[FierceDraka]

Is the sand thing feasible? Melting temp of sand is ~ 1500 C so the temp must have been less than that. How far can you catapult sand anyway? In any case I would expect rapid thermal loss from small particles moving through air making such a weapon ineffective. This could be an interesting project.

I too was intrigued by the idea of tossing burning sand at the enemy. And as far as the feasability, the first thing I thought of was running barefoot across the burning sand of a beach.

Also, there is the semi-conductive property of silicon, making it able to retain heat more efficiently than, say iron or aluminum. I think it would work.

[Renfield]

The density of Quartz (primary constituent of most beach sand) is about 2.63 (grams/cubic centimeter). That means it's 2.63 times as dense as water. Think how well water holds heat, and then consider a much denser material. That stuff, heated to, say, about 800 degrees (which is about all that's practical using the method described) would cause horrible burns. Ouch.

[FreedomCalls]

They also probably clumped the sand together somehow (is it naturally sticky at those temperatures?) and tossed potato-sized clods at the enemy. The clods would have broken up on impact and showered the opponent with burning sticky sand particles.