Poll: Bow or Crossbow

[Berethond]

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. Also you forgot to mention factors like the fact that crossbows have better armor-penetration.
You pretty much got the quality V quantity thing backwards. Crossbow shots are generally more effective all around, but they take significantly more time to load and fire.
Real men use polearms anyways.

CROSBOWS WITH LONGER RANGE?! HA! you my frend should go look up the battel of angincourt (porably spelled wrong!) the english long bowmen pwned the french crossbowmen and KNIGHTS

them longbows whent through that fancy armour like paper

Please...
The battle of agincourt was merely a logistical victory, where the English forced the French into a bottleneck where the French were forced so close together they had no room to fight.

 

[Miumaru]

Longbow. They are cooler. Id rather have a rifle than a crossbow if I am just gonna do something like that. Never used a longbow, but I know I am decent with a shortbow.

 

[Nouw]

Would you rather have a bunch of crossbow men or a few trained archers (me and my girlfriend got into the discussion after watching Robin Hood) Bows take a lot more training to use and their arrows are a lot harder to make then crossbow bolts but are more accurate and longer ranged; crossbows are cheap "simple point and click interface", the only hard part is cocking it (lever or wind up , or simple pull back, the bolts are just small wooden spikes, even with training, are less accurate and shorter range then arrows. Basically this boils down to quantity(crossbow) vs. quality(bow). Oh and crossbows, and with the exception of those giant overpowered mounted crossbows, could not pierce any but light armor.

Light armour? Wrong! The could pierce more then that! Its logical, more time to load, more damage.

Minigun and the Rocket Launcher agress with me.

Crossbows all the way!

 

[YouCallMeNighthawk]

Bow, as it has a quicker rate of fire and longer range if you're using a long bow.

 

[Nunny]

Crossbows, you can teach an idiot to use one while training and skill is required to properly use a bow.

 

[Soxafloppin]

With training, the bow.

Right now, Cross bow. Fo sho.

 

[Phoenixlight]

Well if they were all as skilled as legolas from lord of the rings then I'd go with bows.

 

[superbatranger]

Oh, this is easy. A bow, of course. I just think I'd look more badass with a bow than a crossbow. XD

 

[Srdjan]

If you are skilled, bow, and if you are American then crossbow.

 

[Yureina]

The larger my forces would be, the more likely i'd go for crossbows.

 

[Dapsen]

The bow is just more stylish.
Sorry if you think I'm a shallow asshole now, because i am not.

 

[JEBWrench]

Crossbow. They're easier to find than left-handed bows.

(I'm not left handed, but my right shoulder is screwed up so I can't pull a righty.)

Of course, I'm talking about modern bows here. Regardless, crossbow is much more comfortable.

 

[dragonslayer32]

i would have to go with the bow; it is faster and requires more skill to use

 

[Continuity]

Whilst they do have a much smaller span, they normally have a much greater draw weight to compensate. This is why crossbows often required a complex winching system to reload them - they were that overwrought, they needed a lot of mechanical power (and time) to draw them back.

A longbows max drawstrength was 200N, compared to the most powerful crossbow's (the Arbalest) max, of 22kN. That is somewhat more than "3 times the draw strength". Thisridiculously high draw strength more than compensates for teh crossbow's shorter span and lighter darts. Even if you assume the OP is referring to standard, early crossbows, the power of a typical crossbow is marginally greater. The range of early crossbows is less than that of longbows, but crossbows developed considerably, increasing in range and power. It was specifically the crossbow's penetration power at closer ranges (and not the bows's) which led to heavier and heavier armour.

Well this is all I can find it terms of a credible comparison:

http://www.thebeckoning.com/medieval/crossbow/cross_l_v_c.html

from the figures it looks like the crossbow bolt has roughly half the momentum

 

[TimeLord]

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.

There is your problem right there...

OT: I would have a bow any day

 

[The Bum]

how skillful are we talking here like a welshman who practiced every day for his dinner or just handing me a bow? ethier way a longbow

 

[The Bum]

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. Also you forgot to mention factors like the fact that crossbows have better armor-penetration.
You pretty much got the quality V quantity thing backwards. Crossbow shots are generally more effective all around, but they take significantly more time to load and fire.
Real men use polearms anyways.

CROSBOWS WITH LONGER RANGE?! HA! you my frend should go look up the battel of angincourt (porably spelled wrong!) the english long bowmen pwned the french crossbowmen and KNIGHTS

them longbows whent through that fancy armour like paper

Please...
The battle of agincourt was merely a logistical victory, where the English forced the French into a bottleneck where the French were forced so close together they had no room to fight.

you should go do your resarch pal

 

[DarkhoIlow]

I choose bows because of the their long range and accuracy which can be more effective than a crossbow imo.