I'm starting this thread because I believe defenders in sieges should have more noticable advantages. Mainly, to make it so that fewer men are required to successfully defend a castle. As of now the amount of troops can have a ratio of 1:1 and attackers still win in many cases. I think a 3:1 ratio should be needed at least, possibly even more, to be able to take a castle. This would not only be more accurate, and thus more immersive and enjoyable in my opinion, but could potentially help mitigate the snowballing issue in the game as of now, since taking a castle would be a significant investment of troops due to the amount of casualties a besieging force would take. Also, this would make taking a castle a more rewarding feat.
Now let's get to the in-game details. Currently, the advantage of cover from arrow fire that merlons should provide is very limited due to the AI just standing there between the gaps while shooting. I hope the devs can implement a mechanic that lets AI and players take cover by pressing F or some other key at merlons and then lean out to shoot arrows, much like in Red Dead Redemption or games like that where you take cover behind corners, boxes and such. This would make hitting defending ranged units very hard as they would only be exposed for very short periods of time while shooting, and only partially as even then they wouldn't fully stand between the gaps. If such a mechanic couldn't be implemented for some reason, then at least making the AI able to shoot, take cover to reload and move again to shoot would work.
Also, there should be less barricades on the field on the attackers' side. There could be some near the siege engines, somewhat far from the castle, but right now there are tons of barricades in most scenes and very close to the walls, which is not very accurate I believe. They couldn't have been built there and I can imagine the attackers carrying an already built barricade between a group of men close to the walls, but that would be very risky as they could get shot easily by arrow fire. Being that the case, building those barricades could be optional in the overworld siege phase and their deployment have a chance of inflicting some casualties on the attackers' side. Currently, having those there pre-deployed is an unnecessary advantage for the attacking side.
Furthermore, ladders should need to be taken near the walls by a group of men, not just laying there conviniently. This would portrait better the risk of assaulting a castle's wall without a ram or siege tower. Say for instance each ladder is carried by 4 men that can't be using shields at the same time and need at least two of them alive. If three get killed, the remaining soldier drops the ladder (as he can't carry it all by himself) and requests help from a fellow soldier who then joins him in picking up the ladder, and start taking it again near the walls. The more men carrying the ladder the faster they could move, but if only two were carrying it then they would be slowed down considerably.
Finally, it is my understanding that destroying a whole section of a castle wall with catapult or trebuchet fire is unrealistic, so huge holes like the ones that leaving the walls with 0 hp create maybe shouldn't exist. If I'm not mistaken, flying boulders were mainly used to destroy small parts of the walls to be able to better reach with a siege tower, or destroy wooden battlements to take out some of the cover defenders had, or cause some casualties and lower morale inside the castle. Maybe lowering the hp of the walls in the overworld phase of the siege could be a requirement to successfully be able to use a siege tower. But anyway, this last part is not the most important one in my opinion, but I thought I could mention it aswell.
Now let's get to the in-game details. Currently, the advantage of cover from arrow fire that merlons should provide is very limited due to the AI just standing there between the gaps while shooting. I hope the devs can implement a mechanic that lets AI and players take cover by pressing F or some other key at merlons and then lean out to shoot arrows, much like in Red Dead Redemption or games like that where you take cover behind corners, boxes and such. This would make hitting defending ranged units very hard as they would only be exposed for very short periods of time while shooting, and only partially as even then they wouldn't fully stand between the gaps. If such a mechanic couldn't be implemented for some reason, then at least making the AI able to shoot, take cover to reload and move again to shoot would work.
Also, there should be less barricades on the field on the attackers' side. There could be some near the siege engines, somewhat far from the castle, but right now there are tons of barricades in most scenes and very close to the walls, which is not very accurate I believe. They couldn't have been built there and I can imagine the attackers carrying an already built barricade between a group of men close to the walls, but that would be very risky as they could get shot easily by arrow fire. Being that the case, building those barricades could be optional in the overworld siege phase and their deployment have a chance of inflicting some casualties on the attackers' side. Currently, having those there pre-deployed is an unnecessary advantage for the attacking side.
Furthermore, ladders should need to be taken near the walls by a group of men, not just laying there conviniently. This would portrait better the risk of assaulting a castle's wall without a ram or siege tower. Say for instance each ladder is carried by 4 men that can't be using shields at the same time and need at least two of them alive. If three get killed, the remaining soldier drops the ladder (as he can't carry it all by himself) and requests help from a fellow soldier who then joins him in picking up the ladder, and start taking it again near the walls. The more men carrying the ladder the faster they could move, but if only two were carrying it then they would be slowed down considerably.
Finally, it is my understanding that destroying a whole section of a castle wall with catapult or trebuchet fire is unrealistic, so huge holes like the ones that leaving the walls with 0 hp create maybe shouldn't exist. If I'm not mistaken, flying boulders were mainly used to destroy small parts of the walls to be able to better reach with a siege tower, or destroy wooden battlements to take out some of the cover defenders had, or cause some casualties and lower morale inside the castle. Maybe lowering the hp of the walls in the overworld phase of the siege could be a requirement to successfully be able to use a siege tower. But anyway, this last part is not the most important one in my opinion, but I thought I could mention it aswell.