Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Schmaven]

With a single ballista shot capable of killing several armored goblins; I can't help but think that all the criticism directed at them is really just a ploy to get Toady to make them even more lethal.  I fully support this plan.

[orius]

I've never used them.  Haven't they been broken since forever?  I'm pretty sure there were problems with them back in 31.25 when I first picked up the game, and even if they've been fixed since, I've never needed them to defend a fort.

[FantasticDorf]

I guess the main problem with siege engines besides the general distrust of them (something not working on a certain ver meaning they simply wont use that feature for the rest of their entire DF playing time in the future is a weird game culture) may be that you can't actually disern their attributes easily without risking them in active combat to learn it (not really possible from arena) which may yield dissapointment if they're not as good or effective as other alternatives.

I couldnt tell you its psi force of a catapult or a ballistae exactly, i know its in excess of usual projectile shooting weapons (maybe actually shorter than a blowgun) given the splattery messy effects that it takes to move a projectile through a armored opponent, but you get exactly the same psi force from "minecart shotguns" which have become a aligned 3rd siege option with configurability of rollers.

Secondly, siege engines are barely moddable, so you can't actually learn very much about them like you can other objects in the files. If i wanted to build my own trebuchet for instance that had the variable movement of a ballistae shot (catapults have very little sway) but could fire down anything i put into it very hard fast & long i could apply foresight into building a correct range for a correct engine.

• I only know the actual length distances list by the extensive efforts of the wiki contributors passed on from forum researchers

Some people are also very competent at modding and could make a great use of expanded siege engine tags, like fired and unfired projectile states for things like setting alight brimstone ammunition without in-transit ignition (mixed results, often goopifies, easier to set the invaders on fire)

[Schmaven]

I got the chance to do some testing on ballistas a little while back, and I was impressed by them.  Although against creatures such as giants or larger, they lose their insta-kill ability. 

After further testing, I'm now convinced that ballistas are highly effective at killing medium sized creatures typical of those found in a goblin siege. 

Here are some stitched together combat reports from a recent goblin siege:
In the first volley, a single steel ballista arrow completely disabled 3 trolls who were all in a row, then continued on to kill a goblin.  A copper ballista arrow 1-shot killed a troll as well.  Not bad at all.

Spoiler: Ballistas vs Goblins (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Ballistas vs Goblins (second volley) (click to show/hide)

I just realized I accidentally double posted the log of the goblin blocking the bolt that then ripped his arm off, but it was a single composite image, and re-compositing another one now is more work than I want to do.  But damn, that goblin took a ballista arrow to the shield so hard it ripped his shield arm off...

Spoiler: Ballistas vs Trolls (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Ballistas vs Beak Dog (click to show/hide)

Occasionally, a goblin would block part the ballista arrow, but being large projectiles, each arrow almost always hits each creature 4 times.  In those instances where the ballista arrow was blocked, the goblins were still horribly maimed.  So it seems they can only partially block ballista shots. 

Once the operators are trained up to "(4) Skilled", their shots are pretty much completely straight down the range.  Definitely by "(6) Talented".  And with a proper training range, it's pretty easy to level them up.

I don't remember if metal ballista arrowheads take 1 or 3 metal bars to produce.  But with a few design tweaks to the field of fire, I was able to re-use every single ballista arrow, so I only needed about 50 for nonstop shooting 24/7 as they were never lost or destroyed.  Although now I'm wondering if they will eventually xXwearXx out like bags, clothing, armor and so forth.

[gunpowdertea]

I never really cared about ballistae because of the expensive arrows, I need to look at the field of fireing. I mostly used catapults, cheap, transport stone, low-ish risk (though I did lose some crews to FF, put the better trained operator furthest back!).  The problem with siege engines is that the siege engine operators do (did?) not count as military units and tend to not hold their ground when enemies are in sight, so they stop fiering just when they actually should do their job for once. Gah.

That said, I think I will use them in my current fort. The entrance is through a volcano crater, over a bridge high up in the air, and a 20z drop to the magma surface. This might stop me mining goblenite though.