#thermal weaponry

[warsofasoiaf]

Did medieval warfare actually see fire arrows being used? What about catapult and trebuchet payloads set on fire?

Yes, but they aren’t as effective as depicted in movies. You specifically need to have a loose bow with a longer than usual arrow, which keeps the fire from burning your bow hand and has the arrow going slow enough so it won’t be extinguished since shooting it too fast will snuff it out. Specially-designed fire arrows were built with a small metal lattice cage which could carry a small piece of coal, which could be used to set thatching alight. Some evidence exists of big, machine-launched crossbow bolts which could carry a flaming payload similar to a cartridge. Javelins could also he used in this fashion, either by tying a torch to it or launched from a spear thrower. You’d have to shoot a bunch of them, because most would gutter out, but if you wanted to start a fire, that’s one way to do so. 

Siege weapons could launch burning projectiles, the Mongols were documented to have covered projectiles in pitch and tar and setting it alight. Defenders on castle walls could dump cauldrons of boiling water or heated sand (oil, by contrast, was much rarer because it was so expensive). In naval warfare, merchant ships could use their crane to drop piles of flaming hay on other ships as an improvised weapon. 

In my panel “Death of the Other” which I gave at both Ice and Fire Con and Con of Thrones discussed strategies to defeat the Others and a lot of them involved thermal weaponry, because you can’t count on a dragon to save your bacon.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[warsofasoiaf]

in the WOT5KS timeline how viable would it be for the northen infantry under robb to use a molotov cocktail-like weapons, javelins o roman pillum (or late empire darts) in battle? how would you maximise their efficiency?

A Molotov cocktail would require some form of petrol, which we don’t really see anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms. Wildfire would be entirely too unstable for use in a petrol bomb. You could probably use it, if you didn’t mind jostling it too hard and setting yourself on fire. 

There have been thermal projectiles, usually soaked in oil or sulfur or coated with pitch and set aflame. You can tie lit torches to spears to throw them, but that makes their range even shorter and its impossible to hiding such a weapon unless you’re attacking from a fortification, it’s a difficult endeavor. While some were fiddling with lighting their flaming payloads, the enemy might simply just charge. Lighting the spears on fire makes them hard to throw unless you throw it immediately, which would require a ready fire or torchbearer. But it can be done if you want to do it.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[warsofasoiaf]

What do you think Greek Fire actually was?

Well, the issue with Greek fire is not simply a matter of materials, there was also specialized knowledge and training to prepare it for use by putting it at the right temperature and pressure. Capturing Greek fire stores and siphons do not necessarily mean you can reverse engineer and recreate it, as the Bulgars found out when they captured some in the early 9th century.

But it probably was contained a mixture of crude petroleum with sulfur, and thickened out with pine resin and animal fat, along with other ingredients.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King