Onagers and their usage

[Silier]

I found this video recently where it is stated that onagers were used mainly against soldiers and not walls and that size of the projectile fired from onager is not able to damage the walls. So my question is do you agree with this video or there is some evidence they were used against walls and buildings mainly.

 

[Sundiata]

Siege warfare itself is way to complicated to depict realistically in a classic RTS game to begin with. But I do think 0AD can do better.

I'm no expert, but to my knowledge what the video is saying seems correct.

Siege warfare in reality evolved around actually besieging your enemy, preventing them from leaving their position and preventing them from being resupplied, with the intention of starving them into submission, or preventing them from accessing clean water. This process could easily take months, or even years. Actual attacks on the walls included sapping the walls (tunneling) and using ladders and movable towers to reach the top of the walls. The construction of elevated ramps higher than the walls, to be able to shoot down on the defenders is also a recurring thing. Gates are usually the "vulnerable" spots, which means they were usually extra fortified. Attempts would be made to ram down the gates, or burn them down. But none of this is easy... It's a recurring thing in history that gates were breached only after defending guards were bribed. 

Most battering rams, siege towers, other catapults and elephants were pretty useless against well designed walls as well. It's just an RTS abstraction, to keep things playable.