Fantasy Naval Siege Warfare.

Artillery

• Ballistae. The original word, catapult, means a "shield-breaker"; the term has since been applied generically to a variety of engines. In the campaign, we’ll artificially distinguish "ballistae" which thrust in a [fundamentally] horizontal plane from onagers & trebuchets which fire vertically (overhead). Height is probably the most crucial element when successfully deploying ballistae. We may establish 3 categories
  • The TENSION-CATAPULT, the earliest siege artillery, was crossbow-like: a large composite bow fixed to a wooden stock, in which a wooden slider could move back and forth. The top of the slider was grooved to receive a large arrow or bolt. The Bowstring is held and released by a claw/trigger at the rear of the slider.
  • Sixty years later it was superseded by the TORSION-CATAPULT, w hich has a greater thrust than any bow. The bowstring was strung between the ends of 2 wooden arms. The other end of each arm was inserted into its own vertical spring made from ropes of sinew or hair. Over the centuries the model was improved: increased size; metal frames; all-weather protection for the rope bundles; mounting on a tripod or cart; etc. Early models, both naval- and field- artillery, threw bolts or stones; but later ballistae threw only bolts.
  • ARCUBALLISTA: a crossbow-style ballista. In later times, the "bow" was made of composite materials or even steel. One of the latter has a 1200-lb. thrust. Steel bows were exceedingly expensive and best mounted in defensive, permanent positions (e.g., on city walls) rather than in the field or onboard ship.
• Onegars. Rather than 2 balanced arms thrusting in a horizontal plane, as with a [torsion] ballista, the onager has one very large arm which moves in the vertical plane. Instead of a bowstring, the payload sits either in a sling (like a giant staff- sling), or a solid cup. The onager throws: large single-stones; volleys of medium stones; pots of greek fire; heads; darts or shrapnel; objets d’art; etc. In C&S terminology, the mangonel is a heavy duty onager.
• Trebuchets: A medieval advancement on the onager which necessitated that city walls be built of stone rather than wood and earth. The arm of a trebuchet is pivoting and the payload is thrust by a falling counterweight. It throws similar missiles to the onager , but (thanks to advanced technology ) the stones could be significant ly heavier, whole bodies rather than mere heads could be hurled, etc. Where a classical onager might throw a 50-lb. 400 yards (AD 70), a trebuchet with 50’ arm & 10-ton counterweight throws a 300-lb. stone 300 yards.

Setting

Classical forces

Land warfare requires many types of arms; but naval warfare demands more kinds of arms, including machines and torsion- engines as if the fighting were on walls and towers. What could be crueler than a naval battle, where men perish by water and by fire? (Vegetius IV.44). note

• The beam(asser) a thin 2-headed battering-ram suspended from the mast. Used as an anti-personnel weapon and to puncture the enemy vessel's hull amidships.
• The drag or sickle(falx) a long pole-arm. Used to cut enemy rigging (and possibly men?).
• The battle-axe(bipennis) used to sever the foe rudder-cables.

... catapults were undoubtedly mounted on ships and played their part in operations on rivers and on the open seas. ... It was not unusual for merchant ships and other vessels normally engaged in peaceful occupations to carry artillery both for their own protection and to enable them to assist warships.

"Modern" regions: general techniques

In our RP campaign, prior to the current era, the technology of assault artillery was comparatively primitive. The defenders were f orced to surrender, usually on favorable terms, "more often by blockade than by the assaults of men or machinery" note. In these "modern" times each large siege-piece will probably have its own name and require personalized handling -- having, in effect, "a personality if its own" (Vale 1976, 71-2).

The carpentry skills and political economy of a ship-building, fleet-using city will enhance that power's ability to employ siege engines; especially if the ships are built on venture financing and crewed on a share-basis of the profit/plunder note. Further more, effective siege-engines become more cost effective, in a campaign, if they can be disassembled into pieces small enough for carrying through rune-portals, or if water transportation is possible note.

For a besieged port, water-borne artillery enforces the blockade and enable the attacker to breach any part of the defensive perimeter, not just the land approaches. Conversely the aggressor is severely hampered if unable to enclose, let alone assault, a port's harbor (e.g., Rogers 67-8). Therefore a foreign naval power may profitably ally with the besieging army in order to defeat a mutual enemy, not just for a split of the immediate spoils, but on the promise of a trade enclave and beneficial tax exemptions in the conquered city (Rogers 195-201).

Assault towers (Belfries, etc.) could be mounted on "rafts", especially those made of several vessels lashed together. Such towers may be employed, when moored, as maritime highpoints upon which the attacker stations artillery and observers. If the raft is reasonably maneuverable, it may approach the enemy fortifications so that the marines use the belfry to assault a sea-wall or exposed tower note. In fact, a vessel's mast may be of sufficient height and strength to act as a sea-borne scaling ladder note.

Employment of field artillery beside rivers

Suggested effects & techniques : ship vs Ship***

?include Naulochus 36BC and Actium 31BC***

Footnotes

1. note Major references for this section are Bradbury (1992) and Corfis & Wolfe (1995)
2. note For this quote & following section see Vegetius, Book 4, chapers 44-46.
3. note "With the introduction of effective siege- guns, the advantages of attack over defence became apparent ... The guns were carried from siege to siege by water, thereby reducing the difficulties and chronic delays of overland carriage" (Vale 1976, 60)
4. note Rogers (1992, 101), speaking of the Norman conquest of Sicily. Note that the aim of the Norman’s was to win a rich land, not to destroy an enemy.
5. note In Roger's words (1992, 207): "The reasons for the Italian maritime pre-eminence in siege warfare on the coasts of the Mediterranean and in the conduct of siege-tower assaults are evident. The same technological and economic factors which sustained and promoted maritime and commercial activities in Genoa, Pisa, and Venice provided the basis of their siege warfare."
6. note As in the Successful assault of Constantinople, 1204 (Rogers 1992, 233-4)
7. note e.g. Besancon's attempt on Acre's Tower of the Flies (Rogers 1992, 223)

homepage ***Section C etc?? Defensive ... Counter-artillery may be deployed behind a boulevard, meaning defensive earthworks outside the city walls, i.e., "bulwark". etc (Vale 1976, p.61 & n.22)

References

• Bradbury, Jim. 1992. The medieval siege. Woodbridge: Boydell.
• Corfis, Ivy A. and Michael Wolfe. 1995. The medieval city under siege. Woodbridge: Boydell.
• Marsden, E. W. 1969. Greek and Roman artillery: Historical development. Oxford: Clarendon.
• Rogers, Randall. 1992. Latin siege warfare in the twelfth century. Oxford : Clarendon.
• Vale, M.G.A. 1976. "New techniques and old ideals: The impact of artillery on war and chivalry at the end of the Hundred Years War" in War, Literature, and politics in the Late Middle Ages, edited by C.T. Allmand. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
• Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus). Late 4th Century, 1993 translation. Epitome of military science = Epitoma rei militaris, translated with notes and introduction by N.P. Milner. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.