Defending the Walls - Troop Tactics

Defending troops atop a wall, protected by crenellations and battlements, are in an admirable position. They can fire on or simply drop objects onto enemies outside the walls while still enjoying the protection of the surrounding stonework. Once the attackers have established a “beachhead” on the walls, however, the defenders’ position is no longer a comfortable one. Thus, it’s important for the defenders to make scaling the walls as difficult as possible for the attackers.

The current BATTLESYSTEM rules seem to imply that the defenders on the battlements have little recourse against attackers using grapples and ladders, other than waiting for them to reach the top then meleeing with them. In fact, troops atop the wall that are not engaged in other activities--such as missile combat--should have several options.

Wall top units can drop missiles on enemies at the foot of the wall or on figures attempting to scale the wall, as mentioned on page 83of the BATTLESYSTEM rules. These rules state that the targets of these attacks gain their standard AR against small projectiles or regular weapons, but are allowed no armor checks against large projectiles or hot and corrosive substances. To reflect the vulnerable nature of troops on ladders or scaling the walls using grapples, this rule should be extended. Against small projectiles or regular weapons, scaling troops receive armor checks, but with a penalty of -1 to their AR. Against large projectiles, or hot and corrosive substances, they receive no armor checks.

In addition to dropping heavy objects or unpleasant materials on attackers, wall top defenders can sever grapple lines and wreck ladders. A defending unit atop a wall being climbed by a grapple-equipped unit can forego all other actions in order to deal with the grapples. This action has the same effect as an attack with AD 4 (no armor check allowed, since this damage represents troops falling when their grapple lines are cut). In addition, it increases the movement cost for scaling the wall to 5” per figure moving up 10’. Although the attack component is unlikely to inflict as many casualties as other forms of attack, this might sometimes be an appropriate tactic--when an attacking unit must be delayed until enough defender reinforcements arrive to deal with them properly, for example.

Ladders are another matter. Rather than concentrating on slaying the troops on the ladders, the defenders above can try to push the ladders over or otherwise wreck them. The chance of overthrowing or wrecking a ladder is 7% per wall top figure that is adjacent to the top of the ladder. Figures trying to overthrow a ladder can do nothing else in that turn. If the dice roll indicates success, each figure on the ladder suffers 1d6-1 hits (falling damage). There is also a 50% chance that the ladder is no longer usable.

The BATTLESYSTEM rules state on page 82 that, in melee combat between wall top defenders and units that have climbed ladders and grapples, the defenders receive the AR benefit (-2) of being protected by a wall. This is true only during the first turn of melee between these units. On the second and subsequent turns, the attacking unit is considered to have attained the same position--i.e., the walkway or turret-top--as the defenders. In the case of a narrow walkway, the rules for “Fighting in Narrow Passages” (page 81) come into play.

Being at the foot of a wall, or attempting to scale it, while the wall top is defended is a tense situation, to say the least. This is even more true when death in particularly nasty forms is raining down upon you. To reflect this, a unit in such a position must make a morale check on each turn that it loses a figure from a particularly terrible attack launched by the troops above. Such “terror” attacks include fire (it’s definitely demoralizing to see comrades burning to death around you), corrosive materials, and magical spells that are “visually spectacular.” Fireball, lightning bolt and meteor swarm spells would fall into this category while a magic missile, cone of cold, or creeping doom spell does not. Note that this morale check is in addition to checks required for other reasons (such as taking 4 or more hits in one step).