Yeah I think ladders played a pretty significant role though, we didn't have large enough ones. There were spots that if we could get ladders to, we wouldn't have to worry about them going down because the defenders couldn't reach them unless they wasted a ladder themselves.
The overall killer for the battle though was really the terrain around the walls, it was entirely too steep. You'd put a ladder up, and it would appear to be a good one, but by the time the game figured out the incline of the ladder you just put up, it would not let you up (which is funny because ladders are meant to climb, and not just used as ramps).
Oh well, back to the drawing board!
I would say be a lot more restrictive on who should place ladders in the future. It's become a bit of a lost art since they've removed them from public play but some players are complete aces at placing them. Some people basically used to spawn with them almost every life on siege and basically knew them perfectly. I'd put the ladders in these guys' hands before letting an inexperienced person do it.
Of us NH guys I was decent at it back in the day and only placed 3 during that siege but none flopped, Slamz is even better and placed about 5-10, all were good. Diggles is really good at it if he's around. I'm sure there would be others on your merc roster of similar experience throwing ladders around on siege. Everyone wants to be the guy tossing the ladder, especially now that they are a bit of a novelty, but retsricting their use to pros would save a lot of time and frustration.