Watch Towers burning down settlements

[Astranacus]

So I am a huge fan of Attila Total War, the game is excellent and I love it. Brilliant direction from Rome 2 Total War which I have enjoyed after the patches.

There is one problem however, Watch Towers. I can't seem to control who they shoot or what ammo they use, which causes problems when an enemy unit enters a settlement I'm defending.

The Watch Towers would target the unit, but due to the close proximity and inaccuracy of the fire arrows, they stray and hit friendly buildings. As a consequence this causes the buildings to be set on fire, penalties for damage to the settlement an effectively a self inflicted defeat that you have no control over.

Playing as the WRE, this makes the game frustrating when you want the flexibility of tactics but have to take into account how much of a liability the Watch Towers are. Especially when you are outnumbered.

If there was a toggle between regular and fire arrows, that would solve the problem and make the game much more enjoyable. There is a risk to using fire arrows, however there should be an option to preventing that while minimising the reward (less damage).

[Diff_1]

Hmm have not had that happen in my towns, never saw the towers use fire arrows at least not that I have noticed. as I never see any buildings on fire. Having said that I have seen AI towns that I am attacking start their own buildings and even surrounding forest on fire from stray shots for the towers.

[Astranacus]

Originally posted by Diff_1:

Hmm have not had that happen in my towns, never saw the towers use fire arrows at least not that I have noticed. as I never see any buildings on fire. Having said that I have seen AI towns that I am attacking start their own buildings and even surrounding forest on fire from stray shots for the towers.

Strange, my issue is mostly from the perspective of the Western Roman Empire, when you are constantly on the defensive. Since my armies are so spread out, I have to concentrate the majority of my forces in the centre otherwise they get overwhelmed.

With the AI having to go in while getting shot on the way, it happens to me all to frequently.

[Cullen's Hound]

I do not think that the towers in their own are really enough, certain units automatically light fires as they move through enemy settlements. I am fairly certain that is a trait of pretty much all the low tier barbarian melee infantry.

[Diff_1]

Originally posted by Astranacus:

Originally posted by Diff_1:

Hmm have not had that happen in my towns, never saw the towers use fire arrows at least not that I have noticed. as I never see any buildings on fire. Having said that I have seen AI towns that I am attacking start their own buildings and even surrounding forest on fire from stray shots for the towers.

Strange, my issue is mostly from the perspective of the Western Roman Empire, when you are constantly on the defensive. Since my armies are so spread out, I have to concentrate the majority of my forces in the centre otherwise they get overwhelmed.

With the AI having to go in while getting shot on the way, it happens to me all to frequently.

OK yea maybe it is as I thought and the Roman towns are a higher level thus better?/bigger defenses. None of the towns I have had so far have had any walls or anything. I'm only about 75 hours in so only level 2 or so towns

[Astranacus]

Originally posted by Cullen's Hound:

I do not think that the towers in their own are really enough, certain units automatically light fires as they move through enemy settlements. I am fairly certain that is a trait of pretty much all the low tier barbarian melee infantry.

I understand that, however it is often caused by the towers, since it's not always barbarian infantry units that are present when this occurs. On observation, the fires seem to always ignite from a fire arrow coming from a Watch Tower when it makes contact.

[Diff_1]

Yea some troops with the raider tag can start buildings on fire as they move through but some towers do shoot fire arrows as you said. I've only seen AI town towers do it though as I said. I've never even tried to click on one of those towers in one of my towns, maybe they are contolable? Have you tried clcking on one?

[Astranacus]

Originally posted by Diff_1:

Yea some troops with the raider tag can start buildings on fire as they move through but some towers do shoot fire arrows as you said. I've only seen AI town towers do it though as I said. I've never even tried to click on one of those towers in one of my towns, maybe they are contolable? Have you tried clcking on one?

I have, but as previously stated I cannot control the watch towers within my tower. Clicking on them does nothing and they automatically target units.

[Astranacus]

Originally posted by Astranacus:

Originally posted by Diff_1:

Yea some troops with the raider tag can start buildings on fire as they move through but some towers do shoot fire arrows as you said. I've only seen AI town towers do it though as I said. I've never even tried to click on one of those towers in one of my towns, maybe they are contolable? Have you tried clcking on one?

I have, but as previously stated, I cannot control the watch towers within my settlement. Clicking on them does nothing and they automatically target units.

