Re: Low-Tech Forces, not necessarily in DSII

Chen-Song Qin wrote:

> > I've got data that suggests some ballistae fired nearly a quarter 
> > mile, which would be over 400m. And what they fired was a multipound

> > javelin like projectile. 
> 
> Ahh, I think ballistae would be fired with a nice ballistic curve,
unlike 
> crossbows.

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,

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
- Hen3ry