Voltaire  16/08/2006 - 07:28   
These are only some of my tested theories so this article shall be general in how to use them, and universal in how to apply them. Here is a list of the topics to which will be covered:

The Defender's Perspective:
i) "Ready, Aim, Fire"
ii) "Charge!"
iii) "They're On The Walls"

The Attacker's Perspective:
i) "Ready The Ram"
ii) "Incoming!"
iii) "Up the Walls!"


The Defender's Perspective

i) "Ready Aim Fire."

When fighting a siege, the likelihood is you'll have some form of artillery to launch boulders, cannon balls, spears, bolts, goblins and daemonic ichor at your enemy. These machines are a healthy investment if you are a defender in a siege for a number of reasons;

- Your enemy is coming towards you
- Your machines can be out of the enemy's reach
- These weapons do maximum damage to the enemy before he reaches you.

For some factions, they can take this a step further by getting engineers to make sure their war machines don't fall pray to the dice gods. This sort of thinking is good in a siege because some people like to do what RTS players call 'turtling'. By 'turtling' I mean the Defender has built a solid defence (A fortress nonetheless) and has things which it can throw out at the enemy. As well as artillery, you can take wizards and in Elves can take Lords designed to be archers. This turtling normally implies your defences are almost impregnable and they could hold against anything the enemy throws at you while you deal a devastating blown to their forces. A Defender in a siege is definitely going to do well to turtle.

However, some armies do not have the luxury of having different types of artillery to chose from. They may be limited in to some sort of rudimentary stone thrower (Hellcannon, Trebuchet, Screaming Skull Catapult). These should not be underestimated because they are still defence weapons and in the case of the three examples given, they were designated to be used as siege equipment.

Achers were mentioned earlier. For the defender, any sort of ranged projectile weaponry is going to be a bonus. Handgunners, thunderers, crossbowmen etc are going to be the ones doing the real killing on the walls. Whittling down the enemy lines so you can engage them in hand to hand combat. However, you will need to prioritise their firing because it is normally going to be very limited before the enemy engages you. Prioritising is going to be the key to victory here. Firing at fear causing enemies and overly cumbersome units which have than 30 models in them should be your priority for your smaller 'archer' units.
Cannons and other artillery are going to need to fire at a different priorities. Siege Towers and units which have high armour saves are going to be the key target here, preventing the enemy from using the full might of their army against you. A disciplined firing line will reduce the enemy numbers. When he reaches your walls, you can pour boiling oil on him, or engage him in close combat.

ii) Charge!

As the proverb goes, "The best defence is a good attack". Now in some people's eyes, this is quite foolish and will lead to nothing more than a defeat. However, spending all your points on ranged units is folly in itself. When planning a siege, consider buying a unit or two of fast cavalry to hamper the enemy marching moves, and kill their warmachines. At the same time, consider a small unit of heavy cavalry with the intention of causing panic and disarray in the enemy's ranks. This will give you more precious turns of shooting which can really make all the difference when you're facing an abundantly larger force.

An alternative route to take when fighting a siege would be to have a token force holding the castle and a large contingent of heavily armoured or high toughness troops to engage the enemy in the field in front of your castle. I shall use the example of a Dark Elf army & Goblin Horde to help display this;

The Dark Elf player has taken two units of crossbow armed warriors, executioners and 2 repeater bolt throwers to hold his castle while he sends out the big guns. Unknown to his opponent, who was expecting an entirely shooty army, the Dark Elf player has brought along his Cold One Knights, 2 Chariots and a Hydra. The Goblin Horde suddenly looks very nervous as he sets up huge squads of goblins, none of them with the ability to bring down the Knights or Chariots, and begins to play in dismay as he tries to find a way around the Hydra blocking his battering ram.

Now, I know that may have been cheesy, but the Goblin player should have been prepared for this eventuality. The Dark Elf player was wily in the tactic he used and it won him the game. This will not always be the case because sometimes the enemy will be just as tough as your shock troops (Imagine if our Dark Elf friend had gone against an army of Chaos Warriors & Knights), but this should not deter you. The aim of taking the fight to your enemy is the same as your shooting aim - to bring the enemy numbers down into manageable chunks for repelling them from the walls, should they get there. This brings us to the final defender points

iii) "They're on the Walls! They're in the Keep!"

Going into a siege game as a defender expecting your enemy to not penetrate your walls, or to not be able to climb them is folly. Every attack will have something that can make it onto the walls in a siege, be it a flyer or a siege tower, you are going to need something to fight your enemy when he reaches your castle.

Each army has an elite close combat squadron (some have several) that will be able to effectively engage the enemy once they get to your walls. This unit should be able to withstand a great number of attacks and still be able to return as many. Units like Chosen Chaos Warriors and Grave Guard are ideally suited to this role, with their higher armour save. This unit will be the one that will make or break your army, and ideally be accompanied by a CC orientated character. A major bonus for this unit would be if it caused 'fear' and had a high combat resolution potential (equip it with the warbanner) so that it can repel the extremely high number of enemies that are likely to be charging up your walls or through your gate - hopefully not through a hole in your wall.

