TheWabbit wrote...
If you get around to it:
Archers shoot too fast. Historically, they could release 6-10 arrows a minute. Crossbows are even slower.
This is where some issues might occur. Against plate, the longbow arrow is, for the most part, useless. The longbowman might get lucky and hit an exposed area but it was rare. The longbow was very effective against the knight's mount (French know this well).
In the game, they appear to be using the stirrup style light crossbows. Although these weren't as powerful as the cranked heavy crossbows that could punch through any armor, they still will do a lot of damage.
I had to weigh in on this. Hardy (2006) and others have developed compelling experimental data to suggest that at under 100 yards, a longbow could punch handily through plate armor, even the so called "white plate" produced in the late medieval era with the use of blast furnaces. This assumes, of course, the use of the wedge-shaped "bodkin" point and a full clothyard shaft (longer and much heavier than modern target or hunting arrows).
With regards to speed, the numbers cited are significantly off. It is possible that *you* or *I* might be limited to 6-10 arrows in a minute, but in fact sources from the era disagree, including the account of Prince Louis Napoleon, who wrote that english longbowmen could reliably hit a man-sized target at 240 yards (2.4 football fields) 12 times a minute. The rate would almost certainly have been higher at the (for a longbowman) ridiculously short ranges in the game (50-100 yards at best). Indeed, other sources cite a rate of fire as high as 15 aimed shots in a minute, which seems credible (for short range) considering the cited 12/minute rate above.
Accordingly, please don't nerf the longbow in the name of realism. If anything, its deadliness and rate of fire should be enhanced, as should its armor-piercing abilities. Indeed, many historians rank it as the most deadly weapon used in warfare until the bolt-action rifles of the late 19th century. The real limitation on its use was always the archer - a good longbowman usually had to be trained from childhood, and both accustomed to the difficulties of ranging a shot without a sighting system and conditioned to the weight of a full warbow (the largest of which are believed to have had a draw weight in excess of 150 lbs.
Actually, if you're going for realism, you might consider splitting damage for a longbow into two parts, half to the bow and half to the arrow. Then you vary the damage and armor peircing stats significantly based on arrow type. This is the solution that has been used in a number of Mount and Blade realism-focused mods. While you're at it, you could also consider making the equip requirements for higher material bows be strength rather than dex, but that might be hard to balance.
Modifié par Sainta117, 22 novembre 2009 - 04:49 .
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