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-- Qaws al-Sultan War Ballista --
- Category: Siege Weapon
- Image Credit: Flow Image Creator
- Intent: To introduce the Sultanate Ballista as a heavy torsion siege weapon of the Sultanate of Masyrpt's forces, designed for long-range precision fire during the Great Caravan Wars. It delivers devastating bolts to soften enemy formations, pick off key targets, combat flying enemies or damage light fortifications before the main army closes, while remaining on walls or prepared desert positions
- Development Thread: Not Applicable
- Permissions: Not Applicable
- Name: Qas al-Sultan War Ballista
- Classification: Ballista (heavy torsion siege crossbow)
- Affiliation: Sultanate of Masyrpt's
- Craftsman: Sultanate of Masyrpt's
- Availability: Limited
- Materials: Seasoned desert acacia and cedar timbers for the frame, arms, and tripod base; heavy bronze and brass fittings with gold inlays for the trigger housing, winch, and decorative crescent-moon motifs; iron torsion springs wrapped in sinew and leather; thick linen cord for the bowstring; ornate calligraphic blessings carved along the stock.
- Magical: No
- Tradable: No
- Customizable: No
- Size: Large
- Weight: Heavy
- Damage Type: Piercing
- Damage Output: High
- Recoil: Low
- Effective Range: Long (effective within approx. 50 to 250 metres)
- Ammunition Type: Heavy iron-tipped bolts or short javelins (approximately 1.5–2 metres long).
- Special Qualities: Not Applicable
- Precision Anti-Personnel Fire: The torsion arms and calibrated winch allow accurate, high-velocity shots that can pierce chainmail, shields, or light wooden barricades at long range, making it ideal for picking off enemy officers, standard-bearers, or clustered infantry before they close with Sultanate lines.
- Versatile Siege Support: Bolts can be aimed at siege engines, supply wagons, or gatehouses, flying enemies, disrupting enemy advances or softening fortifications to create breaches for the main Sultanate army to exploit.
- Slow Rate of Fire: The heavy winch and torsion reloading process requires several minutes between shots, leaving the crew and weapon vulnerable to counter-battery fire or fast-moving skirmishers during the reload cycle.
- Limited Mobility Once Emplaced: The sturdy tripod base provides excellent stability but makes rapid repositioning difficult; while it can be disassembled for camel or cart transport, the weapon performs best when pre-sited on walls or prepared field positions and cannot easily retreat under direct pressure.
The Qaws al-Sultan was developed in the royal armories during the early years of the Great Caravan Wars.
The Sultanate's older static siege engines were too cumbersome for the fast-moving desert campaigns against rival caravan lords and border raiders; engineers responded by refining a proven heavy ballista design with ornate bronze-and-brass fittings and traditional crescent-moon emblems, exactly as depicted creating a weapon that could be transported in sections by camel trains, quickly reassembled on fortress walls or forward dunes, and deliver precise, armour-piercing bolts to shatter enemy cohesion from afar.
Tactically, these ballistae operated in batteries of three to five, protected by infantry screens and often paired with the camel-pulled Manjaniq al-Jamal catapults for combined barrages. Crews followed the era's pragmatic doctrine: loose measured volleys to break formations and morale, then hold position only as long as friendly forces maintained the line.
