quote:
Originally posted by mickel:
[QB]Medieval archers weren't very good marksmen, and medieval bows weren't all that good. It's one of those cases where civilians (in this case hunters) were a lot better with a weapon than the military. Archers had a low status, and were usually just rabble bundled together and given a bow and being told which end of the arrow is the pointy bit, and then being pushed into battle. If they got one salvo off in the general direction of the enemy before they ran like rabbits, it was a good day.
This does not at all apply to the Crusades example posted previously; Muslim archers were not at all rabble, especially Muslim mounted archers. The bow, their weapon of choice, was good enough that it was a prime weapon over vast regions of the world, regions that at the time were as advanced and effective at war as anywhere on Earth.
Nevertheless, the bow was not a super weapon. Quilted armor (used by the Crusader infantrymen described as "looking like porcupines"), plate armor, scale armor, and even raw silk layers (used by the Mongols) either stopped the vast majority of arrows under actual battlefield conditions, or prevented them from driving deeply enough to do crippling damage.
The penetration power of an arrow or bolt falls off rapidly with range. If your archers are stationed far enough away that a thrown handaxe cannot maul them, and we're talking combat conditions rather than the sandbox of a shooting range, and the target has reasonable armor, it is one arrow in several dozen that gets to a vital organ or artery.
In DF,
1) Archers and crossbowmen, especially skilled ones, shoot far and away too quickly compared to combat movement rate.
2) The number of arrows and bolts that hit somewhere on a large, slow-moving body, or on a creature that isn't actively dodging, seems more-or-less reasonable.
3) It is far too easy to hit a single, tactically-aware, rapidly moving target. In reality, it is actually fairly difficult to get a bead on something that's charging at you, ducking and dodging as it approaches.
4) Arrows/bolts that hit are vastly too likely - even in non-optimal combat conditions - to do critical internal damage to small areas (eyes, heart, etc.). Penetration power is overdone for creatures with organs shielded by any sort of armor, bone/shell, or mere bulk.
5) Basic armor (as opposed to the absurdly over-layered plate-on-chain-on-chain-on-chain) is not effective enough. It is especially not effective enough at more than point-blank range and when you are aware of the shooter. It's one thing to ambush someone and get that first crucial shot in a joint or raised visor; it's quite another to drive an arrow home through a raised shield!
6) Too few arrows and bolts are salvageable. In reality, the majority of projectiles that miss can be salvaged, and many of those that hit can be recovered.