Conquering

# Sieges

In the world of Zenith, battles and conquests can be intense and exciting. To make war more prevalent, the new war system introduces a system of sieges, wars, and conquests. In this new system, wars are decided through sieges, which are "King Of The Hill" battles that occur on the outskirts of a town. Each siege spans a maximum of **72 hours**. Sieges involve two opposing teams: attackers (an attacking nation and its allies) and defenders (a defending town, its nation, and its allies). If the attackers emerge victorious, they can either Plunder the town or Capture it and add it to their nation. The goal of sieges is to make war more accessible and less destructive. The idea (compared to the old system) is for war to be based around political and financial drive.

**Sieging a town can have many benefits**. Sieges can be very **profitable** with the plundering and occupation taxation. Plundering allows for a one time money withdraw from the conquered town bank. If the town is unable to pay its debt, it will go into a state of bankruptcy (see below). Occupation taxation is something that can be set if a town is chosen to be annexed into the nation. This will withdraw money from the conquered town's bank (and will include the bankruptcy feature as well). In addition after conquering an inactive town, the monarch of the nation can **choose an heir to be the new lord**. The conquered town is also unable to leave the nation (unless it is conquered again).

Let's break down some of the key features you need to know:

## Before You Start

Before you can engage in sieges, monarchs, lords, or generals must assign military ranks. Nation military ranks include Private, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, and Colonel, all of which can earn Battle Points. For town military ranks, Guards can earn Battle Points.

Generals are a new type of leadership role that can earn battle points, along with the ability to assign nation military ranks, initiate or abandon sieges, and Plunder/Capture.

### Types of Sieges

The objective of a Conquest siege is for the attacking nation to capture a town and add it to their nation.

The objective of a Revolt siege is for the attacking town to free itself from occupation by another nation.

## Starting a Siege

To commence a siege, as a nation's monarch or general, **place a non-white banner** in the wilderness near a town (at any time, no online player requirement). This banner serves as the Siege Banner and initiates a new siege in the town. A nation can have up to **three offensive sieges concurrently**.

Any nation or town that wants to initiate a siege must pay an upfront cost of **$2000 per town plot** (this money is paid to the server and is to deter fake sieges). The nation must deposit **$4000 per town plot** into a War Chest, a sum that will be later recovered automatically by the victorious side.

Each siege has a maximum duration of **6** Battle Sessions spread over the **3 day siege period**. Each Battle Session lasts an hour. Battle Sessions start at **12:00 PM EST** and **6:00 PM EST**. **BATTLE SESSION ARE THE ONLY TIMES POINTS CAN BE SCORED.**

## Assemblies

Siege assemblies precede the siege itself but are initiated after the banner is placed. This is a time period that is primarily used to allow each side to prepare. This period lasts for **1 day**. In order for the siege to initiate, the attackers must stay near the siege banner for **30 minutes** total.

## The Siege

After the siege assembly, the siege itself begins. The nation's Battle Commander is selected for each siege by the one who placed the Siege Banner. To join the battle, use `/sw spawn <town>` to teleport to the Battle Commander. A town under active siege cannot recruit new residents, claim new plots, and unclaim plots.

Siege banners must be placed on the surface next to the town border (no placing it ridiculously high or underground). Failure to do so will result in the siege defaulting to the defending town victory.

Those with **military ranks** on either side, can capture the Siege Banner. Standing near the banner for **7 minutes** will capture it for your team, adding you to the Banner Control List. Your team will gain **30 Battle Points per minute** for each player on the Banner Control List. The Banner Control List is occurs points during the Battle Sessions.

If a team successfully steals banner control from the enemy, it results in a Banner Control Reversal, granting the reversing team a **x3 boost** to their point generation rate.

Players can also earn **150 Battle Points** by killing enemy military ranked players. **Equipment degrades by 5%** upon death in a Siege Zone. Land cannot be claimed near a Siege Zone to prevent walling off siege areas. Land within the town cannot be built on during the siege, but land in the wilderness can be modified. Defenders will automatically win the siege if no action is taken by the attackers.

## End of the Siege

When a Battle Session ends, the team with the highest Battle Points is declared the winner. Both teams' battle points are applied to the Siege Balance (which is used to calculate the winner).

### Abandoning or Surrendering

Attackers can abandon the attack by placing an **all-white banner** (surrender flag) in the wilderness near the town.

Defenders can surrender the defense by doing the same.

### Possible Outcomes

After all of the Battle Sessions, the siege is ended, and the outcome is primarily determined based on the total Siege Balance, as these options now become available to the attacker based on the type of siege:

**Conquest Siege**
(or surrender)
Split
Split
 **How much can the**
**attackers Plunder?**
 **Can the attackers Invade?** | Yes

**Revolt Siege**
(or surrender)
 **How much can the**
**attackers Plunder?**
 **Can the attackersescape occupation?** | Yes

**Demoralization**: The attacker gets -1500 Siege Balance to all sieges they start as a default, for 7 days.

### Explanation of the Options

#### Plunder

As a victorious monarch/general, you can Plunder a town by placing a chest in the wilderness near the town. This action robs the town of $40 per plot, deposited in the nation bank. A plundered town can't fall due to the money loss but can go "bankrupt," blocking building/claiming/recruitment.

#### Invade

To Capture a town, place a non-white banner near it, adding it to your nation. The captured town enters an Occupied state and cannot leave the nation. A town under occupation cannot unclaim plots.

Occupation tax can be set using `/n set occupationtax`. This tax is applied to all the nation's occupied towns.

#### Escape Occupation

As the lord of a captured town, you can free your town via a Revolt. Place a non-white banner outside the town, removing the occupation and initiating a revolt. Winning this siege keeps the town free from occupation.

### Immunity

After a siege, the town receives immunity for **7 days**, during which it cannot be re-attacked.

After a revolt, the town gets immunity for **3 days**, during which it cannot revolt.

New towns are immune from sieges for **7 days** after its founding.

## War Sickness

Non-participants in sieges may receive war sickness. Players have to leave the siege zone before receiving war sickness within **20 seconds**. During Battle Sessions, only military ranked residents can spawn in Siege-Zones or besieged towns, ensuring casual players' safety.

## Only Surface Warfare

This feature is used to promotes surface combat and discourages terrain destruction during sieges.

### Besieged Town

Defenders cannot build near the siege banner. Defenders are compensated, by forcing the siege banner to be right on the town border, which encourages walls / towers / gates. There is a **32 block** radius.

### Wilderness

The protected area consists of every location which is both within this radius around the siege banner, and in the wilderness (in a **32 block** radius). Players cannot build more than **10 blocks** above the banner (or anywhere below the banner). Traditional surface combat is encouraged, rather than fighting in holes, and terrain destruction during sieges is reduced.

## Commands

* **Assign Military Ranks**: `/t rank add <player name> <rank>` for lords; `/n rank add <player name> <rank>` for monarchs.
* **Spawn to Siege**: `/sw spawn <besieged town>`.
* **View Information**: `/sw hud <town name>` to toggle a HUD for monitoring siege progress; `/t`, `/t here`, or `/t <town name>` for town details; `/n <nation name>` for nation sieges.
* **Pay Soldiers**: `/sw nation paysoldiers <amount>` to make military salary payments.
* **Collect Money**: `/sw collect` for soldiers to collect income from Military Salary or Nation Refunds.
* **Set Occupation Tax**: `/n set occupationtax <rate>` for kings to set the nation's occupation tax rate.