Besieging Castles
During siege battles the combat revolves around control of the castle and its central keep. The deployment zone of the attacker will be outside the walls, the defender's will be around the keep. The object is to reach the keep and stay there and/or rout or destroy the enemy army. Once the attacker gets to the keep a countdown begins, during which they must retain control of the area. Of course, if the attacking forces manage to entirely rout them before that time they automatically win the battle.
Click here to view a video tutorial about this subject.
Capture of Siege Weapons
Following victory in a battle, and dependent on having an empty space for a unit in your army, there is a chance that the vanquished enemy's siege weapons will be captured by your men. If this occurs they will appear on the post-battle statistics panel. The crew will be replaced by your own men.
Defending a Siege
When fighting a siege battle as the defender remember that the enemy will try to either sneak past your defences or rush them by force of arms. Use archers to kill approaching units and melee troops to kill those that get inside the castle compound! The enemy will try to wipe out all defenders, and if your men rout en masse from the castle the battle is over.
Garrison Units (Shogun 2)
When besieged by the enemy an existing garrison will be bolstered by specially spawned defence units, representing the retainers of the clan, which will automatically disappear again after the battle. Although defence units do not retain any experience they gain during a siege, they are fully replenished the next time they are called to fight. The number of units provided depends on the level of the castle. The types and number of units are as follows:
Fort: 1 unit of samurai retainers
Stronghold: 1 unit of samurai retainers; 1 unit of yari ashigaru garrison
Fortress: 1 unit of samurai retainers; 2 units of yari ashigaru garrison; 1 unit of bow ashigaru garrison
Castle: 2 units of samurai retainers; 2 units of yari ashigaru garrison; 2 units of bow ashigaru garrison; 1 unit of onna bushi
Citadel: 3 units of samurai retainers; 3 units of yari ashigaru garrison; 4 units of bow ashigaru garrison; 1 unit of onna bushi
These numbers are modified by the presence of certain legendary buildings and the number of units already present in a garrison when a siege begins (up to a maximum of 20), so if you are entitled to 12 defence units, but have an existing garrison of 10 units, 10 defence units are provided. When a legendary building is present it provides one additional defence unit (which takes the place of the weakest one provided by the castle if the size of the defence force is limited by the size of the existing garrison). The types and number of units are as follows:
Legendary bajutsu school: 1 unit of yari cavalry
Legendary kyudo school: 1 unit of bow samurai
Legendary sojutsu school: 1 unit of yari samurai
Legendary kenjutsu school: 1 unit of katana samurai
In addition, there are slightly different rules for the Ikko Ikki, whose buildings provide naginata warrior monks as defence units, who will automatically replace the weakest defence unit(s) provided by the castle. The types and numbers of units are as follows:
Jodo shinshu temple: 1 unit of Ikko Ikki naginata warrior monks garrison
Jodo shinshu monastery: 2 units of Ikko Ikki naginata warrior monk garrison
Jodo shinshu sanctuary: 3 units of Ikko Ikki naginata warrior monk garrison
Honganji: 4 units of Ikko Ikki naginata warrior monk garrison
Garrison Units (Rise of the Samurai)
In the Rise of the Samurai campaign the types and number of units are as follows:
Town: 1 unit of bow levy garrison
Stronghold: 1 unit of bow levy garrison
Fort: 1 unit of bow levy garrison
Castle: 1 unit of bow levy garrison; 1 unit of naginata levy garrison
These numbers are modified by the presence of certain other buildings as follows:
Tadokoro: 2 units of naginata levy garrison
Muster field: 2 units of naginata levy garrison
Barracks: 2 units of naginata levy garrison
Arsenal: 2 units of naginata levy garrison
Town watch: 3 units of naginata levy garrison; 1 unit of bow levy garrison
Militia hall: 3 units of bow levy garrison; 6 units of naginata levy garrison
Kondeidokoro: 5 units of bow levy garrison; 8 units of naginata levy garrison
Koryu dojo: 1 unit of onna bushi
Bushi dojo: 1 unit of foot samurai garrison
Legendary koryu dojo: 1 unit of onna bushi
