User blog comment:Leolab/User Siege Tourney, Round 39 of 50: Leolab (Lloyd) v Redkite (Markus)/@comment-4661256-20140121235935/@comment-4661256-20140130223036

Point-by-point it is then, mate:

1) I never said that trebuchets are useless. However, the fact that "[t]hey can just as easily (and farm more effectively) target Lloyd's siege engines," seems rather iffy to me. There's two possibilities for this scenario to play out, and neither seem very advantageous for Markus. Firstly, Markus has the trebuchets in the confines of his fort, likely in an open-air space, and is lobbing projectiles via indirect fire or else through the assistance of spotters (likely up on the walls, where they will have a tough time with Lloyd's crossbowmen harrassing them). But I doubt that Markus is dumb enough to build giant catapaults inside his fort, so this brings us to the more plausible second scenario, where Markus sets up trebuchets outside the confines of his castle. In this case, Lloyd can simply order his men to advance, close the distance to the point that the troops are safe from giant boulders/bodies/jars of Greek fire/other missiles being chucked at them, and either destroy the siege engines or capture them. And yes, they'll likely have to brave enemy archer fire from the walls, and yes they'll likely have to fight the engineers operating Markus' trebuchets and the soldiers stationed to guard them, but here more than ever Lloyd's superior forces have an advantage, with no "Thermopylae" tactics to speak of in an outdoor situation.


 * Also, "[I] say Markus's 12 trebuchets won't be enough, but that Lloyd's one in conjunction with his two cannons can 'raze the damn fort to the ground'." And I stand by my word, but I understand that my previous explanation may have been a little shaky. Here's my justification for that: The trebuchets in Markus' army are will be laying down suppressive or defensive fire against Lloyd's advancing forces, which have the ability to move, thereby forcing Markus' men to readjust if they expect to be able to hit anything. Yeah, I know that siege engines are big, bulky and slow to move, but you're giving Markus' men a lot of credit if you think they can just throw a big rock from an inaccurate siege engine and hit another siege engine at a distance without A) giving away their position, B) altering the enemy to the fact that they're being attacked and C) expending a decent amount of ammunition before hitting anything. However, Lloyd's trebuchets and cannon only need to contend with a big, stationary castle. It's not going to move, it's not going to run away, and because the defenders already know they're under attack, Lloyd can take all the potshots he likes.

This, therefore, supports the idea that Lloyd is not limited to ladders and sappers, who will in turn have a much easier time assaulting/infiltrating the castle as they are not the sole targets of the enemy forces. This also negates the whole "guard the hole and stab 'em like gophers as they pop out" because the main body of Markus' military will likely be preoccupied with... oh, I don't know, maybe carrying out an active defense. The lone soldier or squad that stumbles upon sappers emerging from the ground will already be too worn out and too demoralized to put up an effective defense for any prolonged period of time, especially when their skills are desperately needed elsewhere.

Phew. There goes #1.

2) "Lloyd's not an idiot" was directly addressed to Cfp. Cfp was the one who first said "Markus isn't an idiot," and so I was letting him know that, well, neither is Markus' enemy. So... I don't really know how much back-and-forth this point in particular deserves, but for what it's worth you're being kind of redundant there Leo.

3) Multiple people can face multiple directions. Yeah, that's true. But at that point you lose the efficiency of a bristling mass of pikeheads that you have previously lauded so heavily. Unless if there's, like, 20+ pikemen cramped in a tiny hallway, then fighting a two-sided skirmish is not going to work wonders for the defenders. Lloyd's assaulting army can afford to take casualties here, once they press into the castle itself. But each casualty will be far more critical for Markus. Also there aren't huge Spartan shields with these pike formations (and if there were it'd be stupid, seeing as the pike is a 2-handed weapon) so it's not like missile weapons/closing the gap are out of the question here. Yeah, a couple dozen of Lloyd's troops will get skewered on the ends of metal kabobs. But it takes time and effort to spear a man through and pull the weapon out of his body. With an entire army knocking down the gates, I hardly think that Markus' pikemen will be able to stab and retract with enough speed to hold all of Lloyd's forces at bay. Also, you seem to be assuming that Lloyd's troops are big fleshy meatbags with no armor and no will to live. I'm pretty sure they're wearing armor and have weapons of their own to fight back with... it's not the slaughterfest you try to make it out to be.

4) You're telling me that in four months Lloyd has no reconaissance capability effective enough to deduce a supply line that leads directly to the castle he's assaulting? I mean, it's shaky enough that these supplies just materialize out of nowhere and make their way to the castle, but how is Lloyd not going to know where they are? By the way, this section is honest questioning that seeks clarification, not any sarcastic hostility that you might read it to be.

5) Four months is still ample time to execute an attack that crumples defenses. It's enough time to wear down weather-beaten troops who've been assaulted from every direction sans the air. And Lloyd's forces still have a fatigue advantage as they can go wherever they want outside the castle.

I'm curious Leo, I really am. Why do you argue so fervently in favor of the defense? Why do you argue so fervently against your own character? I understand pointing out inconsistencies in my vote, but why go through the painstaking process of attempted nullification? Especially on one of your own battles?