call of the winds question

[ghoul31]

If you cast call of the winds on a province where your castle is under siege, do the birds appear in your castle, or do they attack the sieging forces?

[PriestyMan]

inside. its a cheap trick to make forts almost unseigable

they eat though

[Squirrelloid]

They also die really quickly to BoT if you're considering using them in Petty Kingdoms

[Soyweiser]

Really quickly does not even describe it properly. 2 turns, and they almost all have old age.

They are also pretty good patrollers.

[sansanjuan]

I recall a post where CoW birds were found to not help seiges (and perhaps anti-seiges) even though they fly. Perhaps an animal tag effect making them tear/repair as mindless units. I can perhaps find that thread. I remember being saddened thinking all the air gems I blew (pun?) trying to leverage CoW on castle walls...
-ssj

...however an Ember lord with strength items (33+???)^2 may be another matter entirely.

[Valerius]

Originally Posted by Squirrelloid

They also die really quickly to BoT if you're considering using them in Petty Kingdoms

Originally Posted by Soyweiser

Really quickly does not even describe it properly. 2 turns, and they almost all have old age.

Sadly this is quite true. So much for my plans to overtax in Petty Kingdoms. My wolves aren't doing too well either, but at least those are free.

Originally Posted by sansanjuan

I recall a post where CoW birds were found to not help seiges (and perhaps anti-seiges) even though they fly. Perhaps an animal tag effect making them tear/repair as mindless units. I can perhaps find that thread. I remember being saddened thinking all the air gems I blew (pun?) trying to leverage CoW on castle walls...
-ssj

They are definitely good in defending forts - just not attacking them. I tested it a while back and have also used them to prevent my cap walls from being breached. But they are horrible at besieging forts.

[Kobal2]

Originally Posted by Valerius

They are definitely good in defending forts - just not attacking them. I tested it a while back and have also used them to prevent my cap walls from being breached. But they are horrible at besieging forts.

Well that's just odd, isn't the exact same equation used to determine the besieger and besiegee's relative strengths ? I'm not aware of the animal tag making a difference either way...

[some research later]

Ah, I see: Black Hawks have a siege penalty not visible in game, which would reduce their siege value on the attack but not the defence.

[Soyweiser]

The Animal tag does not make a difference. It is one of the lies in the rulebook.

[Doo]

Originally Posted by Kobal2

Ah, I see: Black Hawks have a siege penalty not visible in game, which would reduce their siege value on the attack but not the defence.

Which is weird as birds can at least drop stones from a great height to chip away at walls, some birds do this with turtles except the turtle is dropped at high speed, but I've yet to hear of a bird doing stonework.

Maybe the birds rebuild fortifications with sticks and twigs?

[Kobal2]

I think they just crap onto the besiegers from high altitude, lowering overall morale and efficiency because honestly, who likes catching a fat dollop of sky yogurt smack in the face ? Even the undead care about that sort of thing. The prospect of having one's soul ripped apart and cast into oblivion is one thing, but guano ?! A man has to draw the line somewhere.

When they do it on the offensive however, it's just more slippery material on top of the walls !