[NOT OT] Siege weapons in "The Messenger"

[Mouseferatu]

Just got finished watching "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" on DVD, and it reminded me of something I'd wondered about when I saw it in the theater, but had since forgotten.

During one of the sieges, the defenders are using a device to repel attackers. It's a wooden contraption with three arms, each with a spiked ball and chain at the end. The device is run by a hand-crank. It turns, causing the flails to spin. It also rolls up and down the battlement, removing attackers from ladders and bodyparts from attackers.

I'd like to know:

A) What this thing is called. (I assume the filmmakers didn't just make it up.)

B) If anyone has, by any chance, created D&D stats for it. (Not asking you to make them up now; I can do that. Just wondering if someone's already done the work.)

Thanks.

 

[Zappo]

I've never heard about it, but it sounds like something that would look very cool with some blood stains and a bunch of orcs manning it.

 

[reapersaurus]

good question.
That was a real neat idea of a weapon.
It would be an anti-seige weapon, though, right?

 

[mmadsen]

During one of the sieges, the defenders are using a device to repel attackers. It's a wooden contraption with three arms, each with a spiked ball and chain at the end. The device is run by a hand-crank. It turns, causing the flails to spin. It also rolls up and down the battlement, removing attackers from ladders and bodyparts from attackers.

I haven't seen the movie, but I wouldn't "assume the filmmakers didn't just make it up." It doesn't sound like anything I've read about before.

 

[Xarlen]

I don't remember it moving along the battlements, but I *do* recall it taking that guy's head off!

I liked the boulders through the shoots, too.

 

[BMF]

I've been wondering what that thing was since I saw the movie a couple of years ago. I remember it moving along the wall and ruining some guy's head.

I wouldn't be quick to guess it was made up by the movie producers. Maybe it was, I don't know. But my uninformed opinion of that movie's historical accuracy is that it was fairly good.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Re: Re: [NOT OT] Siege weapons in "The Messenger"

I haven't seen the movie, but I wouldn't "assume the filmmakers didn't just make it up." It doesn't sound like anything I've read about before.

That was my first thought as well. But having watched the special features on the DVD, it's amazing how much historical research they did. I mean, a good chunk of the trial scene towards the end is taken verbatim (albeit translated) from the Latin transcripts of Joan's actual trial.

I just don't see them doing that and then making up a siege weapon (sorry, anti-siege weapon ) that doesn't even play a big part in the movie. True, they could have, but...

 

[Mouseferatu]

Bump-time. C'mon, someone must've heard of this thing...

 

[Welverin]

bump

Bump-time. C'mon, someone must've heard of this thing...

Not me.

 

[Vaxalon]

I'll wager it's not historical...

In point of fact, the thing would be pretty impractical in real life. It'd lose most of its energy the first time it got a solid hit.