Which are the best Defensive Military Buildings to build?

[Lord_Nick]

I've been lurking on these boards for months, and just bough KOH last week.

I've started 2 scenarios so far ... Trebizond in High ... converting 35 provinces to Orthodoxy before KOH crashed to the desktop, and Sicily in Early.

I tend to try and maximize the number of Advanced Buildings in each province to make my economy as strong as possible. As a result, I only have a few slots for Defensive Military buildings.

In what order would you build Defensive military buildings if you only have:
1?
2?
3?
4?
5 available slots?

I typically start with the Palisade/Stone Wall/Bulwark. What should be next? What is the difference between the Siege Defense bonus you get from a Moat vs the bonus you get from adding Ballista Towers.

Thanks

[Elvain]

In my towns I usualy build only palisade/stone wall/bulwark and then corner towers + if possible aleo balista towers. To protect the town it is IMO enough

then of course every my town has to have town watch

I never build moat
bonus from balista towers is more than visible if you assault a city with them - enemy armies don't get even close to the wall...

[Doux]

I suppose you're using vanilla KoH, Lord_Nick.

There are two basic defences you'll have in every town
1. Town Watch
2. Palisade -> Stone Wall -> Bulwark

What I preferred to build in vanilla KoH when ony 1 building slot available is the Wall Platforms and then upgrading them to the Catapults. This, because the former gives a siege defence bonus and the latter gives the best attrition you can get. In my opinion, that is the most efficient first build. 'T is an expensive strategy though, but I only built heavy siege defences in later stages of the game anyway for I had money leftovers then (the AI was never a reason to build them).

Then, strenghtening the gate Gate Towers -> Cauldrons] is a good option (same idea, siege bonus & attrition in one slot).

Because I roughly divide towns into three sorts -economy [Cathedral,Merchants Guild,University], militairy[for training troops] & defensive['leftover town']- there would be either those two, one, or all siege defences in a town on my map.

Oh, the difference between siege attrition and siege defence is that siege defence gives a bonus during sieges to the town, reducing the losses, and attrition increases the damage the town does to the enemy (which that enemy, the besieging Marshal, can reduce by having the siegecraft skill).

And a last editorial comment:
It depends on your playing style too. If you prefer to lead siege battles yourself, Ballista Towers are incredibly overpowered, as well as Catapults. Attrition and defence are then negated as far as I know, just as the moat doesn't appear in the close view.

[Lord_Nick]

Just to summarize and confirm what you are both saying:

Elvain, your priorities are:
1. Palisade -> Stone Wall -> Bulwark
2. Town Watch
3. Corner Towers
4. Ballistas
5. ?
Is this a correct sequencing?

Doux, your priorities are:
1. Town Watch
2. Palisade -> Stone Wall -> Bulwark
3. Catapults
4. Gate Towers -> Cauldrons
5. ?
Is this sequence correct?

Elvain and Doux,
Other than the first two buildings, you are suggesting very different building paths. Do you mind commenting on why your No. 3 and 4 choices are better?

Thanks!

[Angryminer]

My list would read something like:
Townwatch
Pallisade
Stonewall

At this point the town can only be captured when I don't defend it, and other buildings won't change anything about this.
But I sometimes build more advanced structures so my cities look nicer :go: .

Angryminer

[Doux]

Hehe, well the AI will never take a city with Catapults, at least, it did not occur to me.

Well, Lord_Nick, as I explained, I think that Catapults and Cauldrons give the most effective defensive boni per building slot.

In my mod, however, I'd build Fortified Watch and Corner Towers -> Catapults and still the Gate Towers -> Cauldrons.

I experience that Cauldrons work very well in world view, but also in the attack view and the same goes for Catapults. But as said, Catapults, when completed, give +5 siege defence and +2000 attrition, Cauldrons +5 sige defence and +500 attrition, whereas Ballistas and Corner Towers only deliver +1000 and +700 attrition (ín vanilla KoH).

[Lord_Nick]

Thank you for your replies. I've summarized the build order and costs in a little table below.

It raised another question ... if you had 5 slots for defensive buildings, should you spend:
(a) 3000 gold on a Moat (+20 Siege Defense), or
(b) 5000 gold on Ballista Towers (+1000 Siege Attrition)?

For the sake of argument, I listed the Moat first in the table

Build Order [Slot] Building Name {Cost in Gold - Workers} Benefit

[a] Town Watch { 300 G - 100 W} Provides Town Guards
[b] Palisade {4000 G - 600 W} Basic Defense
[b] Stone Wall {5000 G - 1500 W} +10 Defense, Increase Attrition
[c] Drum Tower {3000 G - 1200 W} +5 Defense, Increase Attrition
[c] Catapults {8000 G - 1000 W} +2000 Siege Attrition
[d] Gate Towers {8000 G - 1500 W} +500 Siege Attrition, Protects Gates
[d] Cauldrons {3000 G - 1000 W} +5 Siege Defense
[e] Moat {3000 G - 1000 W} +20 Siege Defense
[f] Ballista Towers {5000 G - 1200 W} +1000 Siege Attrition
[g] Corner Towers {8000 G - 1200 W} +700 Siege Attrition
[b] Bulwark {8000 G - 3000 W} +20 Siege Defense

[Doux]

I'd build Ballista's - the AI in general doesn't have great attrition rates anyway (the use of Siege Machines). And, Ballista help in the Battle view too, whereas the Moat does not.

3. Stone Walls do not increase the attrition.
4. Idem for Drum Towers.

The rest is accurate!