Feels like this was meant to be a placeholder asset. The springald attached to its back is frozen and the bolt shoots from a completely different angle to where the model shows, which almost intersects with the head of the rider. The Castle Age model sits there with a flat bottom against the Elephant’s rounded back, unsecured as if it was nailed onto it. The Imperial model has ropes hanging onto air, just floating, as they were meant to be attached to the Tower from Tower Elephants. You can see the Healer Elephant did slightly better, but the Castle Age model is still unsecured for whatever reason. As for the unsecured tower problem, copy that model from the Tower Elephant and place a transparent texture on the polygons of its walls, retaining the bottom half wooden bit that curves around the Elephant, and keep the rope in every iteration of the model, Castle and Imperial. For Healer Elephant AND Springald one. Now you just have to give the Springald an animation, and it won’t look so wonky anymore.
On a side note, the Springald unit (not the Ballista Elephant) also has broken animations. The bolt is not there, until it starts shooting, at which point it appears, disappears and the unit shoots a white bolt from another area below the original bolt. Just looks wonky and unfinished, I was hoping they would clean this up when revisiting the Ballista Elephant who clearly reuses these assets.
Honestly I have always hated how the Springald fires its shot in this game from the center point of the model, or from the nozzle at the front in some directional line that defies the upward angle the bolt is initial resting in. Add a slight curve to the fire so that it may at least look like it isn’t manifesting from the void like some spell. This would also help in slightly hilly areas where the Springald will shoot through the terrain to hit its target.