I’ve had multiple notifications from scouts warning about impending rams (~6 times), and catapults (~twice) in the past twenty years or so, but neither has ever appeared. (Ram notification example given below).
I’ve checked at the rear of the advancing raiders to see if the rams and catapults are lagging behind and then retreating offscreen if I destroy the forward footsoldiers too quickly. But no rams / catapults have been found.
I don’t have steps to reproduce. The only thing of note that I did which may be unusual was that I destroyed all of the raiders camps very early on, long before the ram/catapult notifications started to appear, but that hasn’t prevented footsoldier raiders from spawning so may not be related.
I also tend to wipe out the raids quickly as I have cavalry positioned in the centre of the map which allows me to get anywhere quickly. So I don’t know if there is a mechanic which requires battles to last longer before rams / catapults appear.
The only other thing of note is that sometimes the total number of raiders attacking is +1 greater than the total at the end of the raid. E.g. 20 raiders attacking, but 19 killed triggers the raid to end. This suggests that somewhere there was meant to be a ram or catapult that left the battlefield or didn’t even arrive.
I have a save file available which I can email if required (too large to attach here).
