Fort Besieging Tips

In LOTR minecraft servers and multiplayer you will defend forts (see fort defense tips) but also attack them, so you will need a numerous amount of tricks up your sleeve to get yourself and your army into an enemy's fort. It is also advisable to look through history at the many other successful sieges and the tactics they employed to take the castle. Online there are many tips, advice and tricks which have been carried out successfully in vanilla minecraft.

This page deals with besieging forts with hireable NPC's, blocks, armour and items from the LOTR mod. Feel free to add your own input!

Guerrilla Warfare

The objective of guerrilla warfare is to confuse, disorient and wear down the larger traditional army. This can work for castle based troops as well, not just armies on the move. The tactics that you can use are sabotage, assassination, raids, and hit and run tactics. Irregular use of all these tactics can be extremely successful. It is best if you attack the fort with all of your military strength before they even know that you are in the area, if they are strong enough to repel you, destroy and steal as much as you can before running away. Two attackers are needed for this to be truly successful and much easier. Also, when using this tactic a smaller army is a good idea.

Probing

The objective of probing is to test the strength of the defences, wasting the enemies arrows and to find any weaknesses. You may need to attack several times in different places to find it. Unfortunately you will lose some of your troops in each attack so this isn't fool proof but it helps. So it's best to only send some of your troops when you probe.

Defense

You must always think of your own defense in case of counter attacks or any allied army coming from behind to rescue the besieged. It is best that you build an encircling wall around the castle made of wood or stone so the enemy cannot escape. Your own camp maybe part of the wall or you may include a ditch in front of the wall. If you wish to hide your camp from the enemy you should put it a fair distance away behind a mountain or underneath some trees. Also, you should build a "Command Centre." It should be built out of the strongest material you have. Place things like extra armour, loot, crafting tables, and weapon racks inside. It will give you a good place to plan your attack.

Intelligence

“	Trust not to secret ways,' said the king. 'Saruman has long spied out this land.	”
–-Helms Deep, The Two Towers

Information on the castle which you hope to siege is a necessity. You need to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the castle. Is there an escape route? Can you guard it or block it? Are there many units in the castle and how strong are they? If you do not have enough units to take it, wait and pick off a few or form an alliance with someone and attack. Bribery with items can work if there are many people defending a castle on a multiplayer server. Look at a castle's location and the materials it is made out of. After all, wood can burn!

Doing it Alone

For scouting, theft, and assassination it is best that you do any of this without your army (for obvious reasons). You should put your army on hold in a place that has good cover but is close to the castle at the same time (in a cave system or behind a mountain is ideal). Assassination is not usually of the player holding the castle but of the player's troops. If you can lure a few troops away from the main group then kill them that will mean you have a few less to deal with. It is best that you do this when the player has left the castle to mine or when he is asleep. With thieving it is best to strike at night or when he is away as well. Leading a diversion in any form such as an attack or a big explosion will work better because he will take his troops that are in the castle with him. The units in the castle would attack you on sight and interrupt your activities of pilfering.

Suicide bomber

The objective of a suicide bomber is to do as much damage as possible to the enemy troops and to any important buildings. That is why splash potions are important as well as Orc bombs. The suicide bomber does not have to survive, so the bomber needs little in his inventory. An Elven portal or a Morgul portal are necessary to get back to the overworld to create splash potions.

Cover

Another tip is to find and make cover. This way you can hide your troops so they can't be attacked by enemy archers, axe-throwers, or crossbowmen. Making another fort is preferable, but try not to make it too big. I advise to send waves of troops in, finding and exploiting any weakness. This is also called probing (see section above). Another good way is to lure the opponents troops out so you can pick them off. Set guards in and around your camp so they can't launch a counter-attack. Lastly, it is highly recommended to have the 'Summon' command horn and the 'Halt/Ready' command horn in your hotbar, so you can command your troops more efficiently.

Units

Different units are good for different ways of attacking a castle. Bombardiers should never attack with the rest of the army because you don't want to blow up your own units. Bombardiers are useful for blowing up walls and running into the thick of an enemy's army and dealing massive amounts of damage to his troops. They can also be a diversion. If you want you could send one large wave of bombardiers to open up a path for you main troops to attack. Note that bombardiers will be unable to operate in a banner protected area. Archers are a besieger's deadliest foe because of their long range attack. (Elvish players would be advised to invest in Galvorn for this reason). Your enemy's archers should be the focus of your attack when you begin. If possible, sneak in and take them out yourself or blow them up with Orc bombs.

Secret Entrances

Usually every castle has a weak spot. Try to scout it out and see if there are any entrances to the inside of the wall that the enemy is unaware of. Use an invisibility potion or hold shift so you are not assassinated while scouting out the castle. If you can get inside the castle, create a strategy to take out the enemies within.

Sabotage

The purpose of Sabotage is to sneak into your enemy's territory and do small things that can annoy your enemy and wear him down to the point where you can beat him and his army. One way to sabotage your enemy is to cut off his food supply. You can do this by locating his farms and destroying them, if you can make it to his food supply chest loot it. Not only is this a disadvantage to your enemy but it also benefits you by supplying you with food. Another thing you can do is you can take crafting materials from his chest, this will prevent him from getting the supplies he needs to attack you, and while he is away getting more materials you can attack his fortress while it is unguarded. Sabotaging your enemy's fort can be very risky though, so you shouldn't bring many items with you because if you are caught you will probably die. Another thing you can do is hold shift to help avoid your enemy. (Tip: Sabotage is only used to wear your enemies down it should never be used as a main attack)

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