Sieges rules questions

[legopaidi]

Hello everyone, it's been ages since I last posted on the forum although I regularly check the discussions posted.

I've got an itch to try Chainmail for the first time but I have some questions about the siege rules in p22-23 of 3rd edition Chainmail.

First up, if the rules are "suggested that they be used in combination with the rules for man-to-man combat" would I be wrong to think that the scale mentioned is always 1 figure = 1 man? I think it makes sense for the combat part but I find it a little weird for everything else. But perhaps my lack of knowledge of actual historic medieval warfare shows

Take Siege Towers for example (p22). The rules state that these pieces of equipment move "1" per turn for every two men pushing". If scale is like man-to-man (1:1) does it make sense that 2 persons are able to move the siege tower by themselves? Maybe a scale of 1:10 or 1:20 is more appropriate? Likewise, siege tower accommodation is "5 troops" on the drawbridge, are these literally only 5 people? How do you handle this?
Same with movable mantles, ladders (men climbing/ falling) etc.

An extra question about the ladders (p23); my copy says "one man carrying a ladder moves at half normal speed, and two men carry a ladder with penalty". Can't find what that penalty is supposed to be. Or maybe it's a typo and it was supposed to say "without penalty"?

Last but not least, in the Rocks section (p23) it says that men active on the castle can benefit from a maximum of soft cover against missile fire. I am assuming this is only true for the defenders that are actively throwing rocks to the besiegers below. Or maybe this should be applied to any other activity?

Sorry if these have been asked before, I used the search function but could not find anything.

Cheers!

[Starbeard]

I think the assumption is of mobile siege towers, which could indeed only have an upper platform for not very many soldiers at a time. Some siege towers were recorded to hold hundreds of soldiers, but these were probably big stationary platforms because the soldiers mentioned are archers and operators of siege artillery.

My guess is that the game's siege rules are describing high medieval, Crusades era castle sieges with several hundred men a side, too few to justify 1:20 scale. Even most huge sieges would be against normal sized fortifications, so once you get the wall action you'd probably switch to 1:1 anyway. If your siege scenario is literally calling for hundreds or thousands of men scaling a single wall at a single time, then sure, just use 1:20 and abstract it. The day is too short for rolling 2d6 that many times.

[Starbeard]

Apr 17, 2024 10:30:06 GMT -6 legopaidi said:

An extra question about the ladders (p23); my copy says "one man carrying a ladder moves at half normal speed, and two men carry a ladder with penalty". Can't find what that penalty is supposed to be. Or maybe it's a typo and it was supposed to say "without penalty"?

Last but not least, in the Rocks section (p23) it says that men active on the castle can benefit from a maximum of soft cover against missile fire. I am assuming this is only true for the defenders that are actively throwing rocks to the besiegers below. Or maybe this should be applied to any other activity?

Sorry if these have been asked before, I used the search function but could not find anything.

Cheers!

I interpret ladders as 2 men moving "without penalty."

For cover, I go with any activity that isn't incorporated into the fortification's design. Throwing rocks, shooting from the wall without arrow slits, moving along the wall if crenels are the only cover. If someone indicated that they were going to move slowly by crawling along the wall, then I'd let them maintain complete cover.

[legopaidi]

Thanks very much for your answers! I knew I had something wrong about how sieges historically worked