promotions for siege weapons (and in general)

[rah]

I had one game where i got the free pinch promotion, auto drill, extra sharp axes. All I was missing was the free cover.

[Solomwi]

As others said, you don't want a "stock" promotion path for all your siege units. I typically strive for about 25-30% of my siege stack to have accuracy, for the reason mentioned above. Walls and castles make it take forever to knock the city defense down without accuracy. The rest of the stack is generally a mix of CR and barrage, weighted based on the type of battle I expect. The purpose of CR siege, especially in the cat era, is to damage the top defender. I know it's good practice, but I can never make myself save promotions as a rule (though I will do it in certain situations). I don't like drill on siege (but love it generally speaking) because drill is all about survivability, a low priority for siege units. It's nice when they survive, but not as necessary as, say, my macemen surviving to reach CRIII.

[Dinner]

What's "enemy SOD"?

[wodan11]

stack of doom (composed of a large number of units)

[Ming]

It's better to just keep 2 different sets of cats (or rather don't promote until needed).

Now, I do not promote my cats until I know what they are going to be doing. Nothing worse than having a bunch of CR cats, and all of a sudden you have to defend against a SOD.

[Theben]

Always good for the 'instant repair' feature too.

[rah]

Hmm the instant repair is only needed if they're attacked. (since they're immune to colateral damage)
If they are in danger of being attacked I want them promoted to increase their odds of survival. (first strike or other advantage promo)

[Ming]

Hmm the instant repair is only needed if they're attacked. (since they're immune to colateral damage)
If they are in danger of being attacked I want them promoted to increase their odds of survival. (first strike or other advantage promo)

True enough. And at that point, you KNOW what promotion you want

[rah]

There is that rare event where a cat was so successful on a previous attack that it's still at 3.8 or above and earned a promotion. YOu're thinking should I promote or wait for another attack. I usually wuss out and promote before figureing that extra cr promo will help it's survival.

While cats are made to be used and destroyed, they are usually the limiting factor when you have to pause during an invasion.