Welcome!
A Brief Introduction
Welcome to the new-and-improved website for Team Urban Siege. Team Urban Siege is a group of friends that have been building trebuchets since 2006 and competing in the World Championships of Punkin Chunkin since 2008. This website chronicles our team's work and also attempts to provide information on building trebuchets, the weapon of choice for mass destruction in the Medieval Era. Soon there will be design information for arms, axles, slings, frames, counterweights, and a whole lot more. Not only will there be discussion as to how they work, but suggestions as to how to keep your various trebuchet parts from breaking will be here as well. There will even be some free plans for smaller trebuchets to get you started in this fun hobby!But most of all, this site is dedicated to exhibiting our work. Before 2011, Team Urban Siege was well-known in the hurling community for highly-efficient designs. Medieval Postal Service was a breakthrough machine despite not being designed to WIN. However, that has changed with 2011. Our new machine, NASAW, the North American Sliding Axle Whipper, is a first-of-its-kind, incredibly-efficient and super-long-distance-throwing trebuchet. In just it's first season, on only it's 13th shot EVER, NASAW nearly took out the 7-time World Champion Steve Siegers and his new mammoth machine Yankee Siege II with a shot of 2316.17 feet! In 2012, we managed to beat Yankee Siege II and the rest of the field and take FIRST PLACE at the World Championships of Punkin Chunkin! We have the second-longest-throwing trebuchet IN THE WORLD and it's only beginning to get tuned in!
Sponsorship
Team Urban Siege would like to thank all of our sponsors, past and present. These include:Great Lakes Pressed Steel, who made Medieval Postal Service possible by donating the steel and aluminum used, along with allowing us use of the machine shop there and the services of Glen, who did all of the welding for the machine. They were also invaluable in the construction of NASAW, our new competition trebuchet.
Creative Hands Custom Blinds and Window Treatments for wood shop usage, machine storage for most of our collapsible trebuchets, and help with constructing all of our pouches since Jeckyl and Hyde.
Wickham Farms, who was very helpful in finding us ideal test ammunition (pumpkins) at the last minute before the 2010 World Championships, and who helped us out further in 2011 by growing some particularly hurling-friendly breeds of pumpkins. We sent them flying over 2000 feet!
Thanks also to all others that have donated, time, materials, and even money to the team. A further thanks to those that helped out in other ways. Most of these are listed on the left.
Disclaimer
All information found with this site or at other sites linked to from here is used at the sole risk of the user. Team Urban Siege and its members will be in no way responsible for any damage or injuries suffered from the use of this information.
Use "common sense" when operating trebuchets and catapults. Even little ones can be dangerous. Do not place anything you are not willing to lose in the plane of the arm rotation (this includes yourself, body parts, car windshields, cameras, etc). These catapults and trebuchets are capable of throwing just as far backwards as forwards, and the use of a backstop of some sort is recommended, though the use of one does not make the region behind it safe.
Also, just because the throw got away safely downrange does not mean the end of the danger. The arm is likely still swinging wildly along with the counterweight, and there is a sling whipping around. One thing many people fail to take into account is this sling; some people put a metal ring on the slip end of the sling and this ring can HURT when whipping around!
Have fun hurling, but please KEEP IT SAFE!!!
Latest News
Team Urban Siege Site Updated
Posted by Matt - Feb 26, 2013After being broken for a couple of months, the back-end to the website here, which enables changes and new content to be made here, is now fixed. Now we should be able to start rolling out various over-due updates from the 2012 World Championships of Punkin Chunkin. The top menu link to the Blog is still broken, but the blog itself still works. Please let us know if there are any other broken features you may find. Stay tuned!
World Championships of Punkin Chunkin 2012 - Arrival and Setup
Posted by Matt - Nov 23, 2012This is the first in a series of posts coming about the 2012 World Championships of Punkin Chunkin.
This year the chunk had a rough go of it. In fact, mere weeks before the chunk it looked like the event might not happen, as the various lawyers involved had yet to agree on a new insurance policy for the event. This was resolved in nearly the 11th hour, barely in time to proceed with field set up and the like.
Team Urban Siege Takes 1st at WCPC!
Posted by Matt - Nov 07, 2012Those who checked in here daily hoping to get updates from the 27th World Championships of Punkin Chunkin were likely disappointed to see nothing posted here during the week. Unfortunately the internet at the hotel we used essentially did not work. If you followed our Facebook page though, you saw a few posts that we made via phone regarding progress. It was a strange year for the chunk, with Friday's event being cancelled due to needing to do more work on the field due to Hurricane Sandy. Couple that with high winds and no testing time, and shots were all over the place for mechanical divisions. Ultimately NASAW prevailed over the giant Yankee Siege II and the rest of the field, once again firing 2 shots over the 2000' mark. In fact, we were the only ones to clear 2000 feet in the division. More details will be posted soon along with pictures and videos, but for now, WE ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!!! The winning shot was merely 2123' though, far from what was anticipated to be the winning shot this year. Stay tuned for more!
Ready for the Chunk
Posted by Matt - Oct 29, 2012In less than 48 hours we hope to be down at the 2012 World Championships of Punkin Chunkin in Bridgeville, DE. This year, mother nature is trying to throw a massive wrench in the works in the form of Hurricane Sandy, which is at this moment battering the mid-Atlantic. Delaware took a near-direct hit, and much of Sussex County, location of the chunk, was evacuated. While the wind and rain is expected to end sometime late tomorrow, what is unknown is exactly what the impact this storm will have on the chunk. We hope we can get on the field late Wednesday, but things are bound to be extremely muddy, with nearly 8 inches of rain having fallen there since Sunday. The good news: starting Wednesday, there is a nice pattern of weather forecast, extending beyond the chunk weekend into next week. Hopefully the field will dry out some in the days before the chunk (which starts on Friday).
First NASAW Pictures Online
Posted by Matt - Dec 02, 2011We've uploaded the first pictures from the construction of NASAW for viewing. More will come at a later date, but enjoy these for now!
