Siege Workshop (Age of Empires)

This article is about the building in Age of Empires. For the building in other games of the series, see Siege Workshop.

Siege Workshop
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires
Type	Military
Civilization	All civilizations
Age	Bronze Age
Use	Trains and upgrades siege units
Construction
Requires	Archery Range
Wood	200
Build time	60 seconds
Statistics
Size	3×3 tiles
Hit points	350
Garrison	10
Melee armor	0
Pierce armor	0
Line of Sight	5

“	Used to build siege weapons that are slower than other units, but have powerful long-range attacks.	”
—In-game description in the Definitive Edition

The Siege Workshop is a building in Age of Empires which trains and upgrades siege weapons starting in the Bronze Age.

Since the Definitive Edition, trained siege weapons can be garrisoned inside by setting the building's rally point to itself. Once a siege weapon is ejected, it cannot be re-garrisoned.

Gameplay

The Siege Workshop is the training building for land-based siege engines. These are extremely slow-moving, expensive projectile units with devastating power and lengthy range. They are particularly effective against buildings, able to bring them down quickly from beyond the range of other units and most towers.

While the more advanced Siege Workshop units have the longest range of anything in the game, the earliest units are still vulnerable to upgraded Guard Towers: Stone Throwers require Engineering or upgrading to Catapults to out-range them, Ballistae may also need upgrading to Helepolises, and only upgraded Catapults or Heavy Catapults can attack beyond the reach of fully upgraded Choson towers.

Siege Workshop units' key vulnerability is melee attack, as they can't fire at nearby targets. Their projectiles move slower than those of archers, so it's easier for units to dodge them with careful micro-management.

All siege units require large amounts of wood and gold, but unusually they cost no food; the only other units to share this trait are ships, Priests, and traders. Food is used to upgrade them, however.

Siege Workshops are available from the Bronze Age. They are unlocked after building an Archery Range (which in turn requires a Barracks), or by starting the game in the Bronze Age or later. These units are trained here, depending on the faction and age:

• The Stone Thrower line: these siege weapons' slow projectiles deal splash damage to anything near the impact site (friend or foe). This makes them particularly effective against groups of units or clusters of buildings, but can kill the player's own troops if not used carefully. They are the best units in the game against walls, wood buildings, and for distant bombardment. Catapults' massive projectiles can wipe out entire squads of units; the Heavy Catapult ultimate upgrade is the longest-ranged unit in the game, and can flatten trees to create gaps in wood lines.
• The Ballista line: fragile siege weapons that fire more frequently than Stone Throwers, but don't deal any splash damage. Ballistae are more effective against single units, as their faster firing rate and projectile speed makes them harder to dodge. Their lack of splash damage also makes them safe for supporting friendly troops.

Units

Blue: Units

Red: Buildings

				Requires Archery Range
	➞		➞		➞
					➞		➞
							➞

Unit availability

Blue: Available

Red: Unavailable

Civilization					All
Assyrians					X
Babylonians
Carthaginians
Choson
Egyptians
Greeks					X
Hittites
Lac Viet
Macedonians
Minoans					X
Palmyrans
Persians
Phoenicians
Romans					X
Shang
Sumerians
Yamato
Civilization					All

Upgrades

Hit points	Architecture (+20%)
Line of Sight	City Watch (+3)
Construction time	Architecture (-33%)

Civilization bonuses

• Macedonians: Siege Workshops are four times more resistant to conversion.
• Romans: Siege Workshops cost -10%.

Team bonuses

• Assyrians: Siege Workshops work 20% faster.
• Babylonians: Siege Workshops are built 10% faster.
• Choson: Siege Workshops have +2 Line of Sight.
• Palmyrans: Unit upgrades at the Siege Workshop and technologies benefiting the Siege Workshop are researched 30% faster.

Changelog

Return of Rome

• Team bonuses added:
  • Assyrians: Siege Workshops work 20% faster.
  • Babylonians: Siege Workshops are built 10% faster.
  • Choson: With update 93001, Siege Workshops have +2 Line of Sight.
  • Palmyrans: Technologies at and benefiting the Siege Workshop are researched 30% faster.

History

“	The earliest fortifications yet discovered date from 7000 B.C., but evidence of siege weapons doesn't appear until much later.  We can assume, however, that siege equipment was in use long before the first evidence that has survived.  Evidence of a scaling ladder does not appear until about 2500 B.C.  The earliest record of a simple battering ram comes from 1900 B.C.  A more powerful ram plus the undermining of walls appears by 880 B.C.  The mobile siege tower first appears one hundred years later.  The catapult was invented by Greeks in 397 B.C.  There were no further significant advances in siege engines until the advent of gunpowder.	”
—Age of Empires manual

Gallery

All Siege Workshops in the Iron Age. Top row: Egyptian, Greek. Middle: Roman. Bottom row: Mesopotamian, East Asian.

All Siege Workshops in the Iron Age (Definitive Edition). Top row: Greek, Mesopotamian. Middle row: Egyptian. Bottom row: East Asian, Roman.

Buildings in Age of Empires
Stone Age Starting Tool Age Bronze Age Additional Iron Age