Special Note
A special note in the Defenders section must go the Vampire Counts and the Daemonic Legions. The Vampire Counts are somewhat lacking in the war machine and ranged troop department, but have a lot of magic at their disposal to aid them in the defence of a siege. Raising new units and charging them at enemies while your necromancer sneers from the castle walls is an excellent idea and can delay your enemy enough so that they don't make it to the walls (Imagine it, fighting an undead horde to get to their castle - wow!).
Daemonic Legions are also going to need something more to help them in a siege, and there are several units which will really earn their points back in a siege. These units are Horrors/Flamers and Exalted Daemons. Horrors can act as the army archers and don't have to rely on actually hitting the enemy to cause damage, just on getting their spells past the enemy. Exalted Daemons on the other hand can fly out of your castle and attack the enemy before retreating back to the keep to hurt the defenders.

Defender Summary
The defender in a siege is almost always going to be outnumbered. This is something that you should bear in mind when you are looking at what looks like an invariable unmoveable horde heading straight for your castle. Do not lose your cool and make sure you have a battleplan - then make sure you stick to it. Going away from your plan can be good at times, but remember that you will need to do anything you can to make sure the enemy does not get into your castle. Don't worry about sacrificing a unit or two to stop the enemy advance. As long as you have the castle, you'll be safe!
Above I mentioned three separate styles that create good siege players. The best siege players will be those who combine these tactics. You are defending so the enemy should be reacting to you, not you reacting to them.

Hold fast, and may your walls hold fast, and your axe never become blunt!


The Attacker's Perspective;

i) "Ready the Ram"

When attacking any entrenchment, one must remember you have access to specialist equipment to help you. Where the defender really needs minimal Siege Equipment for defending, your success is going to be relative to the use of equipment for cracking the large nut that is a fortress. Here are some of the items available to you as an attacker;

- Battering Ram
- Siege Ladders
- Siege Towers

First and foremost is probably the battering ram. This handy tool can be used to destroy the enemy's gates and let you march in (quite literally). Because of the relatively small size of the ram, it is a somewhat overlooked target by the enemy, who tends to be quite psyched out by large towers and ladders. This makes the ram an ideal choice for putting in a relatively cheap unit which will be numerous and send it at the enemy gate. As long as you a unit strength of 5 you will be able to knock down the doors with relative ease. The only problem with the ram is once you knock down the enemy gate, there tends to be a nice surprise waiting for you. This will normally deal a severe blow, especially if that something happens to be a Helblaster Volley Gun.

The siege ladder is also going to be the friend of well armoured units, or units with high attack statistics. Climbing the wall and engaging the enemy is going to be your prime objective with these. The longer you stay on the walls, the longer you will be able to keep the enemy at bay. A wily general will use some of his armoured troops (Black Orks, Chaos Warriors, Temple Guard) to carry the ladder to the wall then let his more numerous friends use their number to press the advantage home against the unfortunate defenders on the walls. This is a standard siege tactic because of the relatively low price of the ladders.

The siege tower is the epitome of the attacker in a siege. A large cumbersome looking unit trying to unload its inhabitants into the heart of the enemy - a potent metaphor for the enemy invading and laying siege to the enemy land. This is not really tactics, just an opinion! The siege tower's strength once lies again in the use of large units to transport them. If you actually get the tower to the walls your enemy is going to be in for a world of hurt. Unloading as many troops as possible onto the walls in a single turn is an excellent strategy in a siege because you are almost certain to outnumber the enemy, who will have probably gone artillery heavy.
The second, somewhat underrated advantage of the siege tower is the psychological impact it will have on the enemy. When playing a Siege, if the defender sees something that looks like it's own castle but moving towards it, the defender panics and throws everything it has at the oncoming tower. If you take two towers and they absorb two full turns of shooting, your other units are not incurring two turns of full shooting and you are two turns closer to the enemy. This makes them a worthwhile investment.

"Incoming"

The enemy is going to be firing at you from the first turn until the last in this scenario. You are going to be walking into the teeth of artillery hell nine times out of ten. Do not be disheartened by this though, there is plenty that can be done to counter this. First and foremost is that you present plenty of targets for the enemy. Even in armies with relatively small unit counts, such as Chaos and Lizardmen, you can use the fact you have double the points of the defender. There is no reason to not present the enemy with numerous targets. Consider using large amounts of skirmishing units to make the amount of shots actually hitting a lot less. The enemy will be firing but you need to be relentless.

Your general is going to be a very important aspect of your army in this battle because too much shooting means that your troops will require a lot of leadership tests to be taken. Your General's integral role in the army is going to be especially important against some pieces of artillery which reduce leadership - something that is going to be especially true of skaven and goblin armies. Equipping your general with a ward save against missiles is an advisable. This additional save will keep your General alive and will deter the enemy from shooting at him.

Another thing worth noting is that a dense deployment means you will be able to march move. This means you will be able to get at your enemy as quickly as possible ensuring minimum shooting effects.

