Instruct: Given a question, retrieve passages that can help answer the question.
Query: Is a catapult a siege weapon?
Castles and fortified walled cities were common during this period and catapults were used as siege weapons against them. As well as their use in attempts to breach walls, incendiary missiles, or diseased carcasses or garbage could be catapulted over the walls.
The society has also been working for the past few years to get the catapult banned in the country. The Ban the Catapult campaign hopes to curb the use of the catapult and include the catapult as a weapon in the Wildlife act of India. They have been regularly creating awareness in regard to this through various media.
Defensive techniques in the Middle Ages progressed to a point that rendered catapults largely ineffective. The Viking siege of Paris (885–6A.D.) "saw the employment by both sides of virtually every instrument of siege craft known to the classical world, including a variety of catapults", to little effect, resulting in failure.[9]
Seven Kingdoms II includes 12 human civilizations and 7 Fryhtan species. Besides unique military units with slightly varying attributes, human kingdoms also have unique gods with special powers that the kingdom may evoke from "seats of powers" that also grant unique bonuses. Differences among the three "basic" unit types, the bonuses associated with each particular Seat of Power, and the Greater Beings that may be evoked distinguish the different nationalities. In addition to basic human units, human civilizations can also build a variety of siege weapons, including cannons, ballistas, and catapults. These siege units do not possess a combat score, hence they all carry the same effectiveness from the moment they are created until the moment they are destroyed. However, siege weapons cost more to maintain and create.
Cannon were rare in Japan due to the expense of obtaining them from foreigners, and the difficulty in casting such weapons themselves as the foundries used to make bronze temple bells were simply unsuited to the production of iron or steel cannon. The few cannon that were used were smaller and weaker than those used in European sieges, and many of them were in fact taken from European ships and remounted to serve on land; where the advent of cannon and other artillery brought an end to stone castles in Europe, wooden ones would remain in Japan for several centuries longer. A few castles boasted 'wall guns', but these are presumed to have been little more than large caliber arquebuses, lacking the power of a true cannon. When siege weapons were used in Japan, they were most often trebuchets or catapults in the Chinese style, and they were used as anti-personnel weapons. There is no record that the goal of destroying walls ever entered into the strategy of a Japanese siege. In fact, it was often seen to be more honorable, and more tactically advantageous on the part of the defender for him to lead his forces into battle outside the castle. When battles were not resolved in this way, out in the open, sieges were almost always undertaken purely by denying supplies to the castle, an effort that could last years, but involved little more than surrounding the castle with a force of sufficient size until a surrender could be elicited.
The Corvallis military prefers jointed pikes as their weapon of choice, bolstered by catapults, ballistae, and other siege engines.
Following the battle, Menelaus hastily made ready for a siege of Salamis, mounting catapults on the walls, and sent messengers to his brother for aid. Demetrius also began preparations for the first of the sieges that would earn Demetrius his later nickname of "Poliorcetes" ("the Besieger"): skilled craftsmen and large quantities of wood and iron were brought from Asia to begin constructing large siege engines, including two large battering rams encased in large canopies to protect them from missiles, and a massive, nine-level mobile siege tower or helepolis, equipped with catapults and ballistae on each level, operated by a crew of over 200 men. Demetrius then brought his fleet and siege train into action and assaulted the city. After a few days, Demetrius' machines opened a breach in the wall and his subsequent assault nearly proved decisive, and was only stopped by nightfall. During the night, Menelaus gathered flammable material and was able to set the largest siege engines on fire.
There are two classes of military unit in the game; swordsmen and bowmen. Both types must be recruited in groups of six at a time, meaning the player cannot recruit any soldiers unless they have enough resources to recruit at least six. To attack enemy buildings, soldiers use torches, of which they have a limited number (each soldier carries one torch), and to replenish their supply of torches, the battalion must travel to the barracks, an outpost, or the player's Castle. The player can also build both offensive and defensive siege engines. Catapults are used to breach enemy walls, but cannot damage gates; battering rams can breach enemy gates, but cannot attack walls; siege towers are used to get soldiers over enemy walls. Offensive engines require a full battalion of six soldiers for assemblage and operation. In terms of defensive engines, the player can build mounted catapults, which are deployed on towers along the player's walls; and stone traps, which can be used at gates. Mounted catapults operate automatically, but stone traps must be triggered manually. The player can also build walls around their city; palisades can be burnt down and cannot have troops or mounted catapults stationed on them. Walls can support troops and catapults, and can only be damaged by siege engines, specifically catapults.
