Unbalanced amount of troops fielded during siege

[Konrad]

I get there are some advantages given to Defenders in a siege.
But the amount of troops the defending AI gets to field during this battle vs my small number is ridiculous, given our similar total troup count.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3081233104

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3081233159

Anyone have any idea how the AI got such a gross advantage?

[Action Man]

It's one of the few advantages defenders get. If you're on an open field, you would most likely have a 1:1 ratio.

You can replace your trebuchets with catapults. Order your forces to stay back and hit the broken wall points to soften them up more. I think you can also retreat and re-engage to do it again?

I'm not sure if any of the of the fief projects also impact troop numbers, but I don't think so.

[Ruffio]

You can starve out the garrison n a siege, and just have to deal with the militia. The advantage of the defenders is why the AI doesn't steam roll around the map afaik.

[Konrad]

Already tried most of that can't see in the screenshots, but I have 2 catapults and a ballista in reserve. Issue with siege equipment is that it always results in a wounded rather than a kill. This means those troups recover over time, which doesn't help during a prolonged siege. Somehow I have to rebuild my siege ram every time I go back to the world map, by which point the defenders recover all their wounded.

Starving out did kill the garrisoned troops, but somehow they're at a stable 50 militia(suspect militia recruitment balances out the food penalty somehow), and all the lords(2 armies worth) have their own food stocks that keep them going for now. So they barely lose any troops over time now.

My main question was about the absurd discrepancy between defender/attacker troops though? I've never seen it this extreme before. As always, armies are frontloaded with the best troops in the field, so facing 240 T5 troops with my 80 seems a bit ridiculous from a game balance perspective. Tactics skill used to be a factor in this distribution in Warband, but as far as I know Tactics is mostly for Autoresolving battles in Bannerlord.

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by Konrad:

Already tried most of that can't see in the screenshots, but I have 2 catapults and a ballista in reserve. Issue with siege equipment is that it always results in a wounded rather than a kill. This means those troups recover over time, which doesn't help during a prolonged siege. Somehow I have to rebuild my siege ram every time I go back to the world map, by which point the defenders recover all their wounded.

Starving out did kill the garrisoned troops, but somehow they're at a stable 50 militia(suspect militia recruitment balances out the food penalty somehow), and all the lords(2 armies worth) have their own food stocks that keep them going for now. So they barely lose any troops over time now.

My main question was about the absurd discrepancy between defender/attacker troops though? I've never seen it this extreme before. As always, armies are frontloaded with the best troops in the field, so facing 240 T5 troops with my 80 seems a bit ridiculous from a game balance perspective. Tactics skill used to be a factor in this distribution in Warband, but as far as I know Tactics is mostly for Autoresolving battles in Bannerlord.

Militia doesn't need food.... They will never starve out. Only the garrison.

I can roll up to a town with a party of 500 guys. Town might have 400 militia and 300 garrison. I can starve down the garrison, and once battle start I might have 250 of my guys vs 400 of their militia. Afaik its an artificial advantage defenders get, it keep the AI from steam roll the map. When they roll up with an army of 2k etc.

This applies for sieges though. Open battle field it deppends on what battle size you have set, hpw many total units the enemy have vs yours. At max battle size. If you hae 300 guys and the enemy have 600, all will be on the field. If you set the max battle size to small numbers and the enemy have much larger numbers than yours. you will find yourself quite outnumbered.

[Action Man]

The highest ratio I have seen in this game is 3:1. That's currently what you have. For every 1 troop you have, the enemy has 3. In a field engagement, those ratios (roughly) reflect the troops each side has. In a siege, the defenders can a hefty advantage.

I don't know the breakdpoints in sieges as to determine what ratio of troop you are getting, but this is really the only advantage defenders get. Militia don't get starved out, otherwise you could hold the siege long enough and just walk in to no defenders.

Unfortunately, I think it works even further against players with smaller troop limits. It's easier to repel 80 attacks with 240 defenders than it is repelling 250 attackers with 750 defenders. Some of this may also be the defenders getting stuck trying to get around the walls.

[GIJoe597]

I sometimes wonder if Tactics skill affects this. I do not have the patience to do all the testing to see.

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

I sometimes wonder if Tactics skill affects this. I do not have the patience to do all the testing to see.

It doesn't, at least not how I experienced it. If you auto resolve a lot you can get your tactic skills up quite fast. The best way to do it is when both sides have somewhat equal numbers/power. If you roll up to some 20 bandit something with 200 guys, don't expect to much xp in tactics by auto resolve.

[kristianjakob]

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

I sometimes wonder if Tactics skill affects this. I do not have the patience to do all the testing to see.

Afraid not, that was a thing in warband but not in bannerlord.

[GIJoe597]

Thanks for the info.

I do not auto resolve non bandit battles. I still get my tactics above 250 when I play. Never tested it. I also never played any previous title.

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

Thanks for the info.

I do not auto resolve non bandit battles. I still get my tactics above 250 when I play. Never tested it. I also never played any previous title.

WIll just increase the skill faster when you do. Issue orders a lot in manual battles seems to help it advance quite a bit as well. With a high tactic skill you can auto resolve larger battles quite comfortable.

[GIJoe597]

Originally posted by Ruffio:

With a high tactic skill you can auto resolve larger battles quite comfortable.

Thanks, but no thanks. I like playing the game and participating in the faction battles.

[kristianjakob]

Originally posted by Ruffio:

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

Thanks for the info.

I do not auto resolve non bandit battles. I still get my tactics above 250 when I play. Never tested it. I also never played any previous title.

WIll just increase the skill faster when you do. Issue orders a lot in manual battles seems to help it advance quite a bit as well. With a high tactic skill you can auto resolve larger battles quite comfortable.

I believe it is just from kills. If you choose to invest in it it will increase naturally.

But, aside from a few perks its only really helps you autoresolve. And...given that battles is really the core of bannerlord...well

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by kristianjakob:

Originally posted by Ruffio:

WIll just increase the skill faster when you do. Issue orders a lot in manual battles seems to help it advance quite a bit as well. With a high tactic skill you can auto resolve larger battles quite comfortable.

I believe it is just from kills. If you choose to invest in it it will increase naturally.

But, aside from a few perks its only really helps you autoresolve. And...given that battles is really the core of bannerlord...well

If I catch an lord with a party of 100 ish, and I roll around with 300+, I'm prone to just auto resolve if I got something else planned. I tend to run around with a small number of ready to recruit prisoners to replenish whatever losses I might end up with.

[kristianjakob]

Originally posted by Ruffio:

Originally posted by kristianjakob:

I believe it is just from kills. If you choose to invest in it it will increase naturally.

But, aside from a few perks its only really helps you autoresolve. And...given that battles is really the core of bannerlord...well

If I catch an lord with a party of 100 ish, and I roll around with 300+, I'm prone to just auto resolve if I got something else planned. I tend to run around with a small number of ready to recruit prisoners to replenish whatever losses I might end up with.

Ahh, I just use situations like that for some target practice for my companions. Its still good XP, no point in letting it go to waste.

[Ruffio]

Originally posted by kristianjakob:

Originally posted by Ruffio:

If I catch an lord with a party of 100 ish, and I roll around with 300+, I'm prone to just auto resolve if I got something else planned. I tend to run around with a small number of ready to recruit prisoners to replenish whatever losses I might end up with.

Ahh, I just use situations like that for some target practice for my companions. Its still good XP, no point in letting it go to waste.

Later in the game when you an see looter parties of 50-100.... I tend to use them as practice for companions. Bandit hideouts good from the start. If you want to train future govs... have them run a parties as soon as possible.