My fantasy campaign is the ultimate mashup. I used Mighty Empires to create the map and run the campaign turns. When two armies meet, the action is transferred to the table, where I use Commands and Colors (either Ancients or Battlelore, depending on my mood). I use C&C because I can play out the battles in a few hours, and the campaign can generate a lot of battles. Better to get through them with a conclusion even if it means a bit less detail - and besides, I like the unpredictability of the cards. As a solo player, that's a big deal.
As the campaign has progressed, I can see that some sieges are coming. The orcs and elves are dominant, and the two human factions lack the resources and land to go toe-to-toe with either of them. As a result, the humans are leaning more on building fortresses to hold the line rather than risking everything in a field battle. In anticipation of this, I've not only been 3D printing various castle parts, trebuchets, catapults, tents, wagons and other bits, but working on a set of siege rules that will mesh with my campaign.
I started with Games Workshops Siege supplement from back in the day and started
What I ended up with was four siege turns, each representing a week, where the besieger could bombard the walls, launch an assault or build equipment. This weekly format fits nicely into the month-long campaign turns, so there would be four siege turns in every campaign turn, allowing prolonged sieges to be lifted or reinforced from the larger campaign.
The campaign game has "baggage" that an army can use for sustenance when in unfriendly territory (or the wilds). Figuring that the maximum army size was 1500 points - I use my own point system for C&C, but that's another story - my starting point was that each baggage point could feed 1500 points worth of troops for four weeks. Ten points of baggage "food" was also equal to one point for construction. The baggage represented not just food, but general supplies an army would need, so this became the currency for the siege. Any construction of siege equipment would be paid for out of the supply total. This presents the besieger with some choices - build lots of equipment but blow through supplies that may leave your army starving, or choose one or two options and keep the troops fed.
I then created a master list of equipment and their costs, along with how much damage they could cause per week during the siege turn. Any walls with any sort of roof or hoarding was deemed unassailable by ladder-equipped troops, so those would need to be destroyed before a ladder assault could succeed. There are rules for incendiaries (that cost supply points!) to speed up the process of reducing some of the castle's wooden bits, plus the mighty trebuchet can batter a wall section, given enough time. But the trebuchet takes four weeks to build and supply, plus it can be expensive to maintain. (The one model probably represents several real ones, but finding the right size and type of timber and getting the thing working right takes time the besieger may not have.) Once it accumulates a certain amount of wear-and-tear, it costs more supplies to fix it. But there's nothing better for knocking a hole in the wall.
I've got some basic rules for the garrison's food supply (a base amount with some random dice to determine the starting value), and the besieger will have to pay a monthly food cost for any remaining troops.
The besieger must also assign troops to the board (the last two rows of hexes on the board are considered his lines/camp) or to foraging. Troops - usually the mounted ones are given foraging assignments since they are of little use for a castle assault - can gather a random amount of food to help offset feeding an army, but it will never be enough to keep the siege going. But sending out too many troops to forage can be a mistake, as then the castle forces can sally, and if they reach the command tent, the commanding general is considered killed, the supplies burned and morale is shattered. And while the trebuchet can sit safely in the besieger's lines thanks to its long range, the cheaper catapult needs to be placed in no man's land where troops will need to be assigned to protect it from sallies. The castle garrison may also opt for a night-time raid, gambling a few stands of troops in an attempt to damage or destroy siege equipment or food supplies. The besieger can build earthworks to help protect equipment, but this costs valuable supply points - more tough decisions.
All of this is much simpler than it sounds. Each weekly turn, the besieger can announce an assault, which immediately switches the game to the C&C rules with a deployment by both sides and a regular battle begins on the board. If no assault is declared, the besieger decides what to start building or repairing and pays the costs. The castle garrison decides whether to launch a raid or sally. If that doesn't happen, any equipment due to be finished this week is deployed for the next turn. At the end of the month, food costs are deducted from both sides totals, a campaign turn is played out to see what is happening outside the siege, then it all starts again until the castle is captured or the siege is lifted.