[Mephiston87]

yeh as WRE and ERE my own watch towers have burnt down several sections. its not frequent, but in those long battles that get quite tough you need all the edge you can get. Not have your own towers burning your own buildings that somehow magically makes your troops weapons and armour worse.

Towers are completely automated, so dont bother trying to do anything with them. And trying to protect the cap point is suicide as your tower focuses fire on your own troops.

[Diff_1]

Originally posted by Mephiston87:

yeh as WRE and ERE my own watch towers have burnt down several sections. its not frequent, but in those long battles that get quite tough you need all the edge you can get. Not have your own towers burning your own buildings that somehow magically makes your troops weapons and armour worse.

Towers are completely automated, so dont bother trying to do anything with them. And trying to protect the cap point is suicide as your tower focuses fire on your own troops.

"Possible solution" Have a siege weapon waiting in the wings and manually target your own towers. :D From what I can picture in my mind there are not many buildings in the general surrounding area in towns I've been donig battle in. So in theory you should come out with less town damage by doing so.

[Mephiston87]

Originally posted by Diff_1:

Originally posted by Mephiston87:

yeh as WRE and ERE my own watch towers have burnt down several sections. its not frequent, but in those long battles that get quite tough you need all the edge you can get. Not have your own towers burning your own buildings that somehow magically makes your troops weapons and armour worse.

Towers are completely automated, so dont bother trying to do anything with them. And trying to protect the cap point is suicide as your tower focuses fire on your own troops.

"Possible solution" Have a siege weapon waiting in the wings and manually target your own towers. :D From what I can picture in my mind there are not many buildings in the general surrounding area in towns I've been donig battle in. So in theory you should come out with less town damage by doing so.

its a solution sure but what garrison comes with siege weapons? walled city siege towers seem fine and only those get siege weapon garrisons.

[Astranacus]

Originally posted by Diff_1:

Originally posted by Mephiston87:

yeh as WRE and ERE my own watch towers have burnt down several sections. its not frequent, but in those long battles that get quite tough you need all the edge you can get. Not have your own towers burning your own buildings that somehow magically makes your troops weapons and armour worse.

Towers are completely automated, so dont bother trying to do anything with them. And trying to protect the cap point is suicide as your tower focuses fire on your own troops.

"Possible solution" Have a siege weapon waiting in the wings and manually target your own towers. :D From what I can picture in my mind there are not many buildings in the general surrounding area in towns I've been donig battle in. So in theory you should come out with less town damage by doing so.

Yeah, unfortunately playing as the Western Roman Empire, you are so spread out and attacked in so many settlements that it's impossible to have siege weapons. I agree that it would be a grim net positive if possible, but the garrisons never include them.

The best solution is if they just shot regular arrows like in previous total war titles :/

[Diff_1]

Originally posted by Mephiston87:

Originally posted by Diff_1:

"Possible solution" Have a siege weapon waiting in the wings and manually target your own towers. :D From what I can picture in my mind there are not many buildings in the general surrounding area in towns I've been donig battle in. So in theory you should come out with less town damage by doing so.

its a solution sure but what garrison comes with siege weapons? walled city siege towers seem fine and only those get siege weapon garrisons.

Yea keep forgetting you can't have armies without "generals" now, definitely one of my least favorite features of the last few TW games. I liked the old earning exp to become a general of the older games. Some of my best generals came up that way.

[Chaoslink]

If you ask me, the towers need rebalancing in many ways already. From lighting your own town on fire and attacking your own men, they also tend to insta kill any unit hit, to the extent that a roman unit in a defensive testudo facing a tower will always lose a man when hit, though I've had the same roman units soak up 3+ units of slingers/archers/crossbows combined ammunition stocks with only 3-4 casualties. Yet that same unit vs a tower will lose half their men before you capture it.

Just a broken thing really.

[Astranacus]

Originally posted by Munchermanjz:

If you ask me, the towers need rebalancing in many ways already. From lighting your own town on fire and attacking your own men, they also tend to insta kill any unit hit, to the extent that a roman unit in a defensive testudo facing a tower will always lose a man when hit, though I've had the same roman units soak up 3+ units of slingers/archers/crossbows combined ammunition stocks with only 3-4 casualties. Yet that same unit vs a tower will lose half their men before you capture it.

Just a broken thing really.

I have to say, I agree. It does need rebalancing, definitely a nerf.