to that town/castle. Basically cutting off their supplies, if you continue to do this after a while then the town/castle your sieging would decrease in troop count, soldiers will get debuffs due to them starving, and morale will be low as hell. This strategy could be very helpful early game when you want to take that cool town called Revolt but they have more troops than you. So this new strategy would make sieging early game way easier. Keep in mind though, if you just pillage all the villages and kill all caravans all in one day or too quickly, then kingdom will take notice and send an army to take you out. So it's not like you can just speed run it unless you want an army of 500 or more coming at you while you are setting up your siege, or even before you even get to that point. This process could take a while because you need to wait for all their food to go down, and also their resources to spill.
Defensive fortifications:
When in a siege, while the militias retreat into the towns or castles like discussed on the siege rework. They will be behind Redoubts(and Chevaux de frise) that will act like stationary spears. They will hurt any troops that get too close to it, not doing a lot of damage but it can take down injured troops. There will also be small improvised watchtowers ontop of houses, the troops on the tower can be killed with ranged units or spearman but that's basically it. So make sure to bring them. They will also have a bunch of Palisades around the insides of the castle. There would also be improvised traps inside of the castle walls for troops to step on and get damaged by
New defensive siege weapons
There will be new types of weapons that could be used against enemies. One example is pouring boiling oil, water, or hot sand over siege towers so any enemies climbing up the later would be burned by the flaming materials. Traps could also be setup outside of castle walls for enemies to step on and take damage, things like bear traps or Caltrops: would work nicely. Rolling logs will also be an available defense for castles and towns. How it will work is when the militias and the garrison troops retreat into the castle after losing the gate, the troops that got a head start to the center of the castle/towns will prepare 2 logs that will roll down a steep hill or just pushed onto the floor and rolled into the approaching enemy army, the logs can cause the entire army to fall (or lose all their posture)
