Citybreaker

The Citybreaker is a unit within the Kalriv Legions. It consists of a Citybreaker siege engine and an accompanying crew to man, assemble, transport and fire the weapon.
It is the first anti-fortification long-range siege engine ever built, and so far the units are unique to the Kalriv Empire. They are considered head and shoulders above any kind of siege tactics any other city-states or empires have developed and their development have made Kalriv military supremacy virtually undisputed.

Composition

Manpower

A Citybreaker requires a crew of eight engineers, usually officers, to wind down its arm and prepare its payload.

Weaponry

The primary weapon in the unit is the Citybreaker catapult itself. It is a bronze-and-oak torsion-powered catapult which launches a payload (usually limestone or similar stones) of up to 25 kilograms. Citybreaker crews are issued with shortswords for self-defense, but rely primarily on being protected by infantry forces.

Structure

Citybreakers are recruited from officers in their particular legion. They usually have a Chief Engineer, who directs the operation and implementation of the units, who in turn answers directly to the Legate of that particular legion.

Tactics

Citybreakers are a mixture of artillery and shock and awe weaponry. As siege engines are a relatively new invention in Arikanda, and are an advanced science only the Kalriv have mastered thus far, they can strike fear in opposing armies due to being able to wreak destruction from a considerable distance. They are used to weaken and inflict damage on city fortifications, hence the name. Wooden fortifications can be destroyed in short order, while even stone fortifications can eventually be breached and brought down by Citybreakers.

Training

Citybreaker engineers are given extensive training in engineering and a rudimentary system of physics/mathematics so as to aim and direct their weapons. They are also given training in carpentry, metalwork and ropework so as to be able to carry out field repairs and adjustments to the engine as needed. As a result of the resources required for such training, Citybreakers are selected from the officer corps.

Logistics

Logistical Support

Siegebreakers need to be broken down and transported in individual parts to their destinations. Kalriv supply lines and baggage trains are essential to carrying this out.

Type

Artillery

Overall training Level

Professional

Assumed Veterancy

Veteran

Used by

• Kalriv Legions