Editing Siege engine (section)

{{short description|Pre-gunpowder fortress-warfare machines}}
[[File:Battering ram.jpg|right|thumb|Replica [[battering ram]] at [[Château des Baux]], France]]
A '''siege engine''' is a [[machine|device]] that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick [[city wall]]s and other [[fortification]]s in [[siege warfare]]. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while others have wheels to enable advancing up to the enemy fortification. There are many distinct types, such as [[siege tower]]s that allow [[foot soldier]]s to scale walls and attack the defenders, [[battering rams]] that damage walls or gates, and large ranged weapons (such as [[ballista]]s, [[catapult]]s/[[trebuchet]]s and other similar constructions) that attack from a distance by launching heavy [[projectile]]s. Some complex siege engines were combinations of these types.

Siege engines are fairly large constructions – from the size of a small house to a large building. From [[Ancient history|antiquity]] up to the development of [[gunpowder]], they were made largely of wood, using rope or leather to help bind them, possibly with a few pieces of metal at key stress points. They could launch simple [[projectile]]s using natural materials to build up force by [[Tension (physics)|tension]], [[Torsion (mechanics)|torsion]], or, in the case of trebuchets, human power or counterweights coupled with [[mechanical advantage]]. With the development of gunpowder and improved [[metallurgy]], [[Bombard (weapon)|bombards]] and later heavy [[artillery]] became the primary siege engines.

Collectively, siege engines or artillery together with the necessary [[soldier]]s, [[sapper]]s, [[ammunition]], and [[Military supply chain management|transport vehicles]] to conduct a siege are referred to as a [[siege train]].<ref>[http://www.answers.com/topic/siege-train#US_Military_Dictionary_d_ans "Siege train"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904015427/http://www.answers.com/topic/siege-train#US_Military_Dictionary_d_ans |date=2017-09-04 }} on [[Answers.com]]</ref>