Siege Workshop (Age of Empires II)


 * For the Age of Empires variant, see Siege Workshop (Age of Empires)
 * For the Age of Mythology variant, see Siege Works
 * For the Age of Empires III variant, see Artillery Foundry

The Siege Workshop in this version of the game has the same purpose as its precursor. The Siege Workshop specializes in building and upgrading siege weapons, which are designed to take down enemy infrastructure during a siege. This building requires a Blacksmith as a prerequisite to be created.

Tactics and Placement
The siege workshop is an essential building for all players as most land siege engines (with the exception of Trebuchet and Petard) are created here. Siege units have its place mostly for demolish enemy structures so the player must first have to create an army before he or she start to create their siege engines at the workshop specially if he or she wants to use the rams that benefit greatly from foot units.

The work rate of the Siege Workshop is slow and can't be improved, so any player that want to create Siege Workshop units in any relevant numbers quickly must have at least 4 of them. Also it is advisable to have them near an opponent if playing offensively as this will cut off distance considering all siege weapons move really slow so it is far better for offensive purposes to create those engines near an opponent.

Having them near a defensive fortification does not have any real effect on the field as the siege units created at this building are mainly offensive, are created slowly and some of them (Mangonels, Onagers & Bombard Cannons) may damage the own player structures and troops.

History
"The construction of castles and fortified towns created demand for artillery engines that could knock down walls and open the fortification to assault by troops. Without such artillery weapons, the taking of a castle required a long and costly siege that eventually starved the defenders into surrender. The ability to lay siege was constrained by the length of the campaigning season, the cost of providing supplies to a besieging army, the losses from disease in camp, and weather. Battering rams, trebuchets, and other siege engines were used to break into the fortification quickly and decide the issue. Siege engines were built at a siege workshop."

Units

 * Battering Ram - Capped Ram - Siege Ram
 * Mangonel - Onager - Siege Onager
 * Scorpion - Heavy Scorpion
 * Bombard Cannon
 * Siege Tower (in The African Kingdoms expansion)

Civilizations bonuses

 * Aztecs: Siege Workshop units are produced +15% faster.
 * Spanish: Siege Workshop are built 30% faster.
 * Byzantines: Siege Workshop have 10%/20%/30%/40% more hp in Dark/Feudal/Castle/Imperial Age. Town Watch (+4 LOS for buildings) is free.
 * Chinese: Siege Workshop technologies and improvements cost -10% Feudal age, -15% Castle age, -20% Imperial Age.
 * Slavs: Siege Workshop units are 15% cheaper.
 * Malians: Siege Workshops cost 15% less wood.

Team Bonuses

 * A team containing Celts: Siege Workshop work 20% faster.
 * A team containing Slavs: Siege Workshop allows +5 population.