Legendary bushi dojo: 1 unit of foot samurai garrison
Garrison Units (Fall of the Samurai)
In the Fall of the Samurai campaign the types and number of units are as follows:
Town: 1 unit of spear levy garrison
Large town: 1 unit of levy garrison infantry; 1 unit of spear levy garrison
City: 2 units of spear levy garrison
Municipality: 2 units of spear levy garrison
Prefecture: 3 units of spear levy garrison
These numbers are modified by the presence of certain other buildings as follows:
Stronghold: 1 unit of levy garrison infantry
Fortress: 2 units of levy garrison infantry
Castle: 2 units of levy garrison infantry
Citadel: 3 units of levy garrison infantry
Star fort: 4 units of levy garrison infantry
Cadet school: 1 unit of garrison infantry
Barracks: 2 units of garrison infantry
Military academy: 3 units of garrison infantry
Army war college: 4 units of garrison infantry
Traditional dojo: 1 unit of levy garrison infantry
Samurai dojo: 1 unit of levy garrison infantry; 1 unit of spear levy garrison
Master dojo: 2 units of levy garrison infantry; 1 unit of spear levy garrison
Legendary dojo: 2 units of levy garrison infantry; 2 units of spear levy garrison
Click here to view a video tutorial about this subject.
Upgradable Tower Defences
In Fall of the Samurai it is possible to increase the defensive capabilities of a castle by upgrading its tower defences. In battle, towers fire automatically and do not require the presence of a garrison, but can also be selected and controlled as if they were a unit. They can also be captured and turned against their owners or destroyed to render them useless to either side. Each tower upgrade improves the ordnance used; each castle upgrade improves the tower structure itself. The possible towers are as follows:
Archer Towers
Archer towers come as the default tower defences with all levels of castle, acting as an in-built defence against a besieging enemy. Occupied by archers, they automatically shoot arrows at any nearby foe. However, as the commander you can select them and order attacks on specific targets. In addition, archer towers have the fire arrow ability, triggered via the dedicated button on the battle review panel.
Matchlock Towers
Matchlock towers act as an in-built defence against a besieging enemy. Occupied by matchlock-armed troops, they automatically fire bullets at any nearby foe. However, as the commander you can select them and order attacks on specific targets. In addition, matchlock towers have the rapid volley ability, triggered via the dedicated button on the battle review panel.
Gatling Gun Towers
Gatling gun towers act as an in-built defence against a besieging enemy. Occupied by Gatling gun crews, they automatically fire bullets at high speed at any nearby foe. However, as the commander you can select them and order attacks on specific targets. In addition, Gatling gun towers have the increased firing speed ability, triggered via the dedicated button on the battle review panel.
Battery Towers
Battery towers act as an in-built defence against a besieging enemy. Occupied by gun-armed troops, they are unique in that they can switch between two firing methods. The former being Gatling guns (firing bullets at high speed) or, alternatively, gun batteries (which fire cannon balls at any nearby foe). As the commander, you can select them and order attacks on specific targets. In addition, battery towers have the fast reload ability, triggered via the dedicated button on the battle review panel.
Click here to view a video tutorial about this subject.
Third Person Mode
You can go in to third person mode at any time by pressing the H key. This allows you to control any artillery piece, including the Gatling gun and tower defences, with greater accuracy. This does come at the cost of controlling the rest of your army, so unless used carefully you can as easily lose a battle as win it.
Port Battles
In Fall of the Samurai, if a port is attacked whilst ships are docked there, a siege battle must be fought for control of it. To achieve victory when attacking you must completely destroy the defending fleet or pound the port until it is reduced to rubble. If there are coastal defences in place the defending force will be bolstered by fire from gun batteries, which will act as fixed artillery whilst the battle is occurring. They will automatically select targets when set to fire-at-will, but you can also select and target the guns yourself if you wish.