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[Insert_Gnome_Here]

Few travel through the empty desert around Omristuzol village, but those who do see mysterious stone and metal ramps, topped with complex machinery jutting out of the vast flatness of the sands.

I have succeeded in pointing a dwarven shotgun along a parabolic trajectory, in order to rain death upon the likes of goblins, titans & weretortoises.

Code: [Select]

_______R
        \          R:Roller
         \         \:Down Ramp Track
          \        _:Flat Track
           \       W:Wall
...
                 \      W
                  \  W
                   \/
https://mkv25.net/dfma/map-12519-wildoils

The ballista arrows lying about are ammo from the test firing.

Screenshots & tests on live subjects will be posted soon.

[omega_dwarf]

Awesome title and awesome device!

When I read "howitzer", what came to mind was a friend years ago describing the accuracy with which howitzer teams can hit targets. It seems like there might be room at the top of your device to create three other firing directions, to simulate that. Maybe even at a couple of different heights, to adjust range. Just a thought, though, and probably for the future, after testing.

Have you tried it on any test subjects yet? What is the accuracy/reliability? How much does the ammo spread out on its descent?

Also, it took me a while to figure out where your dwarves lived, lol.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

Test Firing with 16 Ballista arrows against random pets:

The only arrow that hit anyone bruised the lung of a captain and sent him flying a tile into a wall.

[omega_dwarf]

Nice. Sounds like the effectiveness could be increased if the approaches it covered were raised paths between spike pits, or something.

Have you tried filling the cart with oodles and oodles of ingots? Or a similar number of trap components? Ballista arrows take a lot of time to assemble, although they would be pretty cool.

What tips are you using for your arrows?

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm trying with serrated glass discs soon. Currently wooden tips with a few bronze thrown in.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

Test 2: Ballista arrows against pets


Mostly bruises and skin damage. One missed and hit a caravan guardsdwarf. Some animals knocked back by force of arrow.

[omega_dwarf]

The wood tips may be the cause of the bruising. The bronze should be cutting, though, if cutting edges work when falling.

[thegoatgod_pan]

Have you tried bricks?  Bolts? Try quantity over quality.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

I'm trying to go for quality over quantity, in order to reduce clean-up.

[omega_dwarf]

I'm trying to go for quality over quantity, in order to reduce clean-up.

That makes a lot of sense for tests, but you should be prepared to reverse that if you're faced with an actual siege.

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

A siege is here. Time for a baptism of the weapon in goblin blood.

[omega_dwarf]

I look forward to it

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

Ok. some refurbishment meant that the howitzer was not operational and I had to solve the problem the old-fashioned way: throwing waves of unskilled dwarves at it until it goes away. A good 40 out of 80 dwarves died.

[omega_dwarf]

"It was inevitable."

[Insert_Gnome_Here]

I'm about to have it up and running with a much higher maximum rate of fire. I'll post the results of the glass disc shot. I also have to finish the screen in front of the depot, as last time I fired, a stray disc took the head of a farmer clean off.

UPDATE: Fired 3 minecarts at once. Looks like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A duckling was hit by a ballista arrow and skidded 20 urists away.

Next priority is setting up an aiming system.