Tauranga iwi, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, and Ngāti Pūkenga, were in the Waikato fighting alongside Waikato and Maniapoto and that was a favour that got returned when war arrived in Tauranga in 1864. Maniapoto were there alongside other iwi. When Tauranga iwi and their allies defeated the British troops in Tauranga, it convinced General Cameron of the hopelessness of continuing offensive operations against modern pā. No other attack on the pā seemed likely to succeed as the one on Gate Pā. Extensive artillery pieces were brought to bear on the pā and the British had a huge numerical advantage. The fact that this was not enough to gain even a tactical victory hardened Cameron's opinion that it was futile to attack a completed pā.