Mangonel

Mangonel
General Information
Available in	Stronghold games
Usage	Defense engine
Cost	50 gold (SH, SHC) +2 engineers 200 gold (SH2, SHL)

The mangonel is a stone-hurling defense engine.

Description

The mangonel acts like a mini catapult placed atop of a tower. It is operated by two engineers, one of them for reloading and the other to pull, then release the hurler. Upon launch, multiple rocks are hurled, which can cause devastating damage on buildings and troops. The mangonel has great inaccuracy, making the target area harder to hit.

Mangonels can be sited on large towers that have enough room on the top to support them. They cannot be used with a ballista on the same tower.

Mangonels kill units (except for the Lord) with one hit. However, they cause minor damage to buildings. In Stronghold 2 and beyond, mangonels hurl regular rocks, effectively destroying almost every building with one hit but partially wounding ground units, sending them fly. Engineers are also provided with the mangonel when placing.

Usage

Mangonels are a frequent sighting, being one of the most reliable (and cheap) defenses. They can effectively stop a seemingly devastating attack, as the attacker has his army in one big clump, offering many kills to one mangonel. They can also cause significant damage to siege engines, to a lesser extent. When they are protected by shields, they are almost invulnerable to projectiles.

Mangonels are best used in conjuction with ballistae: mangonels can provide area damage, while ballistae snipe enemy siege engines and potential targets. In big numbers, a wall of these two machines is virtually impenetratable.

Their "area target" attack can prove very useful. Operating the mangonel at their peak of range actually sends rocks farther than the target range, outclassing the fire ballista's and the trebuchet's range. Mangonel groups can create death zones and cover a huge area in the perimeter when set on area attacks.

Weaknesses

Mangonels are a threat to friend and foe both. The small rocks can hurt either player's properties and units, meaning that a badly targeted mangonel can cause severe losses if one does not pay attention.

Other threat comes from its immobility and limited placement. Mangonels pretty much depend on their host tower's health, as a severely damaged tower may cripple in no time, sending its engine and staff into destruction. Also, when a mangonel is in the red, it needs to be disbanded and replaced in order to "regain" its health.

The mangonel is so inaccurate that it has problems hitting targets being close. Archers and other missile units may shoot without much problem at the device, provided they are not in a big group. Melee units in the tower means doomsday for the mangonel.

Strategies

• A very offensive (albeit somewhat cost-ineffective) use of the mangonel is to build a large tower as close as possible to the enemy in the early game and place one on it. Proxy mangonels supported by archers and crossbowmen are lethal if used correctly. The tower remains strong enough to withstand catapult/trebuchet attacks. Two or three towers can cause severe damage in enemy ranks, but they should be guarded well, as fast units in numbers can quickly overwhelm and destroy these forward outposts.