Archery Question

[Armin]

A problem with fire arrows is that the flames would tend to be extinguished by the airflow.  The ideal case, I would guess, is something that would hold a spark while in flight and then reignite when it hit and became stationary.  The tallow or wax impregnated cloth would probably do that, since cloth tends to char and smolder (thus being the preffered material to 'catch the spark' when using flint and steel.
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That was actually the biggest problem in my (extremely diletantic :whistling: ) attempts at firing flaming arrows as a kid...
(Oh, those scout camp days... it's a miracle that I'm alive with all limbs attached, considering the things I used to blow up with firecrackers, gunpowder and gasolene-soaked cotton wool :P )

Any arrow fired at halfway sufficient speeds (you need at least *some* range, and even a thatched roof needs a bit of penetrating power) creates *so* much airflow, that it simply blows out the candle.

And that's why my guess is still that an actual working flame arrow needs three things:
- a longer, thus heavier arrowhead (You sometimes see such heads in a museum, with not only the classical arrowhead, but a few inches of metal shaft) and a longer shaft
- a kind of "core" made from flammable glue that holds the cloth strips in place (probably pitch)
- cloth (preferably rough wool) soaked in something volatile thats easily reignitable by the smoldering (probably wax or oil, wax perhaps being a good idea as it would be a waterproof mantle that makes the thing transportable before ignition) wrapped around the glue

And all that effort still does not create an all too efficient weapon, as igniting a solid piece of wood (like a shield, a door or even a support beam) is extremely difficult with a small, superficial flame. You'd need a pretty solid "splash" of hotly burning, sticky liquid for that (that's why a working molotov cocktail needs a mix of oil and kerosene). This AND an extremely easy countermeasure - unless there has been a draught simply soak all exposed wooden or straw surfaces in water and you're prepared for the siege :P

So unless used to ignite a previously prepared trap (like the oil-soaked battlefield or extremely dry grasslands), my guess would be that the military usefulness of flame arrows (especially in siege warfare) was pretty much close to nil. Still make a nice terror weapon, to quickly bring down an unprepared village with thatched roofs though... :shuriken: