Poison Arrows

**jirisys** · 05-22-2010, 16:12

Originally Posted by Cute Wolf

how to emulate poisoned weapons??? I dodn't know if poisoned weapons exists in Europe too... at least in Asia and Africa, that's TONS of it, and currently, I also have the Headache on how to represent poisoned blade, arrows, and spears, that my Nusantara TW factions should have in a lot...

Descr_projectiles

Add a trait called, "poisoned" make it +1 lethality or +3 damage

~Jirisys (correct me if i'm wrong on the edition of the descr file)

**Cute Wolf** · 05-24-2010, 12:03

Originally Posted by jirisys

Descr_projectiles

Add a trait called, "poisoned" make it +1 lethality or +3 damage

~Jirisys (correct me if i'm wrong on the edition of the descr file)

very wrong you...
actually, it should be something that made the enemies not got insta-death in the field, but some seconds or minutes after the volley, some men will fall out randomly...

even I was actually consider reskinning "flaming arrows" effects, so they will look green (aka poisoned), instead of being orange (fire - fiery arrows was almost only used at the siege battle)

**Badass Buddha** · 05-24-2010, 12:10

You guys should read Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World by Adrienne Mayor. It's full of information on such things. You'll find that many ancient Europeans used poison arrows extensively.

**Cambyses** · 05-24-2010, 16:16

But did they use them en masse, during battles? That strikes me as extremely unlikely from my knowledge of ancient history.

**Fluvius Camillus** · 05-24-2010, 19:25

Using the MTWII Kingdoms ability, can't you use the ability from Trebuchets and hornet throwers? Which make the flags turn green.

~Fluvius

**Badass Buddha** · 05-24-2010, 20:56

Poison arrows were indeed used en mass in battle by many, such as the Scythians and Indians, although some, like the Celts, just used them for hunting.

As for differentiating poison arrows from no poison ones, I know the Scythians marked their poison arrows with special designs.

Holy crap, that would be a game breaker. Horse archers with arrows that kill automatically and cause fear. Nasty.

**abou** · 05-24-2010, 21:18

Originally Posted by Badass Buddha

Poison arrows were indeed used en mass in battle by many, such as the Scythians and Indians, although some, like the Celts, just used them for hunting.

Come on, man. You can't just say indeed and leave it at that. That's a hefty claim and you need to cite it.

Say you have an army of 1,000 archers using these poison arrows. They may carry something along the lines of 30 arrows each with, just for argument, 1 gram of poison each. That means the refinement of 30 kg of poison to be refined and distributed to an army. Considering the era, call me skeptical.

EDIT: Oh, and before I forget, Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World hasn't exactly gotten glowing reviews from academics either.

**bobbin** · 05-24-2010, 23:27

I can't speak for the ancient era but in later times, one of the more common ways of producing "posion" arrows was to dip them in sewage, of which there was a plentiful supply of in most armies.

**Badass Buddha** · 05-25-2010, 04:55

Originally Posted by abou

Come on, man. You can't just say indeed and leave it at that. That's a hefty claim and you need to cite it.

That's fair. I'm sorry, but I've nothing to cite at the moment. I'll try to find something at the nearby university.

Originally Posted by abou

Oh, and before I forget, Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World hasn't exactly gotten glowing reviews from academics either.

The book was full of sensationalistic, "Flaming pigs" kind of stuff, but there was some legit information in there. I'll have to find it again.

**Klearchos** · 05-25-2010, 09:00

Originally Posted by abou

Say you have an army of 1,000 archers using these poison arrows. They may carry something along the lines of 30 arrows each with, just for argument, 1 gram of poison each. That means the refinement of 30 kg of poison to be refined and distributed to an army. Considering the era, call me skeptical.

I understand your scepticism, but, since many soldiers brought their own arms and armor, maybe they brought their own personal vessel (or something) of poison as well. Just a thought, I don't have solid proof or anything.
I've done some research but the only book I found was "Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World", that Badass Buddha mentions. If I come across something else I'll post it.