Sites across the empire have yielded information on ballistae, from Spain (the Ampurias Catapult), to Italy (the Cremona Battleshield, which proved that the weapons had decorative metal plates to shield the operators), to Iraq (the Hatra Machine) and even Scotland (Burnswark siege tactics training camp), and many other sites between.
Players take turns using either the crossbow or catapult to attack the opposing player's castle. The weapons shoot the disc-like "caroms". Crossbows slide the caroms across the gameplay surface, which catapults fling the caroms in a wide arc. Players must choose which weapon to use to attack.
The earliest weapons platforms were chariots, followed by war-wagons. The ancient Greek Helepolis, a massive siege tower which mounted catapults, could also be considered a weapons platform. The next attempt to mount weapons on platforms was made at sea, with catapults and eventually cannon mounted on their final form as ships of the line before the advent of ironclad warships mounting turrets.
In-game features include large battlefields, a large number of enemies and officers to defeat, and multiple outcomes for each stage. Certain levels make use of the siege engine (A new feature to the series) and introduce specialized siege equipment such as bridge layers, battering rams and catapults to the stage. Although it is not essential for the completion of stages, having a siege weapon will increase morale for the player's forces, and help the player succeed.
Siege warfare gave the Roman army significant offensive advantages over their enemies. Though the catapult was developed in ancient Greece, the Romans were able to replace the traditional Greek catapult made of wood making the most stressed components out of iron or bronze. This allowed for a reduction in size and also the ability to increase the stress levels to provide more power. Since a detailed understanding of mathematics and mechanics was required to design the catapult, it stands as a prime example of cooperation between ancient science and technology. Additional knowledge in topics like metallurgy and machine design helped to improve the performance of catapults. One example is the addition of machine elements like springs and copper bearings. It was known that the size of the catapult's components should be proportional to the weight of its intended projectile. As a result, tables relating standard part sizes and common projectile weights were assembled, which drastically increased the efficiency and production rate of catapults. The Roman catapult could be moved and operated by a single soldier, which allowed a more efficient use of soldiers and resources. These machines were torsion-powered and most were used to launch large spherical or dart-like projectiles. However, more creative options were often used. These included poisonous snakes, jars of bees, and dead bodies that were infected with diseases like the plague. The catapult was versatile, and could effectively launch any projectile that fit in its launch bucket. The Romans also developed an automatic repeating catapult called the scorpion. This was smaller than other catapults but had more moving parts. The rope coils were often made of twisted bovine sinews, horsehair or women's hair. The kinetic power delivered by a catapult was dependent on the diameter of these coils, making the coil diameter the dimensional standard for power rating. This would be similar to how the caliber system is used in modern firearms.
The large number of sieges during the medieval era called for huge numbers of infantry in the field, both in defence and in attack. Aside from labour units to construct defensive or offensive works, several specialists were deployed such as artillerymen, engineers and miners. Strongly fortified castles were hard to overcome. The simplest, most effective method was blockade and starvation. Artillery in the form of catapult, siege engines and later gunpowder weapons played an important role in reducing fortified positions. Mining beneath walls, shoring up the tunnel then collapsing it was also used. Defenders employed counter-tactics- using their own artillery, missile weapons, and counter mines against attacking forces. Against sieges cavalry men were not as valuable as footmen, and a large number of such troops was also used in the construction of fortifications. Free mercenary forces such as the "Condottiere" generally attempted to defeat their foes in open field battle or manoeuvre, but also participated in sieges, adding to the specialist ranks that bolstered the growing dominance of infantry.
Sling (weapon) Aircraft catapult Mass driver
The term "petraria" appears throughout the Medieval historical record, and is used refer to some types of catapults. It is unclear if "petraria arcatinus" appears anywhere in Medieval texts, or if its usage is more modern.
According to some on-line sources, one of these catapults may have been used during the twelfth century at the Siege of Acre in the Third Crusade, where King Philip of France had named one of his catapults "Malvoisin" (French for "Bad Neighbor"). However other sources say this machine was a trebuchet. (Some confusion may spring from the fact that the name 'Malvoisin' was used more than once, having later been the name of a trebuchet in the First Barons' War at the Siege of Dover, and similarly at the Siege of Minerve in 1210, and possibly for other machines of war.)
