Morale Issues - for the Attacker

Siege warfare is a long, drawn out process. Much of the time, the attacking army is involved in simply waiting for something to happen or in digging ditches--neither of which carries much of the excitement and glamour often described by military recruiters. Even if the siege is going well, and the opposing fortification will eventually fall, the attackers have a potential morale problem.

The following table lists morale modifiers that apply to the besieging army. These modifiers are cumulative (except where common sense dictates otherwise), and are applied to every Morale Check made by any attacking unit while the conditions of the modifier(s) are in effect.

-1	Defenders have cannon while the attackers do not.
-1	Defenders have used magic, while attackers have no spellcasters.
-1	Siege is taking place in winter.
-1	Weather is stormy (whether natural or magical in nature).
-1	Relief troops allied with the defender are expected to arrive within 24 hours.
-2	Relief troops allied with the defender are surrounding or challenging the attackers’ position (includes double encirclement).
+1	Attackers have cannon while defenders do not.
+1	Attackers have spellcasters while defenders have (as yet) used no magic.
+1	At least one wall or gate of the fortification has been breached.
+2	Defenders have offered to surrender (whether or not this offer has been accepted by the attackers).

In addition to the factors above, the length of the siege carries with it its own modifiers. The following table shows how the length of the siege (in days) affects the morale of the attackers:

Length of Siege	Morale Modifier
0-20 days	0
21-60 days	-1
61-80 days	-2
81+ days	-3

As stated before, all of these modifiers are cumulative. For example, an army of orcs--without benefit of spellcasters or cannon--have been laying siege to an elven fortress for 50 days in the depth of winter. The elves have no cannon, but their mages have been raking the orcish troops with fireballs. As if that weren’t bad enough, rumors are circulating among the orcish ranks that a host of elven cavalry will arrive before nightfall to relieve the castle. The orcish commander has a serious problem: each Morale Check made by one of his units suffers a penalty of -4.