One Thing That I Think Tolkien Did Wrong and Jackson Did Right

[TheAzn]

Originally Posted by Mumriken

Well I made a little simulation, sorry for the low resolution. It was just something quick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdH1_JVdONw
Your drawing seems a bit off, like for example the catapult that sits the highest won't reach the longest. The range would be much better for the mordor forces below. I could switch it around and show you how they would smash into the walls if you want xD

EDIT: Or actually I can't cuz I deleted the file

Mumriken, there are several problems in your video besides low resolution. First the projectiles seem to shoot too randomly, which should not have happened; ancient artilleries were more consistent than what some might give them credit for. The simulation was so random that the back artillery once hit another artillery on its own side!!! Secondly, although the difference might not be much, air is less dense at 100 ft upwards. Your simulation does not appear to take variations in friction into account. Finally, how in the Bruce Lee's name did some projectiles managed to penetrate all the way to the Underworld!!? All of this makes your simulation even less accurate than my drawing.

I will admit that, even at 700 feet in height, an artillery that is thousands of feet inside the city might not reach the Mordorian lines. However, Minas Tirith had a very interesting landmark, and that would be a giant rock shaped like a bow of a ship.

Since you did not observe this in my first drawing, I will make things more clear and easily understood by drawing a circle. This is, as you would say, for u.


In other words, in order to place some artilleries at 700 feet, you have more options than to place them way back on the Seventh Wall. This Ship Rock reaches all the way forward to the Second Wall. Artilleries can be placed all along the "Upper Deck", with 2 or 3 small artilleries at the tip. Please include this fact on your simulation next time

I did not draw the projectile pathway for these last artilleries because they would probably go beyond the edge of the paper. The point is clear however: the Gondorian artilleries can hover 700 feet above ground at the Second, Third, and Fourth Walls, not only at the last Seventh Wall.

And yes, there are enough space on the "Upper Deck" to place artilleries, as every good sources indicated. The tip might look small, but - based on scale - you can see that several small artilleries can be placedthere.