Yesterday's Battle

Tag: Warfare

  • Trebuchet

    The trebuchet is an amazing war weapon created to function using multiple simple things in a complicated, combined way.
    Throwing a rock has always been a very dependable and simple way of doing someone harm. It can knock you out and, if strong and precise enough, it can kill you. The trebuchet was just someone thinking “What if rock REALLY BIG”.

    OK, it is unfair for me to say that. The catapult was the big rock thrower while the trebuchet was the needed upgrade. Big C appeared in ancient Greece around the 4th century BCE. Early Greek catapults, such as the gastraphetes and later torsion-powered devices like the ballista and onager, were developed for siege warfare and quickly spread throughout the Mediterranean.

    Big T originated later. The traction trebuchet, operated by teams pulling ropes, first appeared in China around the 4th century BCE. The more advanced counterweight trebuchet, which uses a heavy weight to power its arm, was developed in the Eastern Mediterranean or Byzantine Empire around the 6th to 7th centuries CE and spread to Europe by the 12th century.

    The first uses an arm and rope to push
    while the second uses rope, weight, and gravity to swing.

    Great Successes and Failures

    Successes:

    • Trebuchets were renowned for their ability to hurl massive stones, incendiaries, and even diseased carcasses over castle walls (fucking cool), making them highly effective during sieges.
    • Notable successes include the Siege of Acre (1189–1191) during the Third Crusade, where trebuchets played a crucial role in breaking the city’s defenses.
    • The Siege of Stirling Castle (1304) is famous for the use of “Warwolf,” a massive trebuchet built by the English, which reportedly forced the defenders to surrender due to its overwhelming destructive power(COWARDS).

    Failures:

    • Despite their effectiveness, trebuchets had their downsides. Their construction was time-consuming, requiring significant resources and skilled labor.
    • At times, poorly constructed trebuchets would collapse or malfunction, causing injuries or failing to breach fortifications.
    • In some sieges, defenders adapted by reinforcing their walls or using countermeasures, reducing the trebuchet’s effectiveness.

    Conclusion

    The trebuchet stands out in medieval siege warfare for its innovative use of counterweight mechanics, enabling armies to breach formidable defenses. While it achieved legendary successes, it also faced notable failures due to its complexity and the evolving tactics of defenders. Its distinction from the catapult lies primarily in its power source and resulting capabilities, making it a symbol of both medieval ingenuity and the relentless arms race of siege technology.

  • Basics of Spears

    Spears: The Original Killstick

    The spear is what happens when a human sees a stick and thinks, “What if pointy… and fast?” It’s the perfect mix of simplicity, deadliness, and “I don’t need to get close to you to ruin your whole day.” Before bows, before swords, before trebuchets yeeting rocks the size of bathtubs, we had spears—and honestly, they never went out of style.

    Origins

    Throwing a rock is good. Throwing a pointy stick? That’s better. Early humans figured this out fast. You take a sharpened stick, add fire-hardened tips or stone heads, and suddenly you’re not just surviving—you’re hunting mammoths and fighting off anything foolish enough to step into your arms range.

    Over time, spears evolved. In ancient Greece, we got the dory, carried by hoplites in tight phalanx formations, forming what was essentially a giant murder wall. Alexander the Great made it better with the sarissa, a pike so long it probably had its own postal code. In medieval Europe, knights hated running into spear walls because you can have all the armor in the world, but if twenty peasants with sticks are aiming at your horse, you’re basically a metal pancake.

    Types of Spears

    • Thrown Spears (Javelins): Great for the “stab from a distance” crowd. Romans had the pilum, which bent on impact so the enemy couldn’t throw it back. That’s petty. And brilliant.
    • Pikes: Absurdly long spears used to keep cavalry at bay.
    • Lances: Because charging on horseback with a glorified tree branch at 40 km/h is how medieval warfrare worked.

    Great Spear Moments in History

    Successes:

    • Battle of Marathon (490 BCE): Greek hoplites with spears made short work of Persian invaders. Moral of the story.
    • Battle of Gaugamela (331 BCE): Alexander’s phalanx used their freakishly long spears to shred Darius III’s much larger Persian army.
    • Zulu Wars (19th century): The Zulu iklwa (short stabbing spear) turned close combat into a terrifyingly efficient display of murder

    Failures:

    • Spears don’t always win. Against ranged weapons like longbows, crossbows, and eventually guns, they can be useless
    • Overconfidence was a killer—standing in a spear wall only works if everyone holds formation. One guy sneezes and the whole front collapses.
    • Narrow spaces make using a spear impossible.

    In Summary

    The spear has remained a classic solution in battle. It’s simple, deadly, versatile, and made every culture that used it just a little more dangerous. Whether you’re hunting dinner or holding the line in a desperate last stand, the spear is a great tool.