Siege Engine (Warcraft III)

The sturdy Dwarven Siege Engines are a new addition to the Alliance forces. The stalwart Dwarven pilots have even been known to ram enemy structures at high speeds and reduce whole fortifications to dust under the Siege Engines' steel treads.

The Siege Engine is designed to destroy buildings. Siege Engines possess siege-based attacks and are also the only unit to possess fortified armor, meaning that their only bane are other siege-damage units. Siege Engines also serve as effective anti-air units once Barrage is researched, as it allows them to attack numerous aerial units in the process. A small group of Siege Engines can essentially drive away clusters of weak aerial units, and stronger ones such as Chimaeras will have trouble destroying them thanks to their fortified armor protecting them greatly from their attacks.

As much as the Flying Machines are arguably better in some cases over Siege Engines, Flying Machines can be easily destroyed by well placed Troll Batriders, or in general battles against Gargoyles, Hippogryphs and Frost Wyrms. If the Flying Machine cannot cut it in battle against numerous aerial hostiles, start producing Siege Engines; six to seven of them with good tanks to soak damage can easily make a difference against opponents with massed aerial units.

If the map has a Goblin Laboratory, buy several Goblin Zeppelins. Though it does set back the player a bit in gold and only two can fit in each one, the zeppelin can ferry the Siege Engines to their destination a lot faster.

There are numerous counters against Siege Engines.

• Counters

The most effective strategy is to bring in artillery units such as Mortar Teams and Demolishers, whose high Siege damage makes short work of Siege Engines.

Raiders can also Ensnare the Siege Engines if they attempt to run away, and their Siege damage makes them effective against the Siege Engine's fortified armor.

If the Siege Engines attempt to target a base, have as many workers as possible attempt to repair the damage. Defensive towers lining the town hall can also deal some damage, with human players having the greatest advantage due to their Cannon Towers. Building with 1x1 gaps between your buildings also forces the Siege Tank to either attempt to go around or destroy it, wasting time that could have been used to attack the town hall.

Night elf players can uproot their Ancients, changing their armor type from Fortified to Heavy, meaning the Siege Engine deals less damage to them.

• Fires powerful Dwarven rockets at nearby enemy air units, dealing 25 damage per hit for a range of 50. 9 rockets can be fired at once. 2 second cooldown.

• Heavily armored vehicle, effective at destroying buildings. Can be upgraded with the Barrage ability.