Crossbow's......... Really that effective ?

[Trivun]

See, in the Middle Ages the English army (yes, I'm a patriot, though with this government I'm unsure why...) was the greatest army in Europe. And that is because every one of our soldiers was trained, from childhood (by law), to use longbows and crossbows. We would use longbows on an open battlefield (and the English prowess with the longbow was so good that we managed to defeat an overwhelmingly outnumbering French army at Agincourt, and that victory was mainly down to the fact we shot half the buggers before they could get up close and personal...) and crossbows in tight spaces, like when fighting indoors (such as in a castle). Crossbows were designed specifically for use indoors, you see, as a quick and easily handled weapon that you can use in a tight space (unlike the longbow, and more long-range than a sword).

So the crossbow was one of the two deadliest weapons used by the best army of the time. So that is why the crossbow is so awesome .

 

[mrF00bar]

Are you comparing guns to crossbows? Seriously! I got a thread idea. Let's compare nukes to catapults.

You said it all.

Here's a Bow I can carry and fire with one hand, leaving my free hand for stuff like, oh I don't know... A GUN!?

Also this.

I have used both a Bow and Crossbow before and like OP said you do need training in how to use and maintain them both. Overall if you want a silent take down use a crossbow if you cant get your hands on a silenced gun. I think it would cause a lot more fear and panic if the prime minister was taken down by a arrow/bolt instead of a bullet. That would be a real like lol moment.

 

[Red Pawn]

Ah, the crossbow. A pitiless, elegant killing machine.
The Bender of the Fifteenth Century.

 

[SsilverR]

**snip**

it would kinda make sense in some stealth situations because even though you can silence the pistol, you can't silence the bullet .. a bullet makes sounds as it breaches the sound barrier and anyone who can identify and is close enough to hear this sound will be aware of the situation

crossbows are practically silent, they're accurate and they can hit any vital organ including the brain, and more importantly the medulla oblongata (it's basically the stem of the brain .. you get hit there and it's over for you ... chances of surviving a shot to the head if this thing is still intact is actually quite high)

so in theory it makes alot of sense to use these as distance stealth weapons ... problems are it's wide and quite easy to notice ... maybe if they were modified awesomely .. still the same power and effect (maybe more) but using all new sorts of metal and stuff

 

[Jepix]

It takes skill to use making it only useful for the person who has extreme training in it.

I thought one of the big pros to the crossbow was the fact that it could be given to people with little to no training and have them point it and pull the trigger thus killing whoever is directly in front of them. Sure you're not gonna be an expert marksman with it without experience and practice, but that goes for pretty much any weapon, even guns.

Regardless though, I don't know where you get this idea that crossbows are overhyped, most games and movies I've seen treat them as they are, a projectile weapon with often more force than a normal bow, but with a slower firing rate.

You pretty much just nailed it on the head, except for fire rate. I believe that they were faster than firing a traditional bow. It was another of the advantages of the crossbow when giving it to green soldiers. The disadvantage was that they couldn't cover the same distance as a regular bow.

I just want to point out that I have a hard time seeing a medieval army that used "green" soldiers. More or less every respectable army during the middle ages uppholded a tradition of long training, even for crossbow-archers, which for the record were supperior in defending possitions like towers and fortresses.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

It has to be made out of the right material.

The arrow ammo is not the easiest to carry around nor the best to manufacture.

Many factors such as weather conditions can effect the efficany of the weapon.

It takes skill to use making it only useful for the person who has extreme training in it.

Those are true for most weapons. Anyone who is unskilled with a weapon won't be able to use it effectively. You think arrows were convenient to carry around? Crossbow bolts were roughly the same size.

 

[Revolutionary]

Only the gas powered automatic type.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

Effective? no. Fun? HELL YAH

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

It takes skill to use making it only useful for the person who has extreme training in it.

I thought one of the big pros to the crossbow was the fact that it could be given to people with little to no training and have them point it and pull the trigger thus killing whoever is directly in front of them. Sure you're not gonna be an expert marksman with it without experience and practice, but that goes for pretty much any weapon, even guns.

Regardless though, I don't know where you get this idea that crossbows are overhyped, most games and movies I've seen treat them as they are, a projectile weapon with often more force than a normal bow, but with a slower firing rate.

this person is correct. Crossbows require LITTLE training to use effectively.

 

[fletch_talon]

It takes skill to use making it only useful for the person who has extreme training in it.

I thought one of the big pros to the crossbow was the fact that it could be given to people with little to no training and have them point it and pull the trigger thus killing whoever is directly in front of them. Sure you're not gonna be an expert marksman with it without experience and practice, but that goes for pretty much any weapon, even guns.

Regardless though, I don't know where you get this idea that crossbows are overhyped, most games and movies I've seen treat them as they are, a projectile weapon with often more force than a normal bow, but with a slower firing rate.

