ES - Ballista Bolt issues

Adam Harrison hookshot at startext.net
Mon Jan 29 14:39:11 PST 2001


Greetings,

As unhappy as I am with many of the new siege rules that go into effect in
April, I think I should point a few things out so we don't have to re-do
several hundred bolts after the new rules are in place.

<snip>.
> Only PVC bolts have to be covered lengthwise in strapping tape.

According to the new rules, PVC ammo is no longer allowed.  In fact it's not
mentioned at all.  Some people are fighting to change this, but I would urge
against building any PVC ammo for the time being.  Besides we have a few
hundred golf tubes anyway...


> Bolts must be fletched with a non-rigid material.
>
> No Counter weights on or in bolts to make them fly better (except of
course for the fletching).


This is what the rules on the Gulf War Website state:
6. No counter weights of any type may be inside or outside of the ammo.  (no
beans, rebar, rocks, golf balls, etc. are allowed in ammo).

I think the intention here was to avoid the "sharp rebar in trebuchet rocks"
incident a few years ago...

The societywide rules(both new and old) state:
"...The tubes may be reinforced with medium density foam(such as pipe
insulation) in order to avoid crush damage..."

The intent here was to strengthen the bolts so they last longer, not
necessarily to counterweight the bolt.  In fact, as most everyone knows,
foam doesn't weigh enough to counterweight the bolt much at all.  I believe
bolts built with foam reinforcement would not fail inspection at gulf
wars(provided they weigh under one lb).

I think foam reinforcement is a good idea too.

Also, PVC rings, film canisters, and "similar, non metallic lightweight
reinforcements" may be used to strengthen the back end of the bolt.  This is
legal societywide, eventhough it is a minor counterweight(belive me it's not
gonna offset the tennisball).  Just wanted to point that out.


>
> Some construction methods talk about using string looped under the ridge
of the golf tube  for holding the tennis balls on.  GWC calls for strapping
tape and duct tape.

The new rules require the heads and splices(and pvc/film canister
reinforcement rings if present) to be attached with "cord".  We might want
to keep that in mind.

Also, the new rules state that unspliced golf tube bolts are considered
arrows.(yeah I know, that sounds dumb, but I didn't write it).  In other
words, unless we splice our bolts now, we will end up with 400 arrows just
after war.  Unfortunately splicing means either buying more golf tubes or
lowering the total number of bolts we have.



>
> Only unarmed crew members are considered touch kill.  IF you're authorized
to carry a sword and have it they've got to fight it out with you.  I
believe when an archer drops his bow and takes a sword he can't go back top
being an archer.  I'm not sure if the same principle applies to siege
crewmen.

I don't believe it applies to siege operators, but that is something we need
to clarify.

Remember, you're not "divessing yourself of your siege equipment"  you're
walking away from the engine.



> Battering rams and the like need "a minimum number of personnel to be
effective.  This number will be decided by the designer and the marshals. "
Whether that means our marshal's or thier's is debatable.

Sunday Caradoc said the minimum number was 6.  Either way the Loch Ruadh Ram
is going to be built to be carried by 8-10 fighters and I don't think any
marshal would have objections to that.


<snip>

As mentioned earlier, the new rules state that many parts of the bolt must
be attached with "cord".  The rules don't state what "cord" is, but I'm
assuming it is string larger than kite string, probably 1/8-1/4" in
diameter, and certainly nothing more than 1/2" in diameter.


I should be able to make the bolt party.  I get out of class at 8:20, but
it's just down the street from Caelin's..
-Bjorn

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