06-11-2013, 01:31 PM
A possible first thought.....
Siege engines (both rams and towers particularly) were covered with 'hides' or similar to protect the soldiers inside from normal missiles and thus fire was attempted to lodge in and set fire to the actual covering materials (as opposed to the physical, often wooden, structure which would take longer); either aided by use of oils/fats, or protected against by use of wetting, uncured materials or things like fresh seaweed.
A fire-arrow, however, is still an otherwise normal arrow with a sharp point and with the flammable wrapping normally behind the point around the shaft itself. In most cases of classical arrows, therefore, they would probably tend to simply embed themselves in the shield or, given their lower velocity when used as fire-arrows (both because you could not draw as far without getting burned and they aren't as aerodynamic), they may simply fall off after striking.
If stuck in the shield and still burning, then it would have been possible to extinguish them if water were available, but that sees unlikely. Certainly they could probably be simply swept off with a sharp downward slash of a sword and stepped on to extinguish them. A couple of lit fire-arrows in a shield certainly doesn't seem very worrisome if you're behind the shield; less so than a petrol bomb certainly and they aren't that bad as long as an extinguisher and a wet blanket are handy
.
Overall, however, I would suggest that formed infantry were unlikely targets for fire-arrows (Hollywood notwithstanding), unless there was lots of flammable material around them, and they would probably be limited to attempts to frighten animals if desirable, but most often in sieges as above.
Siege engines (both rams and towers particularly) were covered with 'hides' or similar to protect the soldiers inside from normal missiles and thus fire was attempted to lodge in and set fire to the actual covering materials (as opposed to the physical, often wooden, structure which would take longer); either aided by use of oils/fats, or protected against by use of wetting, uncured materials or things like fresh seaweed.
A fire-arrow, however, is still an otherwise normal arrow with a sharp point and with the flammable wrapping normally behind the point around the shaft itself. In most cases of classical arrows, therefore, they would probably tend to simply embed themselves in the shield or, given their lower velocity when used as fire-arrows (both because you could not draw as far without getting burned and they aren't as aerodynamic), they may simply fall off after striking.
If stuck in the shield and still burning, then it would have been possible to extinguish them if water were available, but that sees unlikely. Certainly they could probably be simply swept off with a sharp downward slash of a sword and stepped on to extinguish them. A couple of lit fire-arrows in a shield certainly doesn't seem very worrisome if you're behind the shield; less so than a petrol bomb certainly and they aren't that bad as long as an extinguisher and a wet blanket are handy
.Overall, however, I would suggest that formed infantry were unlikely targets for fire-arrows (Hollywood notwithstanding), unless there was lots of flammable material around them, and they would probably be limited to attempts to frighten animals if desirable, but most often in sieges as above.
