Tauren Race

Actually Tijil
Ballistas were first made by the Greeks adn utilize a system much less complicated then later catapults.

Also, when the conqistadors conquered the Aztecs, they were already using firearms. Native Americans used spears, axes, bows, and slings in long distance combat

Personally, I like the ballista because I think that would look awesome on a kodo beast

i think that it would look cooler with catapult then ballista, more orchish ;) , man antihero's gonna flame me now!

Nah, I don't flame, but I do disagree
Besides, the orcs already have two catapults, why make another one.

huh:bgrun: emote_sweat 2 u say? wich i can only think of 1...

I meant the ROC catapult and the TFT demolisher

ah see..

Really? Archery already existed on the Americas before any European influence? Hmm... That seems odd. I'll have to do some research. As for catapults, I disagree with you. Stationary catapults were also a greek invention, and predated the first ballistae. Mangonels were developed slightly later by the Romans, and their main advantage over the previous two models was their mobility, as the Romans added wheels. (in fact, trebuchets, the most complex ancient siege machine, came along only a little later than that, invented by the Chinese. Wasn't until the 12th century that they were perfected.)

Ok. Done some research now, and it seems I didn't have a clue what I was talking about with archery's origins. Apparently, it arose about 52,000 years ago in Africa, giving it ample time to spread to the entire world. Sorry about that.

Hee... This is pretty interesting. Crossbows apparently first appeared in China as well, somewhere between 1500 and 1000 BC.

The "Ballista" was the name given to the first Greek Catapult.

I'm pretty sure that ballistas came first because the concept for a ballista is a lot easier then a catapult.
I'll have to check more sources

Still we need to decide whether it is a ballista or a catapult that will be used

To my understanding, the various early siege machines worked thusly:

First Catapult: Worked through having a tensile band that held the arm against a horizontal beam. The sappers would pull the arm back and release, hurling the projectile as the arm snapped against the beam. Alternately, the arm could be made of a tensile material, though I don't believe this design was used.

Ballistae: Bolt was pulled back through a crank that twisted two ropes, pulling the ballista into firing position. Crank was released and ropes unwind, releasing bolt.

Mangonel: Works much like standard catapult, except arm is pulled back with a single crank, twisting a rope and then releasing to fire.

Traction Trebuchet: (Early kind) Sappers pull back on the long arm and load the projectile, then violently pull on other side of arm, releasing projectile.

Counterpoise Trebuchet: (Later kind) Enormous counterweight served to fire the projectile, sappers merely had to pull the arm down to load it.



That's what my research seems to indicate, though my sources could be wrong.



Anyway, I think it should be a catapult, to fit the theme better, but my thought is that perhaps a ballista would fit better, as blahx3 said, it's very narrow.

ballista would look better, but wouldn't fit the style, and it would be hard for the kodo to carry IMO

I think that some sort of battering ram would suit the tauren well, as it is quite a primitive design, just a log that you smash into things. Perhaps a covered ram with 2 taurens inside to swing it. A ballista just wouldn't suit the taurens, or a catapult.

An interesting suggestion Alasdair, but the Taurens should have some sort of ranged siege engine.

Perhaps, but the Taurens tend to like getting up close and personal, don't they? The Ram would be given fortified armour to make up for it's lack of range. If it still doesn't suit, perhaps a primitive catapult that is pushed and shot by a big tauren, and has to be packed to move and unpacked to fire? Kind of like the Age Of Kings trebuchet.

ok...how bout this.


A big slinger, a big tauren, with a massive rock, and he thros the rock.

You guys have a slinger already right? Well he can be like the chimaera, a siege and regular attack.

Also, battering rams seem very Tauren-like, perhaps a special abilits of 3rd tier melee or something, that makes them do siege damage, but attack slower?

Battering ram sounds very very cool. Kindof like the Siege Engine. Makes up for lack of range with being really really hard to kill. That's a neat idea. Perhaps Tauren could garrison inside it to increase its attack or something, kindof like the burrow?