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Protection against Close Combat Arms

Whether the scales of a dragon can withstand the blow from a sword, axe or mace depends on several factors, two of the most important are: a) The bodypart being hit, b) The nature of the blow.

In order to reduce weight, a dragon is unevenly protected and its strongest scale armor covers the chest area (similar to a modern main battle tank). In other words, as long as it faces its foe it stands a better chance of deflecting blows.

The actual strength of the chest scales as compared to traditional armor of bronze or iron is unclear, but it is known from empirical tests (RG94) that traditional armor offers sufficent protection against slashes or thrusts from lighter swords and spears. If the chest scales are comparable to iron armor, then only powerful slashes from heavier swords or axes could potentially harm the dragon. The chances of inflicting damage is much better against the dragon's softer limbs and underbelly.

A mounted soldier armed with a heavy lance, would pose a much greater danger to a grounded dragon, because of the higher speed and mass. A flank assault by a lancer could be fatal, because the lance could easily penetrate the thinner scales and softer tissue covering the belly.

Close combat with small arms against a dragon is quite academic, because, under most circumstances, a dragon would never allow a foe within striking distance. A dragon would prefer to keep them out of reach, or stay in the air and sweep down on its foes.

Protection against Arrows & Bolts

Please note that all the ranges mentioned in the following section refer to the weapon's direct fire range across a level ground. The ranges will be shorter when fired diagonally or upwards against a flying target (or longer when fired downhill).

Arrows from conventional bows lack the power to penetrate bronze or iron armor (RG94), but arrows or bolts fired within effective range (650-900 feet, 198-274 m) from powerful composite bows, longbows or crossbows, could harm a dragon's limbs or belly. Bolts fired from powerful crossbows are capable of penetrating chain mail, and these weapons had a theoretical range of about 1.100-1.300 feet (335-396 m). The probability of getting hit beyond this range would be minimal.

However, even an arrow from a conventional bow could inflict damage to a dragon's large wing membranes, the most vulnerable part of a dragon (apart from its eyes). If the arrow does not cause serious injury, it could still cause practical problems because of the gash (lack of lift).

Protection against Field Artillery

Compact field artillery, such as ballistas or scorpions, have sufficient power to inflict serious injury to a dragon, even if the missiles hit the dragon's thick chest area. A heavy 10 pound (4.5 kg) missile or bolt would stun, rip the dragon's wings apart, or, in a worst case scenario, impale and kill the dragon instantly, due to its higher kinetic energy. These machines also had almost twice the theoretical range of longbows (RG94).

Field artillery offers higher lethality, but lower accuracy and rate of fire compared to bows or crossbows. Rigid machines could only hit targets in the direction they were facing, and trying to redirect the fire in another direction would be far too slow against a flying dragon. Non-rigid machines with a wider angle of fire would be far easier to aim, but the curved trajectory would still make it hard to hit objects at longer ranges.

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