I would like to hear people's oppinions on Siege weapons. I'm myself not terribly pleased with the way they play out in game. Here are some pointers:
Catapults are very weak, they can be used effectively against an un-walled city, but a city with Walls and a Composite Bowman (which is contemporary with Catapult) inside will more or less one-shot kill them. Trebuchets suffer pretty much the same issue against a city with Castle and a Crosbowman.
My suggestion would be that all Siege Engines start with the Cover I promotion (similar to Hun's Battering Ram). This will lessen the chance of them being killed as soon as they move in and set up and before they even get to fire one shot, but will still leave them vulnerable to melee attacks (as they should be), which will encourage you to not just defend your city with a single ranged unit stationed inside the city.
Conversely, in late game, once you get Artillery you get range 3 AND Indirect Fire promotion at the same time. This pretty much allows you to take down any city, until airplanes come into game at least, because you can have your Artillery shielded behind a wall of Rifflemen which with the proper promotions (and a Citadel if you're facing a really strong city) will make an almost impennetrable wall.
Artillery do lose relative power once Infantry come into play, and curiously there is no upgrade for them until levels higher - but then, once you hit Rocket Artillery, things get really silly - you not only get more than double the ranged strength, you also lose the requirement to set up before firing.
Personally, I think that once you discover Artillery, cities should get their ranged attack distance increased to 3 - after all, one must assume that the ranged attack of cities is supposed to represent contemporary military equipment stationed in the city, so it doesn't make sense for cities to keep having shorter range than the units. I also think that Artillery should not get the Indirect Fire promotion for free (they could earn it through upgrade), and that there should be a siege weapon between Artillery and Rocket Artillery which comes available with Balistics and which would be slightly more powerful than Artillery but comes with Indirect Fire for free. Finally, Rocket Artillery should be adjusted down in strength (perhaps 50 instead of 60). It could look something like this:
- Artillery (ranged strength 28): Range 3, no Indirect Fire.
- New unit (ranged strength 35): Range 3, starts with Indirect Fire, available with Balistics.
- Rocket Artillery (ranged strength 50): Range 3, starts with Indirect Fire, Does not require to set up before firing.
Catapults are very weak, they can be used effectively against an un-walled city, but a city with Walls and a Composite Bowman (which is contemporary with Catapult) inside will more or less one-shot kill them. Trebuchets suffer pretty much the same issue against a city with Castle and a Crosbowman.
My suggestion would be that all Siege Engines start with the Cover I promotion (similar to Hun's Battering Ram). This will lessen the chance of them being killed as soon as they move in and set up and before they even get to fire one shot, but will still leave them vulnerable to melee attacks (as they should be), which will encourage you to not just defend your city with a single ranged unit stationed inside the city.
Conversely, in late game, once you get Artillery you get range 3 AND Indirect Fire promotion at the same time. This pretty much allows you to take down any city, until airplanes come into game at least, because you can have your Artillery shielded behind a wall of Rifflemen which with the proper promotions (and a Citadel if you're facing a really strong city) will make an almost impennetrable wall.
Artillery do lose relative power once Infantry come into play, and curiously there is no upgrade for them until levels higher - but then, once you hit Rocket Artillery, things get really silly - you not only get more than double the ranged strength, you also lose the requirement to set up before firing.
Personally, I think that once you discover Artillery, cities should get their ranged attack distance increased to 3 - after all, one must assume that the ranged attack of cities is supposed to represent contemporary military equipment stationed in the city, so it doesn't make sense for cities to keep having shorter range than the units. I also think that Artillery should not get the Indirect Fire promotion for free (they could earn it through upgrade), and that there should be a siege weapon between Artillery and Rocket Artillery which comes available with Balistics and which would be slightly more powerful than Artillery but comes with Indirect Fire for free. Finally, Rocket Artillery should be adjusted down in strength (perhaps 50 instead of 60). It could look something like this:
- Artillery (ranged strength 28): Range 3, no Indirect Fire.
- New unit (ranged strength 35): Range 3, starts with Indirect Fire, available with Balistics.
- Rocket Artillery (ranged strength 50): Range 3, starts with Indirect Fire, Does not require to set up before firing.