Poll: Bow or Crossbow

[Davey Woo]

Bow.
I don't know why I just dislike Crossbows compared to bows.

 

[Yer man o'er yonder]

I'm fairly certain crossbows had longer range than longbows. It's a pretty simple principle; the bolts are lighter, and fired with more force, and therefore should go farther.

I believe the longbow fired further. It has a longer draw and wider arms to store the force.

From Wikipedia:
"Although a longbow achieves comparable accuracy and faster shooting rate than an average crossbow, crossbows release more kinetic energy and can be used effectively after a week of training, while a comparable single-shot skill with a longbow takes years of practice."
The OP's accuracy point is also apparently moot.

Also from Wiki:
"Crossbows have a much smaller draw length than bows. This means that for the same energy to be imparted to the arrow (or bolt) the crossbow has to have a much higher draw weight."
So the longbow should have a longer range.

 

[rokkolpo]

I'm fairly certain crossbows had longer range than longbows. It's a pretty simple principle; the bolts are lighter, and fired with more force, and therefore should go farther.
A balistae is just a giant crossbow. There isn't a super-longbow however.
Real men use polearms anyways.

REAL men use suplexes to defeat their enemies.

Yes, but we were talking aboot armed combat here. Relying entirely on one move limits you.

awwwwww. if there was one person i thought would go in on that joke it would be you.

*disappointed*

 

[Kajin]

Crossbow bolts carry far more power and consequently pierce armor more easily. They also travel farther before losing accuracy and killing ability. Plus it's far easier to train someone in the use of the crossbow because it doesn't take as much skill to use it effectively. As far as a standing army is concerned, the crossbow is the preferable option hands down, even if it isn't nearly as cool.

 

[fenrizz]

I voted crossbow, simply because it's much, much easier to train a large number of crossbowmen.

I'd prefer both though.
A unit of elite longbow archers and a rather large unit of crossbowmen.

 

[Slaanax]

I'd go with a bow only if they were Mongols using compound bows and mounted on their horses.

 

[Keava]

Depending on what for. Crossbows are good at shorter range against heavier armor. Archers are supreme given a large field and ability to properly position them before the battle begins. Bow is also faster so much more efficient at larger scale.

Personally, i prefer bows as i trained to use one, crossbows were too much hassle and a miss costs you too much time.

 

[Lucane]

I'd definitely take the crossbows. Regardless of skill 100 well placed arrows are no contest for 1000 cross bow bolts. Especially when everyone is arranged into massive rows.

It matters if your shooting (or start)beyond the effective range of the crossbows though.

Edit: Though for a 1st strike a crossbow is great if it's already loaded.

 

[Souplex]

Blatant libel claiming that longbows are superior to crossbows in every aspect except ease of use

People who have waaaay too much time on their hands and know what they're talking aboot with this sort of thing:
http://www.thebeckoning.com/medieval/crossbow/cross_l_v_c.html

 

[Marter]

Crossbows look so much cooler, I'd pick them.

Especially the crossbow from Van Helsing. Best crossbow ever.

http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FET/2PYJ/G1QWB4FL/FET2PYJG1QWB4FL.MEDIUM.jpg

 

[Jark212]

Bow, I'm actually not to bad of a shot...

 

[Mr. Mike]

I'm fairly certain crossbows had longer range than longbows. It's a pretty simple principle; the bolts are lighter, and fired with more force, and therefore should go farther.

I believe the longbow fired further. It has a longer draw and wider arms to store the force.

From Wikipedia:
"Although a longbow achieves comparable accuracy and faster shooting rate than an average crossbow, crossbows release more kinetic energy and can be used effectively after a week of training, while a comparable single-shot skill with a longbow takes years of practice."
The OP's accuracy point is also apparently moot.

Also from Wiki:
"Crossbows have a much smaller draw length than bows. This means that for the same energy to be imparted to the arrow (or bolt) the crossbow has to have a much higher draw weight."
So the longbow should have a longer range.

Read and comprehend what you quoted. Crossbows have a smaller draw length. Therefore they have to have a much higher draw weight to equal that of a longbow. Therefore they have much more tension across the "bow" part of the crossbow to compensate. That doesn't mean that there isn't more force behind a crossbow bolt, it is simply stating that you need more force to pull the string back.

The way you're interpreting it, both have the same string tension (don't know if I'm using the right term here) and so therefore since a bow is bigger it has more power and therefore more range. Therefore, see above.

 

[Sewblon]

I would use ballistae.

 

[Souplex]

I'm fairly certain crossbows had longer range than longbows. It's a pretty simple principle; the bolts are lighter, and fired with more force, and therefore should go farther.
A balistae is just a giant crossbow. There isn't a super-longbow however.
Real men use polearms anyways.

REAL men use suplexes to defeat their enemies.

