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[Erils]

Hello everyone!

I just started testing something new (for me) in DF. I know that the bridges are able to retract and throw things, so I started loading them with rocks in an attempt to make catapults. I have not done much yet, but the results seem promising (sort of). I will be testing different lengths of bridges and other factors as well. Here is my first test results:

Test 1

Bridge length:1
Bridge retract direction: ->
Ammo: Siltstonex1
Location: Open plains
Number of shots: 7

Distance of rocks thrown: 3-7 blocks
Height of rocks thrown: 1-2 z levels
Direction rocks thrown: everywhere

So far the tests are showing potential.
There is no accuracy at all, but there is a small amount of distance. These "catapults might not work for long range rock throwing, but could work as traps. Maybe If I placed them outside my fort, loaded them, and then fired them when they were surrounded. The rocks could probably kill the invaders but, as I haven't tested damage yet, I cannot be sure.

[Erils]

Please post any suggestions for how to improve my catapults. I will not be posting often though so sorry if there are incontinuities in posting.

[Covenant Ringthane]

This doesn't actually improve the catapults themselves, but it may help.

I would suggest making a unicursal maze as seen below (I love a good unicursal maze in DF) , with two or four of your bridge-a-pults in the centre. Have a bait animal chained to the centre (or, if you're like me, put your fortress entrance there) and wait for your attackers to start walking the maze. Perhaps use raise-able bridges to split up the flow of your enemies, so they're nicely distributed when you tell your dwarves to pull the Rockocalypse lever. However, this is assuming that the rock actually kills the bad guys. If they don't, trapping the maze or liberally applying some Magic Marksdwarf Anti-Goblin Cream will make your problems just disappear.
 
 

Off-topic, I use a variation of the above maze as the entrance to my forts. The knobbly bits are removed and the maze is surrounded by a 3-4z high, 3-square thick perimeter wall. Said wall is hollow with several slits for my cute little barbarians to shoot sharp pointy things at at my enemies. Before you think I make surface visits hell for my little drunks, the wall that you can see running through the middle is actually made up of bridges that can be lowered to provide a short, straight path for the my beards.

[Grimmash]

This may be a crazy question, but you do know actual siege weapons (ballista and catapult) are in the game?

I'm assuming you are just testing bridges in place of siege engines?

[Aslandus]

I wonder how effective these bridge-a-pults are at killing invaders... I know there are actual catapults, but if these can serve the purposes of launching rocks, bridging gaps, and atomizing useless refuse, it may have a place in some fun fortesses

[☼!!Troll Fur Sock!!☼]

Would building walls around the bridge-a-pult make the shot pattern more predictable?

[Urist Da Vinci]

My experiments suggest that raising drawbridges launch items with a large (potentially lethal) upwards velocity, and a near-harmless sideways velocity in a random direction. The velocity is also not related to the weight of the item, so you get the most value from piling heavy objects on bridges. I suggest anvils for the comedy.

Items on retracting bridges are given a random weak velocity in all three directions. They don't have the strong upwards movement of the raising bridges. It is mostly useful for making "rock tumbler" or "coinstar" traps.

[Covenant Ringthane]

I suggest anvils for the comedy.

What if you put your refuse pile on said bridge? Killing goblins with goblins (and other corpses)!

Also, I haven't heard of a rock tumbler before. Mind elaborating?

[MasterShizzle]

Rock tumblers are used by jewelers and geology enthusiasts to smooth out rocks. They basically make a slurry of water and an abrasive compound,  something like silica sand, then throw some rocks into a cylinder with the slurry and let it spin for like a month. The rocks come out smooth.

[Larix]

In DF, a rock tumbler is probably a kind of trap: a closed room containing a retracting bridge, loaded with a fairly large number of boulders. When the bridge retracts, the boulders get tossed around, pummelling anybody inside the room. Keep the bridge on constant repeat, and you ought to be able to stonewash your goblins quite thoroughly.

[TalonisWolf]

This may be a crazy question, but you do know actual siege weapons (ballista and catapult) are in the game?

I'm assuming you are just testing bridges in place of siege engines?

I think he was trying to see if bridgeapults would be more useful.

Have you tried using a bridge as a hatch to dump magma from above?

Or Anvils from above?

And why haven't I already done this myself?!

[Erils]

Sorry I haven't been using my bridgeapults recently as I lost the USB with my save on it. But something just happened with a bridgeapult on another game. I got a dwarf to pull an underground lever, hoping this would protect him. Right when he stepped out to inspect the bridgeapult, the stone landed on his head, killing him. My fortress then tantrum spiraled and was eventually abandoned.