Siege Tower

"Rough men-at-arms, cross-gartered to the knees  Or shod in iron, climbed the narrow stairs,  And certain men-at-arms there were Whose images, in the Great Memory stored, Come with loud cry and panting breast  To break upon a sleeper's rest  While their great wooden dice beat on the board."
	—william Butler Yeats, The Tower

In game

Siege Tower — Vital statistics
	Mobile anti-building defence which can fire an arrow-based splash attack, ideal for drawing attacks from buildings or assaulting them. Strong versus buildings, infantry and cavalry Weak versus siege weapons
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrade of
	23.2s (347t)	250	15	29 x 2	3.3s (50t)	14
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 300; : 200	: 7; : 20	4		14	3–14	Brutal area of effect attack versus infantry, cavalry Highly resistant to most missile attacks, especially against buildings. Defensive penalty versus elephants and siege weapons.

Overall strategy

The Siege Tower is used mostly by very developed and warlike factions, such as Assur, China and Rome. It is a tall tower that can function as a mobile fortification, raining arrows down on all and sundry and at a good range, because of its height advantage and as such is very useful especially if attacking buildings or archer units — who can't really damage it. This makes Siege Towers highly powerful units when used against enemy buildings, particularly Forts, since it can really cause damage to them even as it receives almost no damage to itself.

However while it is very powerful it is not invulnerable. Siege Towers are highly fragile when attacked with siege weapons. Battering Rams, Ballistae, and Scorpions can be used to destroy them even as Siege Towers have the ability to "tank" shots from buildings like the Mantlet, which it will replace for Assur, Babylon, Maedia and the Chinese. In addition, there is another unit that is also very effective at demolishing them - war elephants. Finally, melee infantry, especially axe infantry, while not that strong, can be used to swarm Siege Towers and, thanks to their armour-piercing weapons, take them down.

With this in mind, we can draw two conclusions — the first is that like most siege weapons, the Siege Tower needs to be protected at all costs with infantry escorts, perhaps archers as well. The next thing that any faction wishing to bring this monster to bear upon the foe's cities must remember is that because of its very slow movement, you will need to do some forward building, and have the resources on hand. Always research the upgrades required for the Siege Tower first as quickly as you can, then build Siege Workshops near the enemy in order to cut the traveling distance between the point of construction and combat hotspots. Ultimately, however, the use of Siege Towers should be reserved for use against factions that have an advantage in building fortifications, otherwise it would be better to simply just use Battering Rams or Siege Rams.

Unit summary

• Behemoth — A Siege Tower is capable of tanking shots from buildings, and has a height advantage that allows it to outshoot most bow-armed units.
• Achilles Heel — Despite their abilities, Siege Towers are susceptible to attacks by war elephants or other siege weapons.
• JIT Manufacturing — Siege Towers are best used as part of a forward building strategy, along with infantry escorts for defence.
• Specialisation — The cost and glaring weaknesses of Siege Towers limits their use to games involving opponents with competitive advantages in fortifications, such as Rome and China.

See also

• Siege Ram
• Scorpio
• Battering Ram
• Ballista
• Helepolis

Notes

In Age of Empires Siege Towers are not upgrades of Mantlets, but are rather replacements for the same for factions with a sufficiently huge industrial base.
For New World Empires: Alexander, these units require Engineering and Expansionism to be built.

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  Common appearance of Siege Tower in all 3 chapters of Warbirth.

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  Chinese variant of Siege Tower, used by Chinese factions, including Imperial China.

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  This variant of Siege Tower is used by Hellenistic factions in Age of Empires, as well as the Achaemenids in New World Empires: Alexander.

History

A siege tower was a multipurpose machine which could hold men, their weapons and even small siege engines from close-range positions of relative safety. It was designed to to protect the soldiers attacking the defensive walls of a castle, town or fortress. The objective of a siege tower was to allow soldiers to mount a direct and close attack on a fortification - castle, fortress or town.

The relative safety offered by the Siege tower from missiles or fire led to a series of siege tower variations. A horizontal version of a siege tower was developed to provide cover for a battering ram. Conventional siege towers were also known to have a battering ram built into the lowest level of the structure. Each siege tower was designed to suit the requirements of the wall it was required to attack. Siege towers were usually constructed with wheels and reached 3 stories in height. The relative safety offered by the Siege tower from missiles or fire was due to the cover that it offered the soldiers. The framework of the siege tower was covered in animal hides. At the last minute when the siege tower was about to be rolled or wheeled into place the hides were soaked in mud and vinegar to add further protection. There were even iron plates which could be added to the siege towers, although this was an extremely expensive option.

References

• Middle Ages for Kids, Siege Tower