User blog comment:Leolab/User Siege Tourney, Round 39 of 50: Leolab (Lloyd) v Redkite (Markus)/@comment-5043545-20140126211128/@comment-422690-20140130005728

Similar to EA below, you're severely underestimating the effectiveness of pikes in a closed space. I've covered most of the relevant points below, so I'll simply expand on it/cover other points.

Markus and his men are going to be fighting a defensive battle here. Even when Lloyd gets in, their aim isn't to completely, utterly slaughter every single member of his army. Their aim is to push them out of the fort. One of the victory conditions is survive. While most fights are lopsided enough that this isn't remotely necessary/achievable, this one is far closer. That victory condition means that attrition is very possible; the trebuchets may not do a lot of damage, but they will still weaken the attackers enough that a defense will succeed.

A smaller point - you make (accurate) note of Lloyd's army's offensive capability, but do not take into account Markus's army's considerable defensive capability. Both his swordsmen and his pikemen have tower shields, which are freakin huge. It's large enough that a small squad can easily hold a hallway or junction, making Markus's losses less impactful on his defensive capabilities.