Siege weapons

[Karlem]

What about a unit like Hydras with Secondshapes (and thirds...) based on the number of operators left. First operators are killed afterwards engine is damaged. If no Operator is left unit has no defense/attack/movement, only HP and being inanimated (destroyed if no commander left on battlefield) and each operator killed (each different shape) has different attack/defence damage based on the reduced efectiveness.

We can add also the "only repair in lab" tag because operator have to be trained.

Size problem shouldn't be so big, size 6 is huge (dragons) a siege machine much bigger than a big dragon? Possible but not mandatory. (We can asume that engineering needed to build those is uknown yet). Mobility is a problem, just give them movement one and high resources to imply use of horses, poles and such to move them.

[Wauthan]

I used the #shapechange command, with no #firstshape or #secondshape, to simulate a catapult type unit that needed to be assembled before being usable.

Assembled shape -> immobile, with powerful multiboulder attack
Disassembled shape -> mobile, but low hp and weaponless.

This meant that it could not be used as an offensive weapon since couldn't fight in the shape that allowed it to move. The multiboulder attack also caused massive friendly fire. It was great at siege battles though, both on the offense and the defense.

I scrapped the unit though since the AI couldn't use it.

I agree with Karlem that a series of secondshapes is a good simulation of a successively more damaged siegeweapon, or similar construct. I think Sombre made something like this already in his Ogre Nation mod.

All in all I don't think it would be hard to implement warmachines at all, considering how powerful mod tools have become. Heck, the Ulm Arbelestier is a sort of mini siege weapon. Makes sense that Ulm would have a "Big Bertha" type unit that's derived of the arbalest.

[Sombre]

It's true it isn't hard to mod up battlefield artillery. You can get almost anything working in that respect.

If anyone needs help they can ask me. I'm not planning on making them though, for the most part. Ogre Kingdoms got the scraplauncher because it filled a role in their unit lineup and because it isn't just a warmachine, it's also a big pissed off monster.

[Dedas]

It would be cool if there was implemented (not very likely) a system that let you, as the sieging army, build siege engines that then could be used when attacking the fortress. You would have to invest manpower every month from your sieging army to construct them. Engineers would of course give a huge bonus to this task.

[Wrana]

Well, it's one of the main tasks of the sieging army to construct them! So you can just assume that they are doing so offstage.

To Sombre:
Unfortunately, while thinking on the future Warhammer project I found no equivalent to Warhammer cannons with their non-circular area of effect. Did you think on these?

[Dedas]

I mean you can use those siege engines in combat after they've been constructed.

[Ironhawk]

On the topic of battlefield artillery, as opposed to a pure seige weapon - mages are effectively the battlefield artillery of Dominions

[Wrana]

Well, the above-mentioned Warhammer Fantasy Battle has both, though its magic is somewhat weaker than that in the Dominions, and SC are exception there...