Catapult Destruction

In today’s vast array of weaponry we have things like mortars and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) that can wreak havoc on their intended targets. However, ancient societies were able to cause a lot of damage both to their enemies themselves as well as their buildings and towns without these sorts of weapons. Ancient societies used a weapon that is well-known to achieve these desired effects: the catapult. There are three different societies and people who are known for their catapults and they are the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans, and the Medieval Europeans. Out of these three societies, the Medieval Europeans’ catapults were the best in design, purpose, and ease of transportation.

The ancient Greeks built a catapult that was very similar to the modern day crossbow. Their intended purpose for the catapult was to increase the amount of power behind a projectile as well as increase the distance that said projectile could travel, which was a couple hundred yards. They would shoot things like spears or arrows from their catapults and were meant more for dealing harm to the enemy rather than the enemy’s surroundings. They weren’t too big in size, so they were able to transport them from battle to battle with somewhat ease. However, these weapons weren’t overly destructive in nature. As stated above, they were geared towards the harm and incapacitations of the enemy.

The ancient Romans also built catapults. One type of catapult that they used was very similar in design and purpose as the ancient Greeks’ catapult, but the Romans also had a catapult known as a ballista. The ballista’s development was based off of the catapults that the Greeks used, however, its mechanics are different. The ballista used a torsion spring which allowed the projectiles to go a much longer distance (500 yards) with a higher speed than the Greek catapults. This catapult also allowed other projectiles like rocks to be used rather than the fairly small options of projectiles that the Greek catapults used. The downside to this weapon is that it was too big to simply transport from one place to the next, so they would have to dismantle it and take any parts that weren’t made of wood, carry them to the next place that they were going to have a battle, and reassemble it with the wood of that area.

Finally there were the catapults of Medieval Europe. During this time period many different versions of the catapult were used, but the most common ones were the mangonel catapult, the onager catapult, and the trebuchet catapult. The mangonel catapult and onager catapult were very similar in their designs and purposes. The main difference between these two catapults were that the mangonel catapult used a bowl shaped mechanism to shoot the projectiles which allowed for much larger variety of projectiles such as small boulders and garbage. Its range was up to 500 feet, the same as the Roman ballista but with the benefit of causing great destruction to the surroundings and the enemies. The onager catapult did almost the same thing as the mangonel, but the difference was that the onager used a sling to shoot the projectiles rather than the bowl shaped mechanism. Then there’s the trebuchet catapult. This catapult is the best in dealing damage to the surroundings and the enemies because they could shoot the same projectiles as the other two but with the added element of fire. They were more accurate than all of the other catapults, and though the distance of the projectiles was rather small (about 200 yards), the fact that these projectiles could weigh up to 350 pounds more than makes up for the decrease in distance. These catapults were also generally easier to transport because they typically had wheels on the bottom of them so that they could be pushed around.

Overall, the Medieval Europeans’ catapults were the most reliable in transportation and best in design and transportation. They greatly outweighed any of the other catapults’ benefits with their ability to use much larger and more destructive projectiles. However, don’t count the other catapults out. They all are impressive for their time periods, and they all helped out their soldiers on the battlefield.

Throwing Death

There are many different weapons that are used for throwing at a target. The most common weapon is the throwing knife, which comes in a balanced knife or an unbalanced knife. However, there's also other types of weapons that can be used such as the shuriken. Each type of throwing weapon has its pros and cons just like any other weapon does. Out of the balanced throwing knife, the unbalanced throwing knife, and the shuriken, the balanced throwing knife is the best.

Throwing knives are knives that are designed specifically for the purpose of throwing the weapons at a target. They are weighted in two different manners. There's the balanced throwing knife where the center of gravity is centered in the middle of the weapon. Then there's the unbalanced throwing knife where the center of gravity is off-centered. Typically, the unbalanced throwing knife is heavier on the handle throwing its center of gravity off. This means that when the knife is thrown the diameter of the blade and the diameter of the handle are different, whereas the diameter of the blade and handle on a balanced throwing knife is the same. Another thing that the balance effects is the way the weapon itself is thrown. A balanced throwing knife can be thrown either by holding its blade and throwin it or holding the handle and throwing it. Neither way is better than the other because of its equalized balance. An unbalanced throwing knife, on the other hand, has to be thrown by its blade.

The shuriken is a Japanese made weapon that is meant to be concealed. Its also commonly known as a throwing star or ninja star. Shurikens are made out of all sorts of things such as nails, spikes, and other every day materials. The design of the shuriken is broken down into two different types: the bo shuriken and the hira shuriken. The bo shuriken is a spike that is either four sided or eight sided. It typically only has one point, but some bo shurikens come to a point on both sides. The hira shuriken is made up of a thin, flat sheet of metal. This shuriken is the one that is mostly associated to what people think of when they hear the word shuriken. It typically has a hole in the center of it, and it typically comes to four sharp points from the circle. The shurikens can be thrown in a variety of ways like over hand, under hand, and side ways.

Looking at the two types of throwing knives and the two types of shurikens, the balanced throwing knife is the best weapon to use for many reasons. It is typically light weight, and since it is balanced even an amateur can use it with relative ease. It can be thrown many ways, just like the shuriken, but since it has a center of gravity that is actually in the center of the weapon, it is more accurate. It also requires less power behind the throw than the unbalanced throwing knife and the bo shuriken. This is a knife that anyone with some common sense will be able to use.

All of these weapons are good to use when throwing them at an object, but the balanced throwing knife is superior. However, if one is more comfortable with a different blade than they are with the balanced blade, they can be just as skilled as anyone who is used to using the balanced throwing knife. In general, it all depends on the person specifically using the weapons to decide what is best for him or her, but overall, the balanced throwing knife is the best weapon to use.

Bow

A bow and a quiver of arrows are weapons have been around for centuries. Often they are associated with things like fantasy and  fairy tales and epics and romances set in the Medieval times. They have been used for many things such as war, hunting, and sport. Just like there are multiple types of guns and swords, there are many types of bows. Each has its upside and its downside, as well. Between the longbow, the recurve bow, and the flat bow, the recurve bow tends to be the better bow.

The longbow is a classic self bow that most people tend to think of when they think of bows. It is made from a single piece of wood that is at least six feet tall, though typically it’s the height of the archer. This bow has the longest range as well as the most power behind each arrow shot. This bow can release up to 200 pounds of force when the arrow is released. However, due to its construct this bow is difficult to master. It takes great strength in order to use this bow which makes it less likely to be used. 

The recurve bow is a bow with more of a curve in the wood than a longbow does. It’s ends are curved out and away from the archer. Due to its shape, the recurve bow can vary in size. The curve of the bow actually gives this bow an advantage to the other two bows because it can store more energy in the limbs giving it’s delivery an increase in speed among other things. On the other hand, due to the design the recurve bow there is more stress put on the weapon when strung than the other bows. Nevertheless, this bow is used by many archers from beginners to experts because of how easy it is to use this bow as well as how accurate it is.

The flat bow is a long bow, similar to the length of a longbow, but the difference between the two of them is that the flat bow has a rectangular cross-section, and it is typically a little bit wider than the longbow. The design of this particular bow allows the stress to be more evenly distributed than the other bows making it less likely to break or splinter. However, because of its  shape the archer needs to take more time to make an accurate shot. 

Overall, the recurve bow is the better bow of the three. It is the easiest to use, and due to its length it is more manageable than the others. Though it does have its down sides, the up sides of the bow far outweighs them. Nonetheless, all three bows are rather good if the archer knows how to use them to their advantages.