Love for the sling? Crossbow vs Bow. Horse Archering.

[strategos14]

the English owe many victory's to their longbowmen (the yew war bow) in the middle ages. the French owe many victories to their crossbowmen. the Huns and then the Mongels had good bows as well (though it seems tactics were more of a factor for them). perhaps it wasn't the bows getting better that led to the mass disuse of slings, but maybe it more had to do with the quality and quantity of armor being produced. also just the culture of places change. by force or by integration. England had great archers because for a while it was en vogue for commoners to learn the bow at a young age. takes a while to become a GOOD archer. after it fell out of fashion, the Lords of England were hard pressed to field as many as they once had. just a thought.

 

[kintire]

England had great archers because for a while it was en vogue for commoners to learn the bow at a young age

This is a very important point. Ancient armies were founded much more on what troops social conditions happened to make availiable than long term comparisons of weapons, though that did occur too. The Romans were very unusual in designing armies on strategic considerations, and even then it was patchy.

 

[Spectator]

http://journalofasianmartialarts.com/cms2/images/stories/sample_articles/Academic-RD.pdf

Wow here's an article about the sling, and used properly, the sling bullet had the impact of revolver round!
Yeah the physics is there to prove it.
11 pages and worth reading them all.


Actually its more than just physics, but its gots da proof!
Interesting how the author also realized you had specialist slingers (baleric and Rhodian = superstars) and you had mass peasant levies for the defensive slinging.

 

[strategos14]

THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!! Great find Spectator.

 

[Spectator]

Definitely enough quantative data to make the sling into an Exotic weapon and upping the damage to maybe 2d4 +strength?

Probably too low, but definitely needs to be more than 1d6.

 

[strategos14]

i think its 1d8 in conan. i could see it being more deadly in the game if you specialized in it and all that. but i agree that it should be a least a tad more powerful to start with. better range too. the guy writing that article you have up even said the sling gets no love from most historians. heck, i didn't even know it was used as much up through the middle ages.

 

[Spectator]

Does anyone have the PDF I mentioned above (two rows up) I can't seem to find mine?

 

[Kev]

Does anyone have the PDF I mentioned above (two rows up) I can't seem to find mine?

I've got it at home, Spectator. If you wanna PM me with your email address, I can send it to you once I get home this evening (that is, unless someone else has beat me to it by then).

 

[wwebb]

The current world record for a bow is 1,336 yards (2,047 yards with a crossbow).

Well, bear in mind that's with a modern flight bow built to achieve the greatest possible distance. Medieval longbows had a significantly shorter range, generally around 200-250 yards (though I've heard tell that some could reach 300 yards or more). That's if the archer was going for distance not accuracy.

That was right. Advancement of crossbows and bows lead to long distance and more accurate shots.
So we speaks to the makers of the bows, both have lots of advancement in either way.

 

[MidnightSun]

I've found this link on bow ranges. Definitely very interesting. The range difference between ancient and modern bows is amazing. Though I understand a modern bow has much smaller firing rate. More power and range, though three times slower. I remember seeing a documentary on this, sadly I wasn't able t ofind it up to this day Here's the link for bow ranges, though!

http://www.archery.org/content.asp?id=892&me_id=753&cnt_id=895

Edit: I totally want that pdf on slings. Perhaps you could send it to me as well.

 

[Kev]

I totally want that pdf on slings. Perhaps you could send it to me as well.

PM me with your email address and I'll fire it off to you as soon as I'm able.

 

[Spectator]

Thanks, Kev, but you already emailed it to me.
Don't mix the Grey lotus with your cereal.

 

[Kev]

Thanks, Kev, but you already emailed it to me.
Don't mix the Grey lotus with your cereal.

Wait...what? I didn't send it to you again, did I, Spectator? :shock: I coulda sworn I sent it off to MidnightSun.

Please don't mess with what little is left of my fragile, eggshell mind. :?

Oh, and who said anything about having cereal with my grey lotus....