Siege | Battles Total War: Warhammer II Guide
Last update: 12 October 2017
Although you can besiege enemy settlements, in campaign mode, for as long as they do not give up because of meager of supplies, such a situation is time-consuming and counter-productive. This is why, sooner or later, you will either have to launch an attack on the settlement, or defend it.
General information
In the case of onslaught on unfortified settlements, you will have to fight a regular battle in the field, possibly with single buildings on the map. The city will then be outside of the map and it will be impossible to enter there during battle. Therefore, no side will have any definite edge over the other.
Things are different in the case of fortified settlements. Here, defenders will have a wall, which in itself provides considerable advantage and additionally, they will be supported with fire from towers. If they are forced to retreat, they will still put up resistance in the streets of the city.
The task of defenders is, obviously, to kill out all the assailants. Attackers, on the other hand, can win in two ways - either by defeating all the defenders, or by seizing and holding the square in the center of the city. During onslaught, they can use artillery and monsters to cut through defense. Also, they may come equipped with rams and siege towers, whose building can be ordered on the campaign map, after the siege starts. Additionally, each attacker's unit has ladders, thanks to which they can scale the walls.
Defense
While defending, your greatest asset are the walls. From them, archers can easily lay fire on the enemy and when he tries to climb onto them, infantry will be ready and waiting for him there.
An additional asset are defense towers. For them to function, however, you have to order your units into the tower control field on the wall and take them. It is best to deploy units by the tower at the stage of deployment, where the enemy will be within range. Keep in mind that towers can shoot ahead, within a limited range and the range is limited as the enemy approaches. This is why, as soon as battle begins, pick specific towers and concentrate their fire on important units of the enemy army, preferably his siege towers. Fire from two of your towers should deal with them quickly and at the same time, deal considerable damage to the units that manned them. When some other units come within range of your towers, and not siege towers, it is best to focus your fire on artillery in the back and awaiting cavalry, if only enemy has such units.
After the enemy gets over the walls, immediately dispatch infantry against him. Keep ranged units away from the enemy units. While defending the walls, hybrid units may prove useful, which handle melee excellently, after they lay fire on the enemy.
Also, remember that the enemy may destroy your gates and, if he has artillery, also a fragment of the walls. Level of damage dealt to the gates and the walls (the walls are divided into segments, each with its own resistance) can be looked up by rolling the mouse over them. Behind the gates, it is best to deploy infantry with a bonus to defense. In the case, in which the enemy attempts to destroy your the walls, remember to retreat all your units from that fragment of the walls and deploy units behind the wall, near the spot under fire. Thanks to this, they will be able to defend the breach.
Watch out for fleeing enemy units. They tend to flee into the city. The enemy may regain control over them close to the central square in the city. This is why, even if you can easily defend the walls, keep some units in the back, which will eliminate such deserters.
If the enemy army is large and you do not have enough units to man all the walls, it is better to ignore defending them. Instead, man all the exits from the central square, where there is the city's main control point and put up defense there.
Attack
While you are attacking, the most difficult task is to cut through the walls.
There are several ways to seize fortifications. The easiest one is to attack the walls using siege towers (which you can order to be built on the campaign map, and which lasts several turns) and ladders, being in the possession of each unit (after you pick an infantry unit, click on the wall fragment and the option to use the ladder will appear). However, you have to come to terms with considerable losses during such an attack - your units will get under fire and there will be soldiers ready to fight on the walls. Of course, using siege towers means lower losses, because they provide protection for the unit within. Additionally, after you reach the walls, your soldiers rush onto them. Downside of siege towers is the fact that they can be destroyed by defense towers - condition of siege towers is represented by violet indicator over it. If there is the risk that any of your towers will be destroyed, unman it, using the order at the bottom of the screen "Leave siege tower or artillery".
It is a good idea to use flying units during attack for them to occupy the enemy for a moment - this will make things easier for your infantry.
Additionally, you can (and even should) destroy city gates. You can use ram for that(which is slow, but it will take some time, before you reach the walls, and monsters. The gates can also be destroyed by any other unit, but it will take more time. After you destroy the gates, you can enter the city with cavalry and monster, for support for the rest of your forces. Also, there is another way to enter through the gates, if you seize the control point behind the gates. Then, your soldiers can simply open them. However, this method includes fighting through scores of defenders.
Additionally, you can simply destroy the walls, but you require artillery for that. This is advantageous, because an attack en masse in several breaches can quickly break the defense.
While attacking, remember to attack, at the same time, as many points as possible, to disperse enemy forces. For your initial onslaught, use units with shields - they withstand the approach better, while under enemy fire. Once you make it through you will either have to kill out the enemy forces, or seize the point in the city center. Still, most of the times, this will boil down to killing out defenders, because they will be trying to defend the spot.