<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow --> <!--X-From-R13: Qlaor eh Fnera <plaorNynhery.npgyno.hgrknf.rqh> --> <!--X-Date: from major.globecomm.net [207.51.48.5] by in4.ibm.net id 869158199.45048-1 Thu Jul 17 16:49:59 1997 CUT --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199707171649.LAA19263#laurel,actlab.utexas.edu --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:cynbe#laurel,actlab.utexas.edu"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00165.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00167.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00175.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00179.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00166">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00166">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00166">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Cynbe ru Taren <<A HREF="mailto:cynbe#laurel,actlab.utexas.edu">cynbe#laurel,actlab.utexas.edu</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Thu, 17 Jul 1997 11:49:22 -0500</LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> Matt Chatterley <root#mpc,dyn.ml.org> notes: | To quote the simplified version of NII: | | F=ma | | ... Heh, didn't want to betray my undergrad physics career :) | If anyone is interested, I can try to turn these fps figures into impact | forces given average missile masses. I'm not terribly good at applying the | above, though. :) Air resistance goes up as the square or cube of velocity? | I've not really seen much of such things, although I did know of their | existance (ie: saw them in a book once). Are there any other (un)commonly | refered to missile weapons to consider here? Perhaps ballistas.. although | that gets us into seige weapons ... I was avoiding that, yeh. Good article on trebuchets in Scientific American a year or two back, and L Sprague de Camp's book The Ancient Engineers has lots of stuff if anyone is interested in seige weapons. Um, how exotic do you want to get? :) Exotic weapons used to be an interest of mine. Giant toads for hunting birds, comorants for catching fish, fun stuff. The sling is a weapon not to be underestimated: Light, portable, ammo is often easily available, considerable range and impact. Makes the longbow look skill-free by comparison, though: Took me a -long- time before I could hit a three-foot-square target at about fifteen feet. The missile's point of origin is at your feet or about five feet off to the side, depending which way you swing it, and trajectory is amazingly sensitive to exact moment of release. But they used to be used on a par with archers as light infantry in the classical period. Beyond that... bolas? War bolas with elastic lines and heavy weights can be unpleasant: they only have to be accurate to within four or five feet to wrap around the target, with the weights ending the wrap with a bone-crunching wallop. Boomerangs? Serious weapon ones don't return, but are nontrivial threats, with a long flat trajectory. The Chinese used sort of giant Roman Candles early in the gunpowder era. Spears and pikes have always been much more important than the attention they recieve would have one think, from the hunter-gatherer era through the classic era (the Roman legionaire carried two types, a light one designed to penetrate a shield and then bend, crippling the shield and preventing it being thrown back, and a heavy duty one as well) the medieval Scandinavian era (the sword got all the poetry, but the spear was the principal weapon) and right on up through the bayonet period, although it sort of ceases to be a missile weapon at that point. Add a spear-thrower, and it becomes even more dangerous. An Aerobee-style flying ring with razor edges could be unpleasant, but didn't get invented early enough to find use. No reason why the Greeks or Scythians couldn't have developed the design by trial and error and been throwing zillions of light rings three hundred meters, though :). Fire and smoke and plague-ridden bodies and such don't really count as missile weapons, although they've been effective in sieges ... </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <ul compact><li><strong>Follow-Ups</strong>: <ul> <li><strong><A NAME="00187" HREF="msg00187.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> clawrenc#cup,hp.com</li></ul> <li><strong><A NAME="00179" HREF="msg00179.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Matt Chatterley <root#mpc,dyn.ml.org></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00165.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00167.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] META: Making the list public?</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00175.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00179.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00166"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00166"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00186" HREF="msg00186.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong>, Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Sat 19 Jul 1997, 00:52 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00188" HREF="msg00188.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong>, Michael Hohensee <a href="mailto:michael#sparta,mainstream.net">michael#sparta,mainstream.net</a>, Sat 19 Jul 1997, 01:36 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00189" HREF="msg00189.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong>, Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Sat 19 Jul 1997, 01:51 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00175" HREF="msg00175.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Fri 18 Jul 1997, 08:04 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00166" HREF="msg00166.html">[MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong>, Cynbe ru Taren <a href="mailto:cynbe#laurel,actlab.utexas.edu">cynbe#laurel,actlab.utexas.edu</a>, Thu 17 Jul 1997, 23:49 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00179" HREF="msg00179.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong>, Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Fri 18 Jul 1997, 13:19 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00191" HREF="msg00191.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Sat 19 Jul 1997, 02:01 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00198" HREF="msg00198.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong>, Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Sat 19 Jul 1997, 02:34 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00201" HREF="msg00201.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Sat 19 Jul 1997, 03:18 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>