how to combat siege on tribal?

[Gopher]

I got very far in my tribal game but my research is so incredibly slow by the time sieges happened I was totally screwed. Any tips?

[RyansPlace]

Depending on the number of pawns you have, I would suggest you charge siegers before they get a chance to set up, but that can be messy and rather costly.

Another option is to prep the ground by likely siege points (I generally found the sieges will always set up on the same two or three areas of the map). Build small rooms with choke points that could give you a 3 to 1 melee advantage when fighting them.

Sieges are just tough in tribal.

[martindirt]

As Ryan told:

Build some "bunkers" all around the map, from where you can assault them with advantages. Just don't let them to use your own bunkers...
Assaulting siege team is the best option in my experience. Mortar combat can be painful, with too many casualties, damage on my base.

[Gopher]

is it viable to build a couple mortars and fire at them or are mortars horribly inaccurate?

[RyansPlace]

Originally posted by Sweaty Gopher:

is it viable to build a couple mortars and fire at them or are mortars horribly inaccurate?

They're horribly inaccurate. But keeping a few handy can be useful. When your colony is built up a bit more and you've established a killbox, mortars can be used to trigger siegers to abandon they're mortars and rush your base. Ultimately sparing you some damage.

[Gopher]

what is a killbox? Is that a room with a bunch of turrets that enemy funnels into?

[RyansPlace]

Originally posted by Sweaty Gopher:

what is a killbox? Is that a room with a bunch of turrets that enemy funnels into?

Exactly. Here's an the one I use:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1816936676

[Gopher]

that seems a bit excessive lol

[RyansPlace]

Not in late game. Trust me.

[Gopher]

I've never made it past sieges lol

[M.K.]

Originally posted by Sweaty Gopher:

I got very far in my tribal game but my research is so incredibly slow by the time sieges happened I was totally screwed. Any tips?

Starting Tribal, it is quite possible to be at the mortar/turret/sniper level of research within one year.
How many research desks did you keep busy 24/7?

[Khan Boyzitbig of Mercia]

Originally posted by Sweaty Gopher:

is it viable to build a couple mortars and fire at them or are mortars horribly inaccurate?

If you happen to have antigrain warheads the inaccuracy doesn't really matter vs sieges or large raids, an indirect hit will make them sally forth and a direct hit will leave few survivors if any.

Or fire 12 mortars, something is gonna hit.

[stevasaur]

If you're able to get a hit in on an enemy sieger before they set up their mortars, I've found that sieges always decide to assault your base immediately rather than waiting for their mortars to finish. So send out a fast, good shot with the highest quality Greatbow you can muster, and spike one of those interlopers in the foot or something so that they'll chase you.

[Henry of Skalitz]

You can hide under a mountain and wait it out so the siegers decide to rush you, but this method most likely will ruin your base unless it's under a mountain as well. Thick mountain roof makes mortar shells basically not explode

[Gopher]

you mean if I make sure all my structures are built where i mined out the area? That's no problem.

[stevasaur]

There are two types of roofs (well, technically there are three, but we'll not worry about that). If you hit the "Show Roofs" toggle in the lower-right of the screen, then the areas in light green are thin roofs, while the dark green is Overhead Mountain roof. Mortars cannot launch shells under Overhead Mountain.

Be warned: exposed tiles of Overhead Mountain (e.g. without a wall underneath them) will spawn Infestations if the temperature is above -17C (I think?), which are rather nasty melee bugs that start rampaging around the map. They're basically the mountain equivalent of drop-pod raids.