Failed Siege

I sent troops to clear:  http://elgea.illyriad.co.uk/#/World/Map/-778/14/4

My alt then sieged the city and selected the storm and capture. However, they were greeted by forces who destroyed them. I lost 500 soldiers and 30 catapults.

Approximately three hours after my failed siege, the clearing army from my alt attacked the city and found no defenders.

Where do these phantom defenders come from? Have the devs activated ghost troops to defend the accounts of the abandoned?

I have seen this happen, a friend cleared some infringing troops from a rare res but the ghosts still killed his harvesters. Sent more troops and nothing there, scouts and nothing there.

I have found this before (even with npcs), in my experience it only occurs when the clearance attack and proper attack are timed within the same 90 secs or so.

This prooved very problematic for me during the elemental tourney when I was co-ordinating cav clearances with small occupations.  I just learnt to give a little more time between each attack.

I guess that this maybe purposefull so as to give defenders a chance to organise troops, by forcing the attacker not to co-ordinate attacks just seconds appart.

It sounds like I am not the only person this has happened to with the difference being that my clearing army cleared the town quite a while before my storm & capture.

manochandar wrote: dark the clearing army was 1 day before the capturing army went in

OUCH, you sure the account was inactive?