I've done some basic die rolling tests for battering, and it appears that a trebuchet can create a breach after 4-6 weeks of constant battering. With some really good rolls, it could be shorter. With some really bad rolls, it could be a lot longer, with a lot of repairs required to the trebuchet (they don't make them like they used to.) The possible dice outcomes -- and a trebuchet throws five D6 per week -- is 10 points of damage, 5 points of damage, 1 point of damage, 1 point of wear-and-tear (out of action once it reaches six), and two no effect - for each D6. There are of course rules for battering rams and mining, and when patience is short, an all out ladder assault can be called for - after the hoardings are destroyed, of course. The garrison can make some repairs, but their supplies are limited too, so decisions about what to do have to be carefully made lest the commander spend so much capital fixing a wall that his troops are left with nothing to eat.
This all sounds great in practice, but I haven't really tested any of this. I want taking a castle to be difficult, but made easier if you have the supplies and patience to do it right. A ladder assault should be bloody and not that effective unless you have overwhelming odds. So the only way to see how the ideas hold up is to put them to the test.
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| The mighty fake fortress of Fakenberg |
The fake siege of Fakenberg
I set up a basic castle configuration to put the siege rules to the test. A lot of my castle is unpainted thus far, as is some of the other equipment - but this is a play test, not the real thing. There's no need to deploy the defenders, as I'm not playing out any actual assault, though a sally is possible. For the attackers, I'm using one of my current orc armies from the campaign and giving them three months worth of baggage, so 450 points.
Gaz'ul Do's First Orc Legion is composed of the following:
4 heavy infantry
10 medium infantry
2 warbands
3 light bow
3 light infantry (goblins)
2 heavy cavalry (heavy warg riders)
2 medium cavalry (small warg riders)
3 light cavalry (goblin raptor riders)
1 chariot
2 war mammoths
This is a force with a lot of mounted troops that's a little short in the infantry department. For a real siege against a decent-sized defender, the orcs would probably need a second legion to join the siege in order to have enough troops for a successful assault, but that's just speculation on my part. For testing purposes, this field army will work fine. (If you did try to besiege with a force like this against a defender that's close in points, you would risk an all out sally attack, because the foragers would be unavailable for the defense of the lines, greatly weakening the orc response - and if the sallying force reaches the command tent, the general is considered killed and the siege is lifted.)
The castle is protected with roofed walls, so an immediate ladder assault is not possible. With the mammoths, the orcs could launch an assault and hope the creatures could batter the gates and portcullis open, but that would be too risky against a prepped and ready defender. So we move to the siege turns:
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| The orc commander chooses a good view of the action. |
Siege Week 1
So Gaz'ul Do issues the following instructions for Week 1 of the siege: Five of the eight 8 mounted units will immediately begin patrolling around the area and foraging as much food as possible (that's the maximum allowed - there are only so many peasants to rob and supplies to steal). Everyone else will set up camp and begin working on a trebuchet (50 points and 4 weeks to build), earthworks to protect the valuable machine from raids (10 points and one week), and two catapults (44 points total, three weeks to build). His plan is to have the trebuchet batter the right flank walls to open a breach, while the catapults destroy the protective roofing on the left to open the way for a ladder assault. He chooses a site for his command tent on the left flank near the center and settles back to enjoy some of the ale he brought with him as the sound of timber being sawed and orcs setting up camp fills the air. The foraging groups bring back 28 points of supplies, taking the army total to 478.
The castle commander keeps an eye on the enemy's progress but does not launch any raids or sallies.
Siege Week 2
The earthworks are dug on the right flank and are complete, ready for the trebuchet when it's done. The garrison is happy watching for now, so nothing else happens. The foragers bring in 23 points of supplies, taking the army total to 501.
Siege Week 3
The catapults are completed and deployed into no-man's land, side-by-side, on the left flank. Gaz'ul Do assigns three medium infantry units into the area for security purposes to protect the catapults from sudden sallies since they are well forward of the orc camp lines. Units deployed this way use more supplies because of their heightened state of readiness and need to constantly patrol. Foragers bring in 15 points of supplies, taking the army total to 486 points.
The garrison eyes the catapults warily, but opts to sit tight.
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| One of the catapults (there were two, but only one model was available at the time...) |
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| The roof sections targeted by the catapults. |
Siege Week 4
The catapults are ready and open a bombardment against two wall sections protective roofs. The first catapult does no damage, but accumulates one point of wear. Catapult two does five points of damage to the roof section it is targeting, dropping it to 25.
