Roman tactics in Two Towers!

[Guardsman Bass]

Spoilers



during the battle at Helm's Deep, when the Urukhai were marching up to the gate, they did the Roman tactic of the front men holding their shield up forming a wall, then all the rest of them holding them above their heads. I think it was called the Tortoise. It didnt work too well, as the elves shot them from the side.


Oh and if the Romans attacked Minas Tirith, they could probably just find sufficient highland on the nearby White Mountains and launch rocks over the walls

[Admiral Piett]

As far as I know the true tortoise has the shields even on the sides.

[Alyrium Denryle]

And behind

[neoolong]

As far as I know the true tortoise has the shields even on the sides.

It's called the testudo. 27 men form up and protect the outside with shields. From front, sides, and back.

I don't think it was always this way. So, the shields probably weren't always everywhere. Probably depends on the situation.

[weemadando]

A true tortoise formation had shields on all sides. Not to mention pointy nasty bits poking out everywhere too.

[Acclamator]

Hang on.. that would mean that each corner man (the men who happen to be at the four corners of the tortoise) would have to hold three shields.

[neoolong]

Hang on.. that would mean that each corner man (the men who happen to be at the four corners of the tortoise) would have to hold three shields.

No. The shields are big and overlap.

[NecronLord]

I might add that, although i have not yet seen the film, there is some sort of ballista in the Uruk Hai army.

[Shadow WarChief]

Yes the uruk hai used ballistas, but they didn't use them as siege weapons per se. They had grapling hooks where the arrow point usually goes, and they used a series of pullies to raise ladders to the higher portions of the wall of Helm's deep

[Pablo Sanchez]

Yes the uruk hai used ballistas, but they didn't use them as siege weapons per se. They had grapling hooks where the arrow point usually goes, and they used a series of pullies to raise ladders to the higher portions of the wall of Helm's deep

My question is why they didn't just use gunpowder more (and coordinate better, so that their own men weren't crushed by debris).

[Sea Skimmer]

Yes the uruk hai used ballistas, but they didn't use them as siege weapons per se. They had grapling hooks where the arrow point usually goes, and they used a series of pullies to raise ladders to the higher portions of the wall of Helm's deep

My question is why they didn't just use gunpowder more (and coordinate better, so that their own men weren't crushed by debris).

At that tech level gunpowder is very expensive and hard to transport. What we saw is likely all they had.

[Cosmic Average]

Actually, the Orcs did have shields on all sides. The elfs shot between the gaps in the shields.

[CJvR]

The Urukhai were idiots, but they were easy replacable idiots so it's hardly surprising that Saruman spent them in a frontal assault with minimum preparations.

The fortress itself is questionably placed and designed, the gate was the worst piece of fortcraft I have seen. The fact that that place never fell to an attacker says more about the attacker than it does about the fortress itself. The main gate might as well have "Breach me, please" written on it!!!

The Roman legions were masters of siegecraft and a legion or two would have smashed the Rohanite defences to pieces with a fraction of the losses inflicted on the Urukhai, for starters the Legionarys would be smart enough to shield their flanks while advancing up the wide assault ramp so thoughtfully provided by the criminaly inept builder of the place.

[Vympel]

As I recall, the reason why the gate was shit was because it had been allowed to deteriorate and hadn't been maintained for years. The glory days of helm's deep, according to the visual companion anyway, were long past.

Assault ramp? That's just messed up.

Still haven't seen TTT. Must wait at least 2 more days.