Andalusian artillery - posted by John Edmundson, 8 April 2020

I haven't added to my Andalusians (15mm) in a long time but when I saw that the new Army Lists allowed two Art(I) I felt it was important that I add them, especially since they take the form of traction trebuchets, which I really liked the idea of. I had to do quite a bit of hunting to find out exactly what these ones might have looked like and then, ages ago, I got some information from people on the DBMM list about where I could find suitable crew. Those crew figures arrived many moons ago but finally, courtesy of the lock down, I got to put everything together. They've ended up a mix of the Museum European (with kettle helm brims removed) and Arab/Indian crew, plus a couple of Old Glory Medieval slaves/prisoners, one of which was naked so needed clothing added.

As everyone well knows I am not a master painter or modeller but I think they will do the trick. I hope the design is correct - I looked for a style that existed in the eleventh century. I decided to go for one preparing to shoot and one on the process of shooting. The first one fits easily on a 40x40mm element base but the second has the sling arm overhanging the back of the base. I personally feel that all Train should have to be mounted on deeper bases (40mm x 80mm in 15mm) and if that had been the case I would have placed an ammunition mule or wagon at the back of each but 40mm x 40mm is the rules so in the event that I place an element behind, the sling operator will be in the way. I could have had the sling arm at or near the end of its arc and the sling operator back on the ground but felt that the model would have been far too vulnerable at that height.

Cheers,

John

https://www.facebook.com/groups/824840264342234/permalink/1470146686478252/

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  Allen Yaxley That looks 👀 very nice. Artillery is fun to use in DBMM.

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  Tilman Dang Nice, but I fail to understand how a trebuchet with its long minimal and Max range can possibly fit into the dbmm art (I) définition ?

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  Allen Yaxley Would it possibly have more to do with the abilities of those using it. Lack of training?
  We’re they so aggressive that it was about supply lines being stretched and not able to support movement of train?
  Just a thought which is probably way of track.🥺

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  John Edmundson I see Tilman's point. Trebuchets have a high-arcing plunging trajectory, hence a high minimum as well as a maximum range, so a dead ground near the engine. But any onager type engine would be similarly limited. Perhaps there needed to be two types of artillery - one for direct shooting ballistae, organ guns etc, and another for the lobbing style of pre-gunpowder artillery, with smaller onagers and traction trebuchets as (I), larger ones and big onagers as (O), large counterweight trebuchets as (S). Were there any mortars as early as the end of our period and if so were they ever deployed outside of siege warfare?

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