The incoming fire at your troops will be heavy, but at the same time, you do have the ability to return fire. This is a very effective tactic when used with stone throwers and anything that use templates. The inside of the keep tends to be able to consume entire units in a single go. This means the enemy deploying on the walls will be forced to redeploy. To insure the maximum effect of this, your higher movement units should be the ones that take tower.

A secondary tactic that is employed in a siege is that you an destroy sections of the wall. Destroying sections of the wall negates a lot of the enemy's advantages and provides a golden opportunity to charge full units into the castle's. This level of attack requires a well executed battle plan that should be open to change at a moment's notice. This sort of scenario should be seen more as an opportunity than certainty. If you do manage to concentrate enough fire on a single section of the wall, you need to be prepared for the eventuality that the wall will hold. They build these fortresses to last you know!

When magic is employed in a siege, it allows you to target something that is going to change a lot of the dynamic of the game - war machine crew. If you can kill these quickly then the siege is going to be a lot more one sided in the attackers favour. The ability to normally take a lot more heroes means you can overwhelm the magic of the enemy. This seems to strike a balance with their normally superior shooting force.

"Up the Wall"

When fighting on the wall, there is going to be a bloody conflict that will inevitably be won by the superior troops. If a horde throws itself into the meat grinder, the horde will be turned into mincemeat. However if you throw metal into the grinder it will falter. Use your armoured troops on the wall and use them to defeat the elite troops that will inevitably be hiding in the keep. The elite clash should be favourable to the attacker simply on the basis of superior numbers.

There is a feeling that to break a siege, one must take three attackers for every defender. This is true but make sure you do not overwhelm yourself when trying to climb the walls. Remember only so many troops will be able to fit on the wall at once. If you have several troops on the wall and the enemy still has shooting units in range, make sure these your priority. Slightly repelling the defenders is not an option. This is their castle and they can't give it up as long as a manned. As an attacker, you will have to make sure you have a single strength 5 unit inside. Your opponent can afford to throw his units at you to stall you. For example, shooting units become nothing more than an extra speed bump. Enough speed bumps and you will be defeated. So pick your fights carefully.

Remember that there is still a need for flexibility in a Siege force. If you recall the example given above, the Dark Elf players bold attack dented the Goblin Horde tremendously. Here's what happened when they decide to have a rematch;

Learning from his mistake, the Goblin player has decided to get some bolt throwers and Goblin Wolf Chariots. The Cold One Knights have become a lot more apprehensive about attacking the Goblin player. The bolts and stone thrower can kill a lot of the attacking force quickly while the Goblins advance. This time there are enough Goblins to put up a decent fight on the walls. In the rematch they win.

Special Notes

The first of our special notes goes to Flyers. These somewhat overlooked units can destroy units on the wall. This reduces shooting and can eliminate war machine crews with ease. Flying characters can cause particular havoc if they have the ability to cause fear or terror, especially those mounted on the flying monsters, such as manticores, pegasi and Dragons. Consider the use of these mounts when picking your army - you will probably have points to spare.

Skaven, Tomb Kings & Archaons Horde all merit a special note in the attacker's section. Grey Seers on Screaming Bells and War Lightning Cannons can both run amok in a siege because of their ability to knock out wall sections.

Archaons horde has flayerkin, a unit able to run up walls in a single turn and if their unit strength is higher than 5 then you have some ready made ladders for your Chaos Warriors to climb. This is an amazing ability that will ruin your enemy's day and cause a lifetime of hurt for the defender (What Archaon had them made for).

Tomb Kings get a mention because they have something which, if employed properly, can keep the enemy off the ramparts until the last possible second - the Casket of Souls. If your enemy deploys all his troops on the rampart of the castle and finds himself looking at the Casket of Souls it is probable he won't be on the rampart for long. I would definitely take one of these in any siege if I were a Tomb Kings player.


Summary

The attacker's options are more limited than those of the defender in that they are only going to be attacking. You are going to be outnumbering the defender. You can dictate the pace of the battle very easily if you do not get psyched out by the artillery and general determination of the defenders. You have double the troops they do and you only need 5 models in the castle to win. Surely that is not too hard a task?

Above there were a lot of things mentioned and some tactics discussed. In theory the attacker is going to be a lot more reliant on Siege Equipment so choose yours well. Opportunities will present themselves and your enemy will feel a lot of pressure and should make a mistake. Just make sure you take every opportunity and press against every mistake. Every advantage you can get is going to help, and remember it takes a great tactician to win a siege, but even the greatest tacticians took time to become great, so practice and you'll become perfect.

Until then, may your tower be sturdy and your ladder hold your weight!
__________________

Generally, Sieges can be the most fun games of Warhammer you'll have. I have only covered a very basic level of siege strategies here. You could devise strategies until the cows come home, but I feel what I have written above is the core of any siege tactics. At the end of the day, the tactics are dictated in the heat of battle, and by the General, YOU, so go out there, and try a Siege, do something different, and make sure you have fun doing it!

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