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[NewoTigra]

So I decided to mod in bladed crossbows. I thought they'd look somewhat like this (if the image/link works that is).
Basically just a crossbow that uses slash damage ammo and does slash / pierce damage in melee (pick one and use that).

I based the design on medieval crossbows shown in wikipedia and other sites dedicated to medieval weaponry etc.

I currently have two legendary markdwarves in my fortress using these. Should be interesting when a siege turns up . Cleaning up will be a pain though  .

Any thoughts on whether this would actually work as an effective weapon (RL or in-game) would be much appreciated.

P.S. The scanner didn't pick up all of the lines in some of the drawings. I tend to sketch rather lightly 

P.P.S. Ammo (a) is what medieval quarrels (bolts) apparently looked like, I was unable to find any pictures of them.
Ammo (b) is a rough sketch of what modern day quarrels look like, and Ammo (c) is a rough sketch on what the ammo for my crossbow might look like.

EDIT: direct linky;
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/2483/bladedcrossbowsketch.jpg

[Vester]

I thought a quarrel was to bolts what a quiver is to arrows.

I suppose a real life bladed crossbow would be something like a bladed bow, except stabby instead of slashy. Since the firing mechanic of a crossbow is different, I see no problem with a bladed one of these, except for storage.

[Rowanas]

Well, having a fair to good knowledge of crossbows (I'm making one as soon as I find some good wood. Damn you MDF! (Although MDF isn't used anymore because it's poisonous)) I can safely say that a bladed crossbow would work, and that if experience with bows is anything to go by, slashing bolts would work fine. I'm less sure on how it would work practically though, because unless the crossbow is pretty light you'll have no luck stabbing with it, as the shape of the crossbow you drew there wouldn't be much good in a fight, and any storage device would have to accommodate those two blades. Personally I would have one blade on the front and turn the stock into more of a handle, making the blade work like a horribly weighted sword in combat.

Vester: A quarrel and a bolt are interchangeable terms. You store either in a quiver, and both are shot from a crossbow. Two names, one thing.

[Vester]

Now I know. And knowing is half the battle.

Maybe if the blades turned the crossbow into a combination punching-dagger/crossbow?

[sunshaker]

Now I know. And knowing is half the battle.

Violence is the Other Half.

[bluea]

It might be easier to think of the blade you're attaching to the crossbow itself as more of a bayonet than any sort of slashing weapon.

Bayonets were an attempt to give musketeers a pike or short spear rather than a sword. (Mostly because initial fire-rates for muskets really, really sucked, and your opponents were focused on pike and cavalry themselves.)

[Rowanas]

But do you have any idea how sucky a bayonet is? An incorrectly weighted spear is almost worse than no weapon at all, because at least with your bare hands you know where the weight lies, your reach, the force you can put behind it etc etc.

[bluea]

Yeah - it's going to suck.

The only way it wouldn't suck is if you've got trained, disciplined troops all lined up in ranks and your bayonet has enough length to 'set' the spear. And you're fighting light cavalry.

Even there you're probably better off using separate pikemen and crossbowmen. Or, at least, separate pikes and crossbows. Crossbows can be small enough to strap across your back. Er, a human's back.

But thinking 'spearlike' is better than thinking 'swordlike' IMNSHO. Because a wall of pointy bits will influence the pathfinding choices of horses.

[Rowanas]

I think that if you were to modify a crossbow for melee, that a sword would still be the best way. Having the body of the crossbow as a makeshift grip, with a crossbar (the bow) and a hacking bit sticking up. It would push most of the weight towards the handle where the main body of the crossbow is, but that would only make it a weak weapon that is easily broken, rather than a weak and unwieldy weapon that is easily broken. If the butt were long enough to make the melee crossbow 2-handed then it would be more in the vein of a claymore or scimitar, both of which were unwieldy but powerful weapons. The bayonet on a crossbow would have to be quite large, or the butt would have to be incredibly long for it to work as a spear.

Rifles have it easier because they are sleeker in shape, less blocky, and lighter.

[bluea]

Hmm. I dunno.

I see what you're saying, but I have trouble seeing any 'swinging' going on with a full sized bow. Something with a smaller bow across it might not be too obnoxious, but I've been picturing dwarves as using particularly heavy crossbows. Compact muscles and general stature making this somewhat heavier than the human 'heavy crossbow'. This would usually imply a pretty decent width.

Maybe more of a battle axe or double-bitted pick? Reinforcing, sharpening, and/or attaching spikes/blades to the crossbar itself?

[kefkakrazy]

I did some experiments with the different damage types modded onto trap comps, ones. I didn't find MUCH out-certainly, comps designed to "burn" or "heat" damage didn't set stuff on fire. However, I did find one thing out, which explains why whips, scourges, and most bite attacks are useful despite low damage counts:

Gore damage (whips, a lot of bite attacks) is friggin' hardcore.

[Rowanas]

Hmm... thinking...

Could a crossbow have a permanent axe blade attached to the bottom that doesn't interfere with the action of firing, thereby giving a solid and weighty axe with only slight chance of damage to the bow itself?

>=bow of crossbow
_=solid wood
other symbols = metal

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[bluea]

If you're using your crossbow as a melee weapon, breaking the bow is the least of your worries