04-30-2009, 05:55 PM
Dane,
Going back to crossbows for a moment, you are right of course, but it should probably be noted that the principle does not always apply. During the fifteenth century it became popular to arm levies with early handguns and these turned out to be cheaper to produce and / or light to carry on campaign than contemporary crossbows. They were extremely unpopular with soldiers and many deliberately damaged theirs or simply left them behind, bringing instead whatever weapon happened to come handy.
Your points are valid though, which is probably why, during the battle of Agincourt, when the Geonese crossbow armed mercenaries took up their position in front of the main French battle line, the well trained English archers promptly shot them all dead before they could do any real shooting!
Regarding wobbling bolts, I should add that in my experience of watching these things in action for a few years now, bolts normally wobble a bit in flight. It was just that the bolts from Bernard's machine wobble so much.
And now back to the current matter, I agree that testing is very important and that the resultant data will prove very useful for everyone. Keep up