Greek Fire...

[Gleemonex]

evaporate (not the right word for the transition between solid & gaseous state, I know) at the sheer heat.

Sublime, or sublimate. HTH

Yeah, I believe so. They're approaching Greek Fire units the same way they approached inciendiary pigs back in EB1.

Even less likely. After all, the historical record shows that 'incindiary pigs' were (very, very rarely) used in the EB timeframe, but Greek Fire is only reliably known to show up a few hundred years later.

-Glee

[Subotan]

This may not be the best source, but I remember from my Horrible Histories:Groovy Greeks book a Boetian Flamethrower being made. I'll see if I can find it.
Ah, here we go.

During the Peloponnesian War, Greeks were fighting Greeks. If you know how your enemy fights, you can stop him - and he can stop you. Every battle becomes a 0-0 draw. What you need is a secret weapon to frighten and surprise the enemy.
That's what the groovy Greek army from Boetia did when besieging the city of Delium. Here's what they came up with...
1. Cut down a tall, straight tree. Split the trunk into two and trim the branches.
2. Hollow out the trunk, then join the two sides together, so it looks like a flute.
3. Hang a vessel full of smouldering coals, sulphur and tar at one end, and a pair of bellows on the other end.
4. Place the trunk in a ram like structure, roll the machine to a part of the enemy walls mostly made of wood. Aim the tube at the walls and squeeze the bellows.
5. A huge flame will shoot out the metal vessel, setting fire to the walls and scaring any defenders away

Holy crap. That's AWESOME.

[Ludens]

Hans van Wees mentions the flamethrower as well in "Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities". However, it appears to have been a one-off thing, so it probably wasn't that useful. I also recall reading that the defenders of Tyr sprayed Alexander the Great's soldiers with red-hot sand, which stuck into their clothes and armour.

[Subotan]

It is still undeniably awesome though.

[Gleemonex]

Bingo, that's the word! You can tell it has been a few years since last I took courses in Chemistry.

"Sublime" (vb.) is also acceptable. Glad to be of service

This may not be the best source, but I remember from my Horrible Histories:Groovy Greeks book a Boetian Flamethrower being made. I'll see if I can find it.
Ah, here we go.

[...]

Holy crap. That's AWESOME.

Hans van Wees mentions the flamethrower as well in "Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities". However, it appears to have been a one-off thing, so it probably wasn't that useful. I also recall reading that the defenders of Tyr sprayed Alexander the Great's soldiers with red-hot sand, which stuck into their clothes and armour.

Game-wise, this stuff would be more the realm of a FPS or adventure game than a strategy game. But very interesting nonetheless. I wonder what is the source for that "Boeotian Flamethrower" (if it's not apocryphal).

-Glee

[Celtic_Punk]

This may not be the best source, but I remember from my Horrible Histories:Groovy Greeks book a Boetian Flamethrower being made. I'll see if I can find it.
Ah, here we go.


Holy crap. That's AWESOME.

that book got me into history, mate.


Also about napalm... That recipe I posted needs to be lighted. I know this from experience. In basic training the DS in AIT was telling us how to make a few concoctions. Smoke grenades and what not. One of the recruits asked how to make napalm and he just told us that one. I tried it out when i got back from basic. Its VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY DANGEROUS!!!!!

Under no circumstances should you ever try to make napalm, unless your country is being invaded and you are part of a paramilitary force, and need a way to delay an infantry advance. (in that case its very useful and go ahead and use that, if you survive to tell the tale please do. I'd love to hear about it) Once you start the reaction it cannot be stopped, it burns at high temperatures and someone can be killed or maimed.

If you decide to be an eegit and make it I assume no responsibility if you get caught by your parents or burn your arm off.

There's a reason we don't use it anymore... Its a pretty inhumane way to die. (in comparison to being bombed or bayonetted )

[Subotan]

that book got me into history, mate.

Likewise, along with Age of Empires 2. Both were unimaginably cool at the age of eight.

[Celtic_Punk]

hehe AOE2 was awesome I always used the spanish or celts. my brother used the huns cause you didnt have to build homes.

[Cute Wolf]

I think it was not napalm alone... According to my organic chemistry textbooks, the polymeric substance that formed napalm was not invented in Greek times, there should be more logical answer:

My Proposal for Greek Fire:
Greek fire was made from a mixture of naphta(or other aromatic compound), tar(for filling), and nitric acid/HNO3 (made by mixing saturated vinegar with saltpeter(NaNO3)... That mixtures was put in a wax tube-case, and transported as a solid ammunition. However, prior to their usage, they are melted down in situ (in their tube-sprayer), and ignited soon before spraying...

[Subotan]

hehe AOE2 was awesome I always used the spanish or celts. my brother used the huns cause you didnt have to build homes.

I liked the Byzantines,Turks, Vikings, Teutons and Mongols. My mate who I always played against always went Britons; having 40 longbowmen shoot a single villager at the same time is awesome.
Pity AoE3 was so bad. It focused too much on America, felt like Warcraft III with a crap plot and ultimately felt dated compared to RTW.

[Celtic_Punk]

I'd always fight the island battles, then make about 150 cannon galleons, bombard their island to smithereens, then destroy the galleons, then build a massive invasion force. Repeat till you conquer the world! too bad the Celts couldn't use cannon large cannon galleons lol.



Cute wolf, we don't know what Greek fire was made of. They could have invented Napalm. So much technology was lost due to the oppressive Christian Dark Ages.

[Ludens]

Celtic_Punk:
1) Keep it civil.
2) Please present sources that Greek fire was used before the Byzantine empire was founded.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Celtic_Punk:
2) Please present sources that Greek fire was used before the Byzantine empire was founded.

It is possible he is confusing it with other flammable mixtures, such as naphtha for instance, which existed since the dawn of civilization. There wasn't really anything so special or deadly about Greek Fire. It was just one of the hundreds of mixtures employed by the ancients.


This book is exceedingly interesting in this regard. I've read it two weeks ago, and it was very interesting and informative:
Greek Fire, Poison Arrows and Scorpion Bombs

According to it, the Byzantines and the earlier Imperial Romans feared the Parthians mainly because of the naphtha and the scorpions they used in defending against sieges. That was also the reason for the puzzling withdrawal of Septimius Severus during the 198/199 CE siege of Hatra. All that is CE stuff, but naphtha was used in BCE era as well.

[Tellos Athenaios]

sublimate

Bingo, that's the word! You can tell it has been a few years since last I took courses in Chemistry.