Elizabethan tech level superweapon

[scottyrobot]

Hello,

I am writing a novel based in a fantasy world based loosely on Earth's Elizabethan era. There is no magic in this fantasy world.

Much of my story is similar to Star Wars, and I want my bad guys to have a superweapon, kind of like a renaissance deathstar, something that could destroy a town in one or two explosions.

Black powder weapons are already mainstream in my world, so this superweapon has to be more advanced and dangerous than that. What I've come up with tentatively is a catapult that hurls iron balls filled with nitroglycerin.

Now, would nitroglycerin creation be possible in an Elizabethan tech level? Would a nitro bomb the size of a large boulder be enough to destroy a typical renaissance town in a few hits?

Is there any other way that I could have a deathstar type weapon without using magic and using only techniques that guys in tights would have the means to make?

Or would I just have to invent some fictitious substance that is more powerful than black powder? If so, what type of substance should this be realistically? Some type of sediment? chemical fluid?

Can you think of any medieval/renaissance era fantasy that has pulled off such a weapon? (not counting magical weapons like wildfire from George RR Martin)

Thanks for your ideas

 

[WooHooMan]

A plane or any kind of aircraft would be a huge advantage in that era. Even a tank or WWI-era chemical weapons would be more than any ordinary army would be able to deal with.

The Death Star is a weapon created for a setting where every location is its own planet. In a setting where individual cities are considered major locations, the super-weapon would be considerably smaller. And in a setting that corresponds with our past, the weapon's technology wouldn't probably be less advance than what we have now.

 

[Queshire]

You could say that Archimedes' Death Laser actually works in your world unlike the real world.

 

[MiguelDHorcrux]

A bomb the size of a boulder would need a delivery vehicle, and that delivery vehicle would need enough speed and power to be away from the scene before the bomb explodes. Just something to think about.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Trebuchet's hurling Greek fire projectiles?

Cheers, Greg.

 

[scottyrobot]

Thank you all for the replies!

As for the Archimedes death ray, I think such a weapon would be ineffective in a world where most buildings are made from stone and not wood. secondly, the fires from the ray would take a long time to spread through the whole city. Thirdly, gunpowder already exists in my world and the same effects as the death ray could be achieved with a gunpowder bomb dropped on a wooden structure.

As for a bomb the size of a boulder needing a powered delivery system, would not a large catapult suffice? Catapults were usually used to hurl actual boulders in the middle ages. I was simply thinking of having the bombs filled with nitroglycerin... I know that this would be volatile, but if done carefully, i think it would work.

As for a flying super weapon, ummm, perhaps, but i was looking more for an actual weapon/explosive substance rather than a delivery vehicle for that weapon.

I'm sorta leaning towards Greek fire...would such a weapon actually be considered all that revolutionary/destructive in a world already familiar with cannons/guns?

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Well you have the advantage with Greek fire that it actually existed and no one actually knows what it was, only what it was supposed to do. You can make it as effective as you want and in addition have an ancient family lineage holding the secret to its construction for colour.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[scottyrobot]

Hi,

Well you have the advantage with Greek fire that it actually existed and no one actually knows what it was, only what it was supposed to do. You can make it as effective as you want and in addition have an ancient family lineage holding the secret to its construction for colour.

Cheers, Greg.

Hmmm, That sounds like an idea I may use...thank you.
Still toying with the nitroglycerin idea though.... I think Greek fire, though it may burn fast and be hard to put out, might not be as explosive as nitro. I was kinda looking for something with a big explosion that would take out many villagers instantly, with no chance of escape.