The trebuchet is complete and dragged into position in the earthworks.
The foragers bring back 12 points of supplies, taking the total to 498.
Both sides must now pay their monthly supply bills, representing payroll, food, weapon/armor maintenance etc. The orcs pay 150 points plus 30 for the troops in no-man's land, dropping their total to 348. The garrison drops from 920 to 814.
At this point, a regular campaign turn on the map would be played to see if any other armies join the siege or lift it.
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| The mighty unpainted trebuchet... |
Siege Week 5
The garrison decides to try a raid to take out the trebuchet. Light infantry has the best chance of sneaking through the patrols, so the garrison sends four stands (the max) of light infantry out through a sally port at night to try to damage/destroy the trebuchet.
The four squads are placed in no-man's land and a die is rolled for detection. Busted! They run into a patrol and a skirmish ensues. The besieger eliminates one stand and the other three hastily retreat to the castle. The besieger will now have a heightened security awareness for the rest of the month. Not a great outcome for the defender.
The catapults bombard the wooden roofs, with catapult 1 (from here on out C1) doing 5 points of damage, and C2 doing none while accumulating one point of wear. The trebuchet shoots at a wall section on the right flank, doing 20 points of damage while picking up two points of wear.
The foragers bring back 25 points of supplies, boosting the total to 373.
Siege Week 6
The catapults bombard: C1 does nothing but get another point of wear, while C2 does 10 points of damage. The trebuchet does 5 points of damage and gets one point of wear.
The foragers bring back 25 points of supplies again, taking the total to 398.
Siege Week 7
The orc commander, happy with how many supplies his foragers are rounding up, decides to start construction on another trebuchet (50 points and 4 weeks to build). He also adds another earthworks (10 points, 1 week). The supplies drop to 338. (I also realize at this time I never deducted the costs for the original siege equipment, so I adjust the supply level to 234.
The catapults bombard: C1 does 5 points, C2 does 1 point and gets 1 point of wear. The trebuchet does 20 points of damage but picks up 2 points of wear.
The foragers bring back 12 points of supplies, taking the total to 246.
Siege Week 8
The second earthworks are complete and are deployed on the left flank.
The catapults bombard: C1 does 5 points of damage, C2 does 0 and picks up one wear point. The trebuchet does 15 points, but picks up 3 wear points, shutting it down for repairs.
The foragers bring back 20 points of supplies up to 266.
It's the end of the month, so 2 wear points are removed from all machines. This takes the trebuchet down to 5, but the orc general spends an extra 20 supply points to drop it to 3. All supply costs must now be paid.
The orc total drops to 66. The garrison drops to 708.
Here, another map campaign turn would be played.
Siege Week 9
The garrison decides to try another raid. 4 stands of light infantry are tasked with attacking the orc food wagons. All four move out into no-man's land, and they make it through! They manage to destroy 14 points of food and supplies before slipping back into the night. The orc total is now 52.
The catapults bombard: C1 does nothing. C2 does 5 points, but gets one wear point in the process. The trebuchet does 16 points of damage and gets one wear point.
The foragers bring back 23 points of supplies, boosting the total to 75.
Siege Week 10
The orc general is concerned. He doesn't have enough food and supplies to keep the siege going without losing troops to desertion and starvation, and while the trebuchet is making good progress, the catapults are proving fairly useless, having not even destroyed one roof section yet. He opts to spend more of his precious supplies on some incendiaries to boost their effectiveness. The supply total is now 65. The incendiary barrels are assigned to C1.
The catapults bombard: C1 does 2 points of damage even with the incendiaries. C2 does 1 point of damage, but picks up 1 wear point.
The foragers bring back 17 points of supplies, taking the total to 82.
The second trebuchet is deployed.
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| A second unpainted trebuchet...note how much further forward the catapult has to be. |
Siege Week 11
The catapults bombard: C1 picks up a wear point, C2 does 5 points of damage is nearing destruction of its target. The original trebuchet (now T1) does 21 points of damage and the wall is on the verge of crumbling. T2 targets the roof section that C1 has been shooting at for two months and does 16 points of damage, destroying the roof section permanently. Finally, progress!
The foragers bring back 16 points of supplies, boosting the total to 98.
