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[Rafal99]

I was just about to suggest firing a ballista through a curtain of magma.

Done already:
http://mkv25.net/dfma/movie-1977-magmallista

[BitLooter]

Yes, but did it light the bolts on fire?

[Flying Carcass]

What about a high pressure water cannon propelling a flaming rock? Would that work or would the water extinguish the fire before the rock is propelled?

[Dwarf]

This thread is one of the reasons why I love DF.

[LegoLord]

You all forget about the makeshift catapult that is the bridge.  Doesn't even need to be a drawbridge, just a retracting bridge.  Have it in the middle of nowhere (ie, where invaders frequently pass through), with two dump chutes above it.  One to allow reloading of lignite, the other to dump magma.  All three of these - bridge and the two chutes - should be lever-operable.  Ideally the magma chute should be designed to drop small amounts at a time.

Invaders pass by, you trigger the bridge.  Or have a pressure plate.  Doesn't matter.  But the result should be flaming lignite (or any flammable material not instantly destroyed by magma, for that matter) flying all over the place.

[Jimmy]

You might as well have hatches filled with burning lignite above the hallway and drop them down onto the enemies. That would be the same effect and much less work. The point here is whether a catapult would accept burning rocks, and it's been proven they don't.

I agree with the previous statements that possibly the only way to get this to work would be a custom smelter reaction to create magma proof catapult parts, preloading the lignite and igniting before launch.

[LegoLord]

But a single hatch in the hall wouldn't spread it around.  Much more fun my way, especially in a grassy area.  Even more so when elves come by.

[Odd!x]

rocks in flight essentially don't exist.

I feel like this could spark a long and philosophical discussion in regard to this and a given catapult's effectiveness on killing things.  At the very least, I'm sigging this.

[Jimmy]

Frankly anything in flight doesn't exist. It's why your 20 z-level pit filled with magma won't incinerate the goblins you drop into it until they hit the bottom.

[Odd!x]

Dwarven physics is weird.

[Jimmy]

Honestly I'm glad my dwarves ignore physics. Otherwise I'd be in a lot of trouble with my magma megaproject.

[Gergination]

Ballista bolts definitely exist while flying.  Unfortunately they won't get lit on fire either.

It's the thought that counts though, and firing a steel tipped, 8 foot long bolt through a curtain of magma is one hell of a thought.

[jellow belly]

Honestly I'm glad my dwarves ignore traditional physics. Otherwise I'd be in a lot of trouble with my magma megaproject.

fixed that for you

dwarfs don't ignore physics they just have their own set (they reject reality and substitute their own)

[SquirrelWizard]

just wondering, do objects stay in bins when they're launched via bridgapult?