Cunnah

Longbow vs. crossbow

It is good that you joined the discussion, but we need sources. Secondly you can't compare crossbows and longbows with the same draw weigth. They have different draw lengths and thus different amounts of energy are stored and released. To make these weapons really compareable you have to calculate the amount of energy stored and then find two with the same amount of energy(draw force * draw length). A crossbow has a 2-3 times shorter draw length, so it needs 2-3 times more draw force that is directly proportional to the draw weigth. You can ask someone knowledgeable in physics to help you if you want to take more measures on this subject, for example find out the kinetic energy and speed of the projectile and thus the effective range. If you read in the crossbow article you will find that a crossbow was operated within a team that could consist of a sniper, a loader and a pavese holder. The loader and the pavese holder could presumably switch roles, so a tiresome rate of loading per minute is possible. The longbowmen have no equivalent to a pavese holder, so make it two men for comparing the achieveable rate of fire, but keep in mind that with a pavese the crossbowteam has only a fraction of the exposed area of the longbowmen. Next step for comaprison is aiming. How good can a longbowmen hit at what rate of fire and how good a crossbowman(in a team). Greetings Wandalstouring (talk) 15:46, 27 August 2008 (UTC)