Rolling Release Siege Engines: Teaching an Old Machine a New Trick

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new 'rolling release' mechanism for siege engines, compares its range to traditional methods, and reveals that it improves performance over the cup release but is less effective than the sling release, also clarifying the operation of common projectile holders.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel rolling release mechanism for siege engines and compares its effectiveness with existing release methods, providing new insights into ancient and modern projectile release techniques.

Findings

Rolling release significantly outperforms cup release.

Rolling release has shorter range than sling release.

Familiar 'spoon' holders operate as rolling releases, contrary to previous beliefs.

Abstract

The analysis of a new "rolling release" mechanism is presented for three different "siege engine" designs. The range obtained with the rolling release is compared to the ranges obtained using the simpler "cup" and the proven "sling" release mechanisms. It is found that the rolling release is a significant improvement over the cup release, but the range of the rolling release is still well short of that attained with the sling release. It is also noted that the familiar "spoon" projectile holder used on many siege engines operates in a rolling release manner, contrary to appearances and to some previous published studies. Instead, the release mechanism used in ancient engines and in modern kit-purchased replicas is the rolling release.