Siege Week 12
The garrison knows things are getting desperate. The wall section on the orc right is nearing destruction, so they spend 10 points to shore it up, plus spend 30 on earthworks behind the failing section to help contain any breakthrough in that area. This drops their supply total to 668.
The catapults bombard: C1 targets an adjacent wall's roof - and manage 10 points of damage, C2 does 10 and the roof permanently collapses on its target section. T1 does 15 points of damage and the wall collapses in a great roar of dust and masonry bits -- and a breach is created! T2 shoots at the same roof section as C1, doing 21 points of damage and destroying it, while picking up 2 wear points.
There is now a breach on the orc right flank and three sections open to ladder assault on the left. With not enough supplies to take care of his troops for another month, Gaz'ul Do orders an immediate attack. Foragers are recalled (meaning no supplies are brought in) and the orcs deploy their forces on the table followed by the garrison. The garrison earthworks are not completed in time for the assault, but if it is repulsed and the game moves back to siege turns, they will be placed then.
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| The roof sections are turned to splinters by the trebuchet and catapults. Now the lads with the ladders can go in. |
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| The breach is opened up. |
The orc commander would probably place his mammoths in the center to attack the gate. This would force the defender to divert some attention to them lest they tear the portcullis and gates out, creating another opening in the wall.
Assessment:
In this first test, the rules worked well. The besieger can quickly run short on supplies after a few months, creating some desperation. The orcs didn't create the breach they needed until the last week of their food supplies. If it had gone any longer, attrition would have set in as orcs either starved or deserted.
The pair of catapults would have been more effective if they had targeted the same roof section. They didn't roll particularly well, but you can see how much more effective the trebuchet is considering it quickly reduced two roof sections to splinters.
If the garrison had targeted the trebuchet on its successful raid, it would have taken it out of action for either a month or caused the orcs to spend supplies they couldn't afford to fix it sooner. The garrison should have also used some of its supplies to shore up the wall, up to its maximum of 10 points a month. The wall would have fallen eventually, but it would have bought another few weeks of time -- and the orcs would have probably run out of supplies by then. At that point, they either order an assault before they are ready or have to lift the siege.
They could have also launched a raid in that first month targeting the orc supply wagons, which might have also bought them a week or two.
There are a lot of trade off with every decision. Both sides have limited supplies and the random foraging results add a bit of the unknown as to when they will run out for the besieger. Do you build equipment and defenses and how much? Will the equipment achieve a breach before your troops starve? This is exactly what I was hoping for - lots of tough decisions for each side and the timer is counting down every week.
I did not try mining in this playtest, nor did I build any siege towers for the tactical phase. The attacker can also build "archer" towers (basically immobile siege towers) that provide the attacker with an elevated platform to help clear the walls and negate some of the defensive bonuses of the castle. This is another decision -- in this game, everything was focused on a breach and opening the way for a ladder assault. But the orcs could have also built a siege tower to improve their odds or some archer towers to help clear the walls of defenders while the ladder troops went in for the attack. They could have also constructed a ram with or without a sow (the covered house on wheels over it) to attack the gate. If you can spread the defenders thin enough, a breakthrough is more likely to happen.
I might make a couple of tweaks here and there, but I think these rules are ready for action, with further play testing coming in actual game situations. Things I'm considering:
- Because of the power of the trebuchet compared to the catapult, may need to adjust the point cost or construction time. While the catapults can also be used in the assault phase as anti-personnel weapons, the trebuchet cannot, so that is one reason to build catapults (useful in both phases of the game), not sure that's enough difference.
- Trebuchets are nearly immobile and probably need to be limited to one target. Switching targets should probably take a week or maybe two to get the monstrosity reoriented. Catapults have shorter range, but can switch targets at will.
- If a castle has multiple rings, what happens if the defenders retreat to the inner ring after the outer ring is breached - ie they don't resist, just fall back? Because line of sight would be blocked from the besiegers camp where the trebuchets are located, how is the inner ring attacked? Catapults only, since they could be wheeled into a new position? (This would give more value and purpose to building them...)
I do like how supplies are the sand in the hourglass. A well-supplied army is the only way to make taking a castle a sure thing, and the way baggage works in the campaign game, it's not easy to accumulate large amounts of it. You can always risk a general assault with little prep, but that is bound to be a bloody affair.
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