Perfect Weapon

Follow Stuart Prior and Monty Halls, in exploring the destructive power of Siege Engines in history. Sieges are as old as warfare itself, like Alexander the Great's siege of Tyre, the Siege of Acre in 1191, right up to the modern day. As recently as 1992, the largest ever modern siege occurred in Sarajevo as the city was pounded for four years. Monty and Stuart follow the building of a mangonel, and trebuchet, in order to test their power and accuracy.

In this episode of Perfect Weapon, we look at how the weapons are made and are still in use around the world. In their heyday, projectiles like bows dominated the field of war, and making them was a huge industry. Monty and Stuart pick the longbow and the crossbow as their favourite weapons and then visit a blacksmith to learn about arrow making. Using their weapons they perform a series of experiments to understand the range and accuracy of their weapons.

Our hosts choose their bladed weapon & are trained to test them against various targets including a pig carcass, to assess the damage caused in battle. From the Bronze Age, blades formed the mainstay of warfare. Monty and Stuart choose the long Sword and the Poleaxe and then they conduct a series of tests on their weapons to discover the strengths and weaknesses of both. They wheel in some very modern technology, a Motion Capture system, to help them to use their weapons with better technique.

Our hosts try on various kinds of armour to explore how easy they are to move in, by running over an obstacle course. Monty and Stuart explore the role of armour in warfare from ancient times to the modern era. Having chosen plate armour and medieval brigandine to focus on, they then perform on them a series of tests to find out which protects best and which is easiest to move in.