ANST - Nasty Ballista in A&S

[J'lynn Yeates]

On 26 Aug 97 at 1:04, Dennis Grace wrote:


> Sounds, like a potentially awesome creation, Cosyn, and you still have time
> to prepare for this year's A&S competition.  So, as to the other questions I
> asked on this topic, how should it be "judged" as an A&S entry?  Should the
> judges fire it to test for accuracy, range, and speed of operation?  Also,
> how "period" was it to prettify ballistas and such?  I mean, would you
> expect the Duc de Britagne to have a plain old wood and iron catapult or
> mangonel or ballista, or would it be decorated with scrollwork and paints
> and so forth?

i've been watching this thread a while and see a lot of confusion ... 
A&S is a competition for Arts *and* Sciences.  seems that there is a 
belief that that something has to belong to both catagories.  where 
a siege engine is oncerned, i woul dfocus on the science aspects ... 
ie: how effective is it as the thing it represents, ie: a war-engine. 

in your scenaria re the Duc above, i would prefer having him as an 
enemy ... for every "pretty" engine he could field i could field 2-3 
"ugly" but functional ones ... and could probably get them 
constructed and on the field a lot faster ... same could be 
extended to weapons and armour (as it was in the late 
medieval period where art gave way to function and production 
concerns)

judge teh thing for what it is and what it represents, not what you 
as judge want it to be.

'wolf 
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