Samurai using war engines

[lwhitehead]

Has Samurai during war ever used War Engines?, or is that an Western thing?.

But what if they fought in a Fantasy Setting Knights Order Militare which the Templars are the best,


LW

[Warren]

Has Samurai during war ever used War Engines?

Yes.

Just going by my thin, lonely copy of Osprey's Siege Weapons of the Far East (2), Japan used gunpowder-based weapons, but far from the extent of contemporary China and Korea, or their own use of arquebus/teppo. But they did adapt their own versions of 'thunderclap' bombs and fire arrows, and chinese versions of cannon were uncommonly used until the portuguese turned up in the middle of the sixteenth century, and european cannon were quickly adopted and adapted.
The cover of the book, behind the link, shows a japanese fire arrow being launched from a european cannon. Here's an illustration of large japanese thunderclap bombs (so large they needed built-in wheels and handles to haul around) launched by mangonels, which I gather was the preferred method of delivery.



Here's an overview of various weapons and defences of samurai sieges at the Total War Center forum - take a look at the ozutsu! - and hopefully someone a lot more well-read than me will be along in a moment.

But what if they fought in a Fantasy Setting Knights Order Militare which the Templars are the best,

Did you have anything in mind?