> Chen-Song Qin wrote:
> > I've got data that suggests some ballistae fired nearly a quarter
> > javelin like projectile.
Um... no, a ballista *is* basically a gigantic crossbow, though the classical
version uses two arms powered by twisted skeins rather than a bow. The later
"arcuballista" (med. french "arbalest" or "arbalet") was simply a ballista
which replaced the troublesome skeins with a huge bow
-
ie, a siege crossbow.
Single-armed catapults lobbed things in high trajectories, of course. A
ballista fires its projectiles (stones up to 120 lb, or 6-ft javelins,
for the classical ones) in flat trajectories.
BTW, I've seen crossbows being cocked up to fire at greater ranges. The
accuracy suffers, though - it's hard to aim through the crossbow - but
it can be done.
Later,
> On Wed, 4 Nov 1998, Oerjan Ohlson wrote:
> Um... no, a ballista *is* basically a gigantic crossbow, though the
was
> simply a ballista which replaced the troublesome skeins with a huge
Yes.
> ballista fires its projectiles (stones up to 120 lb, or 6-ft javelins,
No. Actually it depends. When fired from a city wall, the ballista can be
flat, or probably more likely, tilted slightly downward. But in the field, the
ballista has to be tilted up to either reach the city wall, or gain an
acceptable range. In the book "the Crossbow" by Ralph
Payne-Gallwey (finally got his name), he specifically pointed to an old
drawing of a ballista that could not be elevated and said at this flat
trajectory, the projectiles would probably travel about 50 yards and fall
down, if even that. The force of the ballista simply isn't large enough to
push something that heavy in a decent flat trajectory.
> Chen-song Qin wrote:
> > ballista fires its projectiles (stones up to 120 lb, or 6-ft
With a "flat" trajectory I mean a trajectory where the projectile leaves
the engine at no more than 45 degrees from the horisontal plane - often
20 degrees elevation or so. Single-armed catapults often hurl their
stones, pianos etc at about 70 degrees (very high, steep trajectories; it is
rather difficult to get them to fire at smaller elevations) whereas crossbows,
bows, and ballistae don't usually do this.
I haven't seen a ballista fired myself, but I've talked to some people (at the
museum Falsters Minder, Nykoebing Falster, Denmark) who have
built a replica of a Roman javelin-throwing ballista. They claimed a
range of over 200 meters in a flat (ie, non-lobbing) trajectory; I don't
know how big the projectile was though. (They have an entire artillery
park - a counterweight trebuchet, an onager, the ballista, and a
man-powered engine last time I was there. Unfortunately that was in the
autumn, and they only demonstrate the engines during summer :-( )
As for the force of the ballista not being large enough - there are
chronicle notices about ballista bolts impaling two or three mail-clad
men in one shot :-/
Regards,
If you're looking for low-tech infantry figures (since we're touting
Galoob anyway) their BattleSquad figures are roughly 25mm, include 9 poseable
figures
in a pack for $4.96 each at Wal-Mart here in the states. That's a lot
cheaper than white metal, and can be painted just as easily (though you should
clear coat the heck out of it to avoid peeling paint). There are also several
vehicle packs with everything from armored cars to triple missil launchers.