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Sieges
May 1, 2026 at 05:12 PM
Initial article (2026-05-01)
Sieges are the climax of an Anvil Empires war. A siege is a coordinated assault on a fortified enemy settlement, usually a town with a Fortress Keep at its core, and almost always requires hours or days of preparation before the first wall is breached. Sieges combine combat, building, logistics, and supply chain planning, and the outcome can swing the entire war.
Attackers do not march straight onto an enemy wall. Instead, they build a siege camp within reach of the target: a temporary fortified work area with tents, palisade walls, repair benches, and stockpiles. The siege camp serves as a forward operating base where siege engines are built, supplies are staged, and respawning troops can rearm without traveling back to a friendly town.
Equipment | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Siege Ladder | Wall scaling | Lightweight; allows infantry to enter over a wall section without breaching it. |
Battering Ram | Gate breach | The standard ram for forcing town gates and door fortifications. |
Heavy Battering Ram | Reinforced gate breach | Larger ram introduced for heavier fortifications; requires more crew and protection. |
Siege Tower | Wall assault | Mobile tower used to deliver troops directly to the top of curtain walls. |
Catapult | Ranged bombardment | Throws Catapult Boulders against walls and structures from a distance. |
Defenders inside a fortified town have several tools to break attackers before the wall comes down. Burning Oil placed on fort walls deals damage over time to attacking troops and directly damages siege engines, making it one of the most efficient counters to a battering-ram push. Scorpion Arrows, longbows from elevated positions, and rocks dropped from murder holes attrit attackers further. A multi-level keep gives defenders depth: even after a wall falls, the inner keep is its own fight.
Building a single Battering Ram in a siege camp costs significant lumber, ingots, and labor. Replacing one that has been burned or destroyed requires either preserved materials in the camp or a fresh caravan from a friendly town. A faction that cannot keep its siege camp resupplied will lose the siege not because its troops were outfought but because they ran out of rams and ladders. See the Logistics and Supply Lines article for caravan and supply-camp mechanics.
Cleaving damage from Combat Axes is one of the few player-weapon damage types that hurts siege engines.
Burning damage from Burning Oil also damages siege engines directly, in addition to its damage-over-time on troops.
Crushing damage from Maces is for breaking heavily armoured infantry, not for breaking walls.
Most other player weapons cannot damage siege engines, so a frontline counter-siege team must include axes or oil to neutralise enemy rams.
