Im having trouble understanding the siege system of Crusader Kings 2

[PirateDoge]

So, first off im a new player in CK2 so i decided to do the tutorial before i get into anything and following that i went to war with that small island nation, cant remember the name, as Leon. Once i killed the army there i started the siege i noticed that the garrison they had was near but somewhat under the size of the army i had, and very quickly my army started to take attrition, from a lack of supplies i think, as soon as my army size went under the enemies they immediatly gained all the morale they had lost. I also noticed that the amount of supplies my army needed was well under what the limit of the area was so i dont know why the game said i was taking attrition from lack of supplies.

Im sorry if i dont know how to explain things about this game very well, as i said i am a new player, just started today, so if anyone wants further info from me please just ask. I can also provide screenshots or whatever if needed.

Id really like some help with this as i was very much enjoying myself until i ran into this issue.

Also i have barely used this forum before so if i posted this in the wrong format or in the wrong place or something also please let me know.

 

[NameGoesHere]

From https://ck2.paradoxwikis.com/Attrition#Monthly_attrition_.28out_of_supplies.29:

Armies begin suffering minor attrition when they are no longer in or adjacent to their realm. The monthly percentage becomes more severe the longer they have been out of supply. This makes it dangerous to attack a distant enemy if you must march over neutral or hostile land.

Armies aboard ships do not suffer attrition, but time aboard ships is considered time out of supply. This reduces the effectiveness of unloading ships onto neutral lands to prevent the need to have an amphibious assault battle.

You are always in supply within your own realm, even when attacking a fellow vassal. Occupying a holding extends supply to neighboring provinces. Armies besieging a holding are also supplied if there is free loot available in the province; this free loot will be slowly depleted even if the army is not raiding.

 

[Okawal]

A Screenshot would be helpfull to answer your question but here a general information to sieges:

You mention that you are losing troops to attrition, did you realy saw a small skull icon on next to your army map icon ? And dont forget that the Supplylimit of a country is weather specific a.k.a if you sieg in winter you will have less supplylimit than sieg in summer (also country next to sea get a bonus to supllylimit). Another source of losing troops[for defender and attacker] while sieg are kind of random sieg-events (e.g. enemy is trying to attack your camp or your army get reduced by illness). And dont forget that you lose a portion of your army after every successfull sieg.

Edit: and what NamesGoesHere posted

 

[kviiri]

Attrition during sieges is usually not enough to kill troops below the "siege threshold" (combined levies and garrison of the defenders). However, you will occasionally suffer extra casualties due to siege events so you should always have some extra warriors on your side.

Generally, when waging offensive war, the easiest enemy holdings to siege are the ones of the top-level ruler of the enemy. They usually have near-zero levies (because vassals don't usually provide all of their levies towards their liege's wars) so you have less defenders to face.

 

[Rydelfox]

The out-of-supply attrition you are getting isn't from being over the county's supply limit (that will say "over supply limit") but for being away from your borders for an extended period of time. By default, I think you have 30 days after the holding runs out of loot.
You can avoid this by siegeing down border provinces instead. Once you do that, you'll be supplied in areas neighboring the occupied territory. If you are attacking someone who doesn't neighbor you, it can be a good idea to find somewhere with a small garrison and bring a relatively large army (about 10 times the size of the garrison) to assault it down as quickly as possible. Once you have some occupied territory, you can use that as a supplied area to work from.

 

[FifthMonarchy]

I feel like siege events are firing a bit more since Holy Fury but might be a bit of confirmation bias, just get the impression I'm having besieging armies reduced much more dramatically since the DLC/patch.

 

[BuddyLove]

Canaris is the land you're attacking in the tutorial and it's a terrible mistake to attack them. . . The tutorial literally leads you to making a dumb mistake to show you how to use ships.

It has a miniscule supply limit, is far away, and you have to hire ships to even get your troops there. . .

That said, you almost never want to push the assault unless you have overwhelming forces from them- it's the surest way to kill your seizing troops.

To win a seige you need more troops than them, and time. . . So you want to bring a LOT more troops and be ready to wait a long time.

 

[Rydelfox]

The tutorial's not great - it mostly worked fine when the game came out, but a lot of things changed, messing it up. For example, they changed how assassinations work, so your brother is now much more likely to die before you can assassinate him, resulting in the tutorial getting stuck - it won't progress until you assassinate him, but you can't since he's already dead.

You're probably far enough in to the tutorial that you've learned most of what it's trying to teach and can move to a real game. The typical suggestion is Ireland in 1066, which is a slow paced start to give yourself time to get adjusted to things. If you want something with a bit more to do, one of the Spanish nations in 1066 has a lot of action without being too stacked against you (it's the same nations involved in the tutorial). If you have the Charlemagne expansion, I'm fond of starting as the Petty King of Wessex in 769.

 

[Naughtius Maximus]

Usually a more dynamic tutorial would be the Duke of Apulia in 1066 start. More wars. Practice CBs, in a fairly good starting position with two large buffer states to keep you safe.

 

[PirateDoge]

wow thanks for everyone for all your replies, so from what im understanding now the reason im taking attrition is because canarias is so far from my homeland. for this specific scenario, when im sieging an island nation far from home, is there any way to mitigate this attrition? Through like raiding or looting or something like that? So im guessing that the general strategy for sieging far away lands is to show up with quite a few more troops than whatever the garrison is and just take the attrition?

 

[The Shacks]

That and make sure your central commander (Or all three) have the siege trait if possible. The character finder at the bottom right of your screen is great for searching for perspective generals, set the search to all then the join court filter to yes, sort by millitary ability (Cross-swords) and you can take a gander at some good generals hopefully eager to join you. Your list is of course dynamic and depends on your prestige and other more complex factors.

 

[BuddyLove]

And or the organizer trait which reduces attrition by increasing supply limit.

But yes- if you show up with overwhelming force they lose morale faster and you can attempt an assault.

But really, if you were to start in Spain as that starting character, there is NO reason whatsoever to take Canaris- it provides basically nothing and brings even more Muslim attention to you than you already have.

 

[Serenity84]

The distance isn't really an issue per se. Even on an island close to home you'd be out of supply until you get a foothold

Generally the attrition isn't too much of an issue if you have enough troops. But it seems like you are only slightly above the garrison size. You can try using a commander with the siege leader or architect trait to speed things up (tip: you can type in traits by name into the search box). Or hire mercenaries if you can afford it.

And or the organizer trait which reduces attrition by increasing supply limit.

The supply limit doesn't cause the attrition. Being out of supply and regular siege events do

 

[Karlington]

The typical suggestion is Ireland in 1066, which is a slow paced start to give yourself time to get adjusted to things. If you want something with a bit more to do, one of the Spanish nations in 1066 has a lot of action without being too stacked against you (it's the same nations involved in the tutorial). If you have the Charlemagne expansion, I'm fond of starting as the Petty King of Wessex in 769.

Wessex in 769 is a fun start for an experienced player, but I'd probably advise new players to stay away from it. They're likely to become whipping boys for the vikings and face game over pretty quickly once a prepared invasion comes.