Would oil barrels be used in castle sieges as a defense mechanism band if so, how would you actually use them?
In: Other
Actually oil was expensive and only used as a last resort. More common was throwing burning sand and pitch.
The idea is that when attackers are at the foot of the wall trying to batter a door or put a ladder, showering them with a burning medium (pitch clinging to the surface, sand going in armors) will cause enough burns to incapacitate the fighters.
Two ways of use were in place:
* just pour over the wall (typical for straight walls)
* throw a barrel (only works for walls with a sloped bottom). Barrel bounces off the bottom of the wall and hopefully shatters, projecting a full spread of burning medium ont enemies.
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