You pretty much just nailed it on the head, except for fire rate. I believe that they were faster than firing a traditional bow. It was another of the advantages of the crossbow when giving it to green soldiers. The disadvantage was that they couldn't cover the same distance as a regular bow.

I just want to point out that I have a hard time seeing a medieval army that used "green" soldiers. More or less every respectable army during the middle ages uppholded a tradition of long training, even for crossbow-archers, which for the record were supperior in defending possitions like towers and fortresses.

I'm pretty sure we're talking about instances like when peasantry needed to form a militia. Or even if there was a large enough war, if all the able bodied men had to be called to arms, they wouldn't all be trained in the use of weapons.

 

[halfeclipse]

Because their easy to use, able to go through bulletproof jackets fairly easy, and very very quiet. Granted you have the problem with rate of fire but that was solved at least by the year 4 BC by whatever unknown Chinese fellow came up with repeating crossbow.

 

[thewerebuffalo]

Assuming you know how to use it, assuming you can do maintenance and actually hit a moving target with it, yes it makes an ideal sniper weapon because it doesn't make alot of noise. also it is useful for zombie killings. Though I'm pretty sure it won't puncture armor

 

[Nex-Falx]

It works better than a regular bow.

And it's "bolts" not "arrows"

Who cares about realism, they are cool!

Thank you quotees (, or "those that I quoted")

 

[ParticleBliss]

Crossbows are extremely lethal, and have this carnal feeling of "I just owned you with a 2,000 year old weapon". That explains the hype.

Remember, Special Forces units in Asia still use crossbows in combat.

 

[Souplex]

Because crossbows could easily penetrate platemail from a fair distance.

 

[kingpin44]

... i dont think the person who made this thread understands anything about crossbows. the reason they are so popular was the LACK of training needed to operate one successfully. and while a longbow can get a better range than a crossbow, a crossbows bolt weighs 2X or more than an arrow. this means that a crossbow can pierce heavier armors at longer distances. which is kinda nice when you have knights in battle plate charging down on you.

 

[Carlan]

I just want to point out that I have a hard time seeing a medieval army that used "green" soldiers. More or less every respectable army during the middle ages uppholded a tradition of long training, even for crossbow-archers, which for the record were supperior in defending possitions like towers and fortresses.

Just a note on medieval armies: pretty much all of Europe that practiced feudal law had no standing, professional armies. Most "soldiers" were conscripts brought on by lower nobles obligated to provide them. Only mercenaries and nobles were truly professional soldiers, generally speaking.

The fact of the matter is that crossbows require less training then a longbow and packed a heftier punch*. Longbows were capable of greater range and faster firing rate but required many years of training**. And on the Pope banning crossbows, that only applied to their use against Christians. Crossbows became a common weapon for infantry during the crusades because Papal law dictated that they were permissible for use against Muslims.

*Any game (primarily tabletop RPGs) which allows use of poisoned crossbow bolts is ridiculous; the projectile doesn't remain in the body by-and-large thus negating the effects of the poison.

**English peasants, as has been mentioned, were required by law to train with the longbow. In fact, balls were outlawed as their recreational use was seen to detract from longbow training.

 

[UltraParanoia]

I have a random question, fallout 3*, a shooting game that included swords. No Bows.

Did the people of post apocalyptic retro DC not hunt with bows? Seriously, I want a bow in games like that so I can go Ted Nugent on the world when I've run through stuff to do and am trying to amuse myself.

As far as crossbows go, I could care less, I'll stick with a recurve and a rifle for all my killing needs.


*It should also be included in the list of games that include one, the dart gun was kind of a crossbow.

 

[Spiner909]

Only if you aren't using the horrible BioShock crossbow.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

The crossbow was fantastically effective during the period. In terms of difficulty of manufacture, they are more complex than a recurve bow since most crossbows require the use of at least some complex machines in order to function. A quick list of pro's and cons (with respect to the period weapons)

Pro:
Highest potential force applied to the projectle of any man-portable projectile weapon
Easiest ranged weapon system to use
Able to defeat armor within certain ranges assuming proper ammunition is used

Con:
Less accurate than other systems thanks to a shorter projectile
Higher cost of manufacture
Lower rate of fire

On the whole it balances out. Any recurve bow takes a fair amount of practice in order to be combat effective with, while a crossbow can be used effectively after a few days practice at best. This more or less cancles out the cost of manufacture since training a soldier is often the more expensive part of sending them into battle. The rate of fire is a notable issue certainly, but the relative ease with which a proper bolt can pierce the armor of the day generally makes up for the problem. The force the weapon applies is all thanks to the clockwork mechanism that allows a user to gradually store energy in the weapon thanks to the use of a crank (at the most complex) or the ability to use both arms and legs in the drawing of the weapon (rather than simply the arms for a recurve bow). Unfortunately, the force applied to the weapon, when combined with the nature of the crossbows of the period simply meant that the projectile generally wouldn't leave the weapon in a fully predictable fashion meaning all but the best crafted weapons featured questionable accuracy.