ARCH - ballista & siege weapon authorizations

[Lawrence D. Ruiz]

> At Gulf War, I did combat archery until I ran out of bolts and then
> went and helped the ballista crews.  i had a lot of fun, even though I
> technically wasn't authorized to do it.  It's a good thing for people who
> do combat archery with no secondary weaon (does it become your secondary
> weapon?)  But it opens up an avenue for me since I wasn't trained for
> anything else.  (The crew I was on accidently shot the Society Marshall
> when he was in the castle)  He had armor on so we didn't feel too bad.
> Nothing's worse than running out of bolts and arrows.....
>
> Regards,
>
> Clare
This misconception has long plagued this field of warfare.  The "owner" of
the weapon and two people he would like to have for a crew need to be
authorized for the authorizing of the weapon(ballista, treb, etc.)  If the
owner or one of his crew is taken out, does the weapon become useless?  No.
Since all three individuals are authorized to use the weapon, any one of
them can assume the duties of leading the crew as they are familiar with the
weapon's safety devices.  Also, they can glean others to help them in the
weapon's use as needed.  Furthermore, as the safety device's purpose is
universal (will prevent firing in the loaded position) authorized siege
engineers can operate captured siege weapons as well.  The owner of the
weapon is ultimately responsible for his weapon, so if he/she does not want
the weapon utilized in his/her absence, then they must remove the safety
device from the field, rendering the weapon useless.  Other methods include
disassembling the weapon so that it is obvious to all the weapon is useless.

I digressed a little, but I hope I have cleared up some common
misconceptions about the use of siege weaponry on the field.

Lawrence

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