Is there something special I need to do to make the catapult attack the target I TELL IT TO?

[💖 Officer Hotpants 💖]

I really don't understand the point of taking the skill to directly command the thing when it's just going to tell me to screw myself whenever I tell it what to attack. This has bothered me for years and I've never been able to find an answer.

[The_Pastmaster]

Catapults have bad accuracy. It's to prevent players from hitting a hole in the wall on turn 1, or cracking open the gate. It's been like that since at least HoMM3.

[💖 Officer Hotpants 💖]

Yeah. That's about as long as I've been wondering what the purpose of wasting a slot on it was. I don't believe ballistics gave us control of the the thing back in HoMM2. I think it just upped the number of shots. That was a LONG time ago, though, so I may be misremembering that.

I really don't think you can call it "bad accuracy" when the thing is clearly just doing whatever the hell it wants. Bad accuracy would be missing 50% of the time. These things only hit what they're told maybe 10%. They're functionally unchanged in that regard.

[The_Pastmaster]

According to the wiki Basic, Advanced, and Expert War Machine give (Among other things) the Catapult 30, 40, and 50% chance to hit the intended target.
It gives the First Aid tent increased healing in all three levels, and the Ammo Cart gives ranged units +1 attack per level to a max of +3.

In HoMM 2 it only gave extra shots and damage. In HoMM3 it gave 75% chance to hit with was reduced if you aimed for the towers and gate.

[💖 Officer Hotpants 💖]

Huh. I guess I've just been REALLY unlucky with the thing. Thanks. Maybe I'll catch a break with the thing eventually.

[The_Pastmaster]

50/50 is still quite poor. I think actual catapults IRL has better accuracy.

[💖 Officer Hotpants 💖]

I believe so, yes. I know trebuchets are, at least.