ARCH - Archery Poll

[Lawrence D. Ruiz]

-snip-
> Okay, I'll start it out.  We are planning on building two ballistas and
> a catapult out in our group (we have a whole bunch o' people who like
> the idea of aiding the war effort on the field, but not doing the full
> Chivalric thing).  Basically, we are looking at the "Bungeelista" concept.
> How successful are they, and has anyone attempted to make one that throws
> 5-6 bolts at one time (ala the Roman versions)?

The Bungeelista has become the standard as they are very accurate, not too
powerful as to become a danger on the field, and relatively inexpensive.
The 5-6 bolt concept has been done before and is relatively simple to
manufacture.  Simply exchange the 2x4 the bolt rests on with the 2x12 (or
size you desire) and ensure your "box" is enlarged to accomodate a wider
tray for the bolts.  You will lose accuracy with this modification, but the
advantage is obvious (more deadly bolts).

 With two balistas ware are
> thinking we can do alternating fire as long as the bolts hold out.  Since
> we have a couple of combat archers and four heavies to protect against
> a light flank attack, we're thinking we might have a nice little "mixed
> weapons" unit.   Has anyone attempted this in the past, and did it work--
> or was it a disaster?
>
> Petruccio
Yes it has been done, but an even better utilization of arms will be if your
archers and heavies integrate with main unit while the ballistas lob over
their units heads into the castle.  When a shieldman loses an arm or leg he
can return to the ballistas and do a variety of small tasks like provide a
shield, glean more bolts for the ballista, spot the ballista shots, help
move the ballista, etc.  With the shieldman and archer in the backfield from
the beginning of the battle with the ballista,  they very well could go the
whole battle with no action.

Lawrence

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