Yes, but we were talking aboot armed combat here. Relying entirely on one move limits you.

awwwwww. if there was one person i thought would go in on that joke it would be you.

*disappointed*

I didn't just suplex Yahweh out of nowhere. There was an epic battle full of all sorts of moves leading up to that moment.

 

[maninahat]

Bullshit. A crossbow has far greater power and accuracy than a bow. Sure a bow takes a long time to train, and can be a highly effective weapon. But a crossbow is far more likely to penetrate armour and hit a target at range. Which is a better weapon depends on the circumstances.

THE REAL DIFFERENCE between a crossbow and a long bow is that the bow can loose far more shots in a far lesser time. A crossbow takes ages to reload. A crossbow is handy if you have quite a few at your disposal, you have plenty of time to reload them, and plenty of cover to hide behind without getting harmed. Otherwords, a crossbow is ideal in a siege, if you are shacked up in a castle.

If you need to be firing lots of shots into a huge group of men, go for the bow. The long bow's effectiveness lay in it being used in great numbers, able to fire clouds of arrows in rapid succession. In otherwords, a longbow is handier in the field. As far as maintenence goes, a bow is far more simple in the sense that you can easily remove the strings in between battles. That is a necessary part of bow maintenence, as many crossbowmen made the mistake of not removing their bow strings in between battles. The consiquence was that many wet crossbow strings bust in the battle whilst the bowmen could just wap up the old bowstrings on, dry as a bone.

 

[Glass_House]

Time and place really. If you are defending a keep for example it would go to crossbows of course. But in the case that you are attacking I would give it to the Longbow. Simply because you can stay out of range and deal some real damage before sending the infantry in.

 

[Yer man o'er yonder]

I'm fairly certain crossbows had longer range than longbows. It's a pretty simple principle; the bolts are lighter, and fired with more force, and therefore should go farther.

I believe the longbow fired further. It has a longer draw and wider arms to store the force.

From Wikipedia:
"Although a longbow achieves comparable accuracy and faster shooting rate than an average crossbow, crossbows release more kinetic energy and can be used effectively after a week of training, while a comparable single-shot skill with a longbow takes years of practice."
The OP's accuracy point is also apparently moot.

Also from Wiki:
"Crossbows have a much smaller draw length than bows. This means that for the same energy to be imparted to the arrow (or bolt) the crossbow has to have a much higher draw weight."
So the longbow should have a longer range.

Read and comprehend what you quoted. Crossbows have a smaller draw length. Therefore they have to have a much higher draw weight to equal that of a longbow. Therefore they have much more tension across the "bow" part of the crossbow to compensate. That doesn't mean that there isn't more force behind a crossbow bolt, it is simply stating that you need more force to pull the string back.

The way you're interpreting it, both have the same string tension (don't know if I'm using the right term here) and so therefore since a bow is bigger it has more power and therefore more range. Therefore, see above.

Granted I did neglect tension. Thank you for pointing that out. It would definitely affect the range.

 

[JohanGasMask]

Personally, i would use a bow but the crossbow is better because of the small amount of time it took for anyone to know how to use it.

 

[WrongSprite]

I'd definitely take the crossbows. Regardless of skill 100 well placed arrows are no contest for 1000 cross bow bolts. Especially when everyone is arranged into massive rows.

Confused. Are you saying that crossbows fire 10 times faster? Because if anything, it's the other way round.

 

[WrongSprite]

I'm fairly certain crossbows had longer range than longbows. It's a pretty simple principle; the bolts are lighter, and fired with more force, and therefore should go farther.

I believe the longbow fired further. It has a longer draw and wider arms to store the force.

From Wikipedia:
"Although a longbow achieves comparable accuracy and faster shooting rate than an average crossbow, crossbows release more kinetic energy and can be used effectively after a week of training, while a comparable single-shot skill with a longbow takes years of practice."
The OP's accuracy point is also apparently moot.

Also from Wiki:
"Crossbows have a much smaller draw length than bows. This means that for the same energy to be imparted to the arrow (or bolt) the crossbow has to have a much higher draw weight."
So the longbow should have a longer range.

Read and comprehend what you quoted. Crossbows have a smaller draw length. Therefore they have to have a much higher draw weight to equal that of a longbow. Therefore they have much more tension across the "bow" part of the crossbow to compensate. That doesn't mean that there isn't more force behind a crossbow bolt, it is simply stating that you need more force to pull the string back.

The way you're interpreting it, both have the same string tension (don't know if I'm using the right term here) and so therefore since a bow is bigger it has more power and therefore more range. Therefore, see above.

Granted I did neglect tension. Thank you for pointing that out. It would definitely affect the range.

While you guys argue, I'm not sure of the science, but it's always been an accepted fact that the longbow has a greater range than a crossbow.