Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Adrian]

Crossbows are designed to fit much more energy in a smaller spring.
I do however think that anyone skilled with a bow can out-range a novice crossbowman anyday.

[james296]

the english longbows always out-ranged the french crossbows in the 100 years war

[Mr.Elendig]

Wouldn't bows have a greater range than crossbows due to the fact that the you can transfer more force to the projectile due to the much longer draw-string.

Crossbows are only good because they require less skill and strength to use.

Crossbows can be built to be capable of much longer ranges than a bow, but due to practical size, the lack of accuract at range etc, typical  late era crossbow was designed with a max range probably somewhere in the 300-400 meter range, with larger siege crossbows more than that. As for strenght, many crossbows requires a lot of effort to notch, some even more so than bows, but their big advantage is that they require somewhat less training, and that they can have much better armor penetration at short range than a bow.

Edit: They can, depending on the access to material, also be cheaper/easier to mass produce.

[MehMuffin]

IIRC, crossbows are easier to aim and shoot, making training crossbowmen much easier than bowmen, however, the elite longbowmen tend to outperform mediocre crossbowmen.

[psychologicalshock]

Let's talk about the actual game for a moment, is it because bows outrange crossbows ? If so I have a few good bowmen I could rearm (I had been training them with crossbows).

[saltmummy626]

I dont think it matters except for speed to reload, but I cant be sure. Ive never used a bow much in game.

[Frogwarrior]

If you could cone it, then a 100z tall and an archer in the center could strike anything on the map.

Obviously Dorfs can't fire at targets beyond their viewing range.

But their firing-range should not be inversly proportionate to a dorf's height. Otherwise guard towers wouldn't have any practical benefit (And you can't spell 'fortress' without 'guard tower').

The practical benefit is that low-skill archers are less likely to shoot through fortifications the farther they are from the fortifications. So with an elevated guard tower, your dorfs can get right next to the fortifications, while the mooks on the ground cannot.

[Girlinhat]

I don't think empirical testing has been done to compare bow and crossbow ranges.

[james296]

low level archers have to be right next to the fortification? i mean their talent with the ranged weapon means that they shouldn't be able to pick your defends off like master archers but they should at least have a very small chance to hit a dwarf (now the dwarf's armor would probably deflect the projectile unless it a really lucky shot)

[Girlinhat]

Low level archers can shoot through distant fortifications, but they don't do it very well, and most goblins will conserve ammo instead of attempting to fire.

[psychologicalshock]

Yeah non-elite bowmen don't even bother to fire at the fortifications but its so annoying that my elite crossbowmen can't reach the gobbo elites at the same time they can shoot birds out of the sky with ease. It doesn't make much sense.

[NW_Kohaku]

I always thought range was simply a cube.  Can't bolts fly diagonally upward, as well? 

Anyway, at least back in the 40d days, I know that elite marksgoblins could most certainly shoot through fortifications with absolutely no difficulty.  Sniper towers were one of my primary defenses, and I lost a brave marksdwarf to an elite marksgoblin, but fortunately, the way things work now, they just keep shooting a downed target without getting much accuracy on the prone target even while other marksdwarves pepper them with more bolts.

Anyway, because I have trouble moving around my military dwarves when they actually see a target, I actually find it easier to make their sniping nest boxes have a "shutter" in the form of a raising drawbridge in front of their sniping perch.  That way, I can just close it when there are problems. 

[Flying Dice]

As I recall, there is a certain mid-range skill level at which point fortifications at longer ranges effectively change from "wall" to "open space" in terms of ranged accuracy.

[psychologicalshock]

I always thought range was simply a cube.  Can't bolts fly diagonally upward, as well? 

Anyway, at least back in the 40d days, I know that elite marksgoblins could most certainly shoot through fortifications with absolutely no difficulty.  Sniper towers were one of my primary defenses, and I lost a brave marksdwarf to an elite marksgoblin, but fortunately, the way things work now, they just keep shooting a downed target without getting much accuracy on the prone target even while other marksdwarves pepper them with more bolts.

Anyway, because I have trouble moving around my military dwarves when they actually see a target, I actually find it easier to make their sniping nest boxes have a "shutter" in the form of a raising drawbridge in front of their sniping perch.  That way, I can just close it when there are problems.

Good idea I will install a shutter for protection. I should probably also uparmor my marksdwarves.

[acetech09]

I don't think empirical testing has been done to compare bow and crossbow ranges.

I just did, and as far as I could tell, the different weapons don't have different ranges. Nor did skill have anything to do with it.