We had a good turn out for the siege engine practice, several members who were previously thought permantly lost to Luclin popped in, as well as most DAoC regulars from the HCD made appearances. Joining us from outside the guild included one member of the Hiberian guild of Legends from the Guinevere role playing server and several people from Stormcrows, Akalabeth and Arcane Sanctum guilds on Palomides.

About five minutes before the assigned event time I was vaguely despondent due to the low numbers of Defenders on line; however, within a space of a few minutes enough showed up to make the catapulting a going concern.

Action then proceeded at the vault distributing the larger pre-made components as well as much catapult ammo.

Distributing ammunition and major parts (8:15 PM)

Headed to get wood (8:17 PM)

Buying wood, wood and more wood (8:18 PM)

Moving ever so slowly to the test site (8:22 PM)

Many cleric buffs and slow painful steps later we assembled at the puny skeleton filed/graveyard area. After a little debate about where to assemble the catapult, we proceeded to dump massive amounts of elm wood on Elby.

First major lesson: It is not necessary for the person assembling the catapult to drop anything on the ground.

Staging at the test site; waiting for stragglers (8:32 - 8:41 PM)

Catapult built! (8:47 PM)

Getting it built though was only a half of the problem, and that's being generous. Having built it, Elby took the first try and firing the catapult.

Figuring out how to load the catapult.... (8:49 PM)

Elby, however, was unable to successfully load the catapult. Next, I took a swing at it, figuring out how to load the catapult, but unable to aim it.

Still having troubles.... (8:51 PM)

Several people made attempts, however the predominate error message was that the target was too close. Frustrating, to say the least.

Unfortunately that was saying the least, as the catapult collapsed under the strain of being armed and unfired for so long.

Remains of the first catapult (9:00 PM)

Fortunately, we had some spare parts and the parts we lacked were quickly manufactured. We were in business for a second onager.

Getting wood for a second catapult (9:18 PM)

Getting spare parts (9:22 PM)

After a repeat of the previous wood buying frenzy as well (and subsequent flurry of cleric buffs), we reassembled in the puny skeleton field.

Back at the graveyard (9:34 PM)

Just a neat group shot (9:36 PM)

We proceeded to assemble the second onager somewhat farther away from the puny skeletons, as we were afraid that we had positioned the onager too close before.

Building the second onager (9:44 PM)

In business again! (9:46 PM)

However we had similar difficulties aiming. Fortunately we had sense not to arm it right away this time.

Trying to target Wei.... (9:50 PM)

Still having trouble aiming.... (9:54 PM)

Eventually Var came to the rescue, figuring out how to use the F5 targeting system.

Second major lesson: Hold down F5 in order to target an area. Use the mouse, either in M mode or holding right mouse button down, in order to move the target area.

Armed with new knowledge, I took control of the onager and lined up the first siege weapon attack in HCD history.

Woo hoo! First shot! (9:56 PM)

Unfortunately, I missed hitting anything.

That didn't preclude others for taking their turns.

Palatinejoe (from Stormcrows) readies his shot (9:59 PM)

Elby tries again (10:00 PM)

And we did discover that a certain minimum amount of woodworking skill is needed to repair a siege weapon.

Wei repairs the onager (10:01 PM)

Var destroys some puny skeletons (10:04 PM)

Aeramon had some trouble with the onager, resulting in myself test firing it to make sure that the catapult wasn't broken. Interesting side discovery: catapults rounds do bonus damage to puny skeletons. :) Aeramon's problem? He didn't see the firing indicator in first person mode.

Thump takes his shot (10:22 PM)

Zlater (from Akalabeth) also had trouble aiming the catapult; spending too much time armed and unfired, the onager breaks under the stress.

Milling about after the demise of the second onager (10:33 PM)

After the second catapult ended up collapsing, an impromptu trip was made to get more catapult ammunition. After considering our options we decided that traveling to Bledmeer Faste in Midgard would be faster than traveling to our own Caer Benowyc.

Going to Bledmeer Faste for more catapult stones. (11:12 PM)

Passing the mile fort (11:19 PM)

We passed some other Albions in Odin's Gate who warned us of Hiberian invaders. Undaunted we pressed on.

Chatting with others in Odin's Gate (11:21 PM)

Unfortunately my sense of direction is not all that it should be, and I lead us on a slight wrong turn.

TPW via Hiberian invaders in Midgard (11:28 PM)

Having gotten us all killed, I decided to call it a night.

Some of tidbits we discovered not previously mentioned:

• The Onager recipe is enabled; important because most official docs list catapults being implemented, but don't list onagers specifically.
• You can turn catapults. Contrary to previous battlefield reports; a catapult can turn and aim freely.
• The onager is costs ~60g to assemble; while certainly expensive, it's certainly doable for major raids.
• It may be possible to transport all the parts needed for an onager with as few as 10 people and have them all combat capable. I suspect that if we allow them to become overloaded, it would still be possible with as few as 7 people. Meaning that a special purpose HCD heavy weapons squad is well within our reach.
• A catapult does approximately 750 points of damage to a puny skeleton.
• And yes, Siegecraft skill can be improved. However, I don't think anyone (seriously) wants to powerskill it.

I feel the event was a success on several levels. Firstly, it was a great public relations event. Not just any old guild builds a catapult to bombard the heck out of puny skeletons. Secondly, we learned a lot about the use and construction of siege weapons. I feel very confident about our ability to do so in an actual raid now. Last, but not least: Zehd, you have been avenged.

Special thanks: Elby for constructing the catapult and supplying parts. Var for figuring out the F5 targeting and supplying parts. And also to Wei, for having the foresight to build two arm cushions and supplying a boatload of wood.

-Gradeki the Slayer of Puny Skeletons a.k.a. Uthorn the Shiny Yellow Armsman