To take Kuju, Saritai used a full array of siege weapons to bring down the city's defenses. Lines of catapults launched both boulders and molten metals at the city's walls. The Mongols deployed special assault teams who manned siege towers and scaling ladders. Other tactics used were pushing flaming carts against the city's wooden gates and tunneling under the walls. The most grisly weapon used during the siege were fire-bombs which contained boiled down, liquefied human fat. 
The onager (British /ˈɒnədʒə/, /ˈɒnəɡə/, U.S. /ˈɑnədʒər/) was an imperial-era Roman torsion powered siege engine; in other words, a small catapult. The onager was first mentioned in 353 AD by Ammianus Marcellinus, who described onagers as the same as a scorpion.
Disease was another effective siege weapon, although the attackers were often as vulnerable as the defenders. In some instances, catapults or similar weapons were used to fling diseased animals over city walls in an early example of biological warfare. If all else failed, a besieger could claim the booty of his conquest undamaged, and retain his men and equipment intact, for the price of a well-placed bribe to a disgruntled gatekeeper. The Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem in the 8th century BC came to an end when the Israelites bought them off with gifts and tribute, according to the Assyrian account, or when the Assyrian camp was struck by mass death, according to the Biblical account. Due to logistics, long-lasting sieges involving a minor force could seldom be maintained. A besieging army, encamped in possibly squalid field conditions and dependent on the countryside and its own supply lines for food, could very well be threatened with the disease and starvation intended for the besieged.
To end a siege more rapidly, various methods were developed in ancient and medieval times to counter fortifications, and a large variety of siege engines was developed for use by besieging armies. Ladders could be used to Escalade over the defenses. Battering rams and siege hooks could also be used to force through gates or walls, while catapults, ballistae, trebuchets, mangonels, and onagers could be used to launch projectiles to break down a city's fortifications and kill its defenders. A siege tower, a substantial structure built to equal or greater height than the fortification's walls, could allow the attackers to fire down upon the defenders and also advance troops to the wall with less danger than using ladders.
Siege engines are also in use in the game of Darkon for specialized battle campaigns. Siege weapons include ballistae, catapults, and trebuchets. While there are currently few specific rules governing the construction of a siege engine in Darkon, all siege engines must be built with the utmost degree of safety in mind. Ballista bolts are built much like javelins, while catapult/trebuchet stones are cloth balls filled with cotton fiber, known as "spellballs" (please see the Magic section of this article for more information about spellballs.)
Magnant enters properly in the RTS category and is somehow considered as a simulation game which simulates the activity of ants,it is not considered completely a simulation game because it concentrates on too many unrealistic features, such as ants carrying modern weapons (Guns, rifles, grenades) and ants employing siege machinery such as catapults, ballistics, etc.
The end of the Mongol-Song war occurred on 19 March 1279, when 1000 Song warships faced a fleet of 300 to 700 Yuan Mongol warships at Yamen. The Yuan fleet was commanded by Zhang Hongfan (1238–1280), a northern Chinese, and Li Heng (1236–1285), a Tangut. Catapults as a weapon system were rejected by Kublai's court, for they feared the Song fleet would break out if they used such weapons. Instead, they developed a plan for a maritime siege, in order to starve the Song into submission.
Early ranged weapons often included specifically designed hand-thrown weapons such as javelins, slings and darts, as well as more complex elastic weapons such as slingshots and bows; and siege engines like stone throwers, catapults, ballistas and trebuchets. These ranged weapons were extremely effective in combat, especially when used "en masse", as they gave the wielder opportunity to launch multiple rounds of attack before an enemy armed with melee weapons or shorter-ranged missile weapons could even get close enough to pose a threat.
In castle science, and according to mediaeval usage, a counter-castle was a type of castle that was built to secure a territorial lord's claims to power or to besiege and conquer the estates of rival rulers. In such cases, it may also be referred to as a siege castle. These terms are not used uniformly by specialist authors. Usually a distinction is made between counter-castles and siege castles. Where this is the case, a siege castle refers to one built near the enemy castle within the range of trebuchets and catapults that could act as a strongpoint, a route barrier, a refuge in the event of counter-attacks, a barracks and a battery position for ballistic weapons.
Burning pitch was used on occasion; the Mongols were known to fire containers of burning tar during sieges using catapults and trebuchets. Wheels could be covered in pitch, set alight, and rolled along; this technique was commonly used during the Crusades. The besieged Carthaginians in Motya, 398 BC, set alight the siege engines of the attacking Syracusan forces under Dionysius I by dropping burning charred logs and resin-soaked oakum; however, the Syracusans were able to put out the fires.