Siege and Assault rules question

[creosoto]

Hi,

I would like to have one basic clarification on Medieval Siege and Assault rules.
This is about Scaling ladders: in the 'defending and attacking walls ' and in the scaling ladder section itself it is clearly described how to use ladders to access an undefended section of parapet wall - each section of wall has to be defended by two stands; in case there is only one defense stand, the attacker can place one stand on the rampart.

What is not clear to me is how to attack wall sections defended by two stands. Do fights occurr between attacker and defender on scaling ladders? (If this is the case, which rules has to be applied here?)
Or does attacker stands need to wait at the base of the ladder until there is only one stand on the wall's section? (in this second case, I guess this can happen only when the defender moves stands to other sections of the wall to face other attackers)

Many thanks

[Ratty]

Hi,
As far as I can see your latter assumption is correct. Scaling ladders are effectively blocked by a defending stand on the rampart directly above. You need to force the defender to draw troops to counter another threat in order to clear the wall. Scaling ladders are only a means to access the wall, not a viable assault method. To directly assault defenders on the wall a siege tower or sky ladder are the way forward. Hope this helps,
Ratty

[creosoto]

Thank you for your feedback Ratty!
I am a little confused because discussing further with my friends we noticed the following sentence under Earth and Timber (E&T) section (page 4): "Scaling ladders must be used if attacking stands are opposed 1 to 1, in which case defending stands add +2 to their hand-to-hand combact factor."

I'd like to get a clarification on this from Paul or somebody else from the staff.

Thanks

[Paul K]

Hi Creosoto,
Earth and timber fortifications are associated will the Dark Age or early medieval period. They were much lower in height and far less substantial and therefore far less a formidable obstacles than the stone walls of towns and castles of the later period. The latter was in many ways a development of the former.
As Ratty has said, 'Scaling ladders are only a means to access the wall, not a viable assault method'. They are however a very effective way of committing defenders to the defence of one section of wall while the main assault attacks elsewhere - through a forced gateway, breached wall section, siege tower etc.

[creosoto]

Thank you for the clarification, this was also my understanding but other players in my group had different interpretation and we had some discussions about this...
We are activeliy playing with the medieval rules, including Siege and Assault, and we are now going to prepare a campaign: any news about the new version of the rules?
Are you planning to publish it soon?