Andrew Janssen wrote: > > No, the swords would not be longer for the legionaries. Experiments have > shown that it is practically impossible for a sword longer than twenty > inches and slung on the right side to be drawn right handed. Because > officers wear their swords on the left, they have longer swords. Their > longer swords also help distinguish them. I see. [snip armor -- A good point was brought up that we don't know how common tin is on Qaiyore] > No, they use leather. The apron is actually a number of leather strips > with metal plates riveted on, and with small bronze weights at the ends. I admit I'm not extensively familiar with the Roman period, but I don't see how this is lighter, cheaper, or more protective than a skirt of mail. Mercenary pikemen c. 1300 used something similar, albeit with much less metal, as a jerkin and switched to mail as soon as they could afford it. > I assumed that it would be understood that "some assembly is required". > And it is an onager, not a trebuchet. Each onager requires about 1/4 mile of twisted animal sinew, with all the problems involved with animal products. With the level of technology avalable on Qaiyore a counterweight-driven trebuchet is lighter, cheaper, and more effective. > There are no seperate specialist > units in the army. Legionaries with specialist skills are called > 'immunes' and are exempt from being assigned heavy fatigues by the > centurions; they also receive 1.5x the pay of an ordinary legionary. A > short list of immunes would include surveyors, medics, ballista & onager > crews, smiths of all sorts, clerks, butchers, and millers. All > legionaries are expected to know how dig a proper ditch. If heavier > siege equipment than the legion normally carries is needed, the > appropriate immunes can construct it. > > Spring-ballistae would be a better description--the projective power > comes from two vertical torsion coils at the front, the bow arms then > being winched back, and the bowstring held by a catch. There are two types of ballistae, called "bolt throwers" and "stone throwers" in some sources. In the first a simple rope is stretched between the two torsion arms (line ballista). The second uses a more complicated arrangement where multiple ropes are attached to a sort of leather sling (sling ballista). Personally, I prefer the sling ballista for my concultures. It can't throw a bolt as far, is more expensive, and more likely to fail, but a line ballista can't throw stones or similar objects at all. (The two different types are seldom-to-never used together because using a bolt designed for the other machine is likely to wreck the firing machine.) Jefferson (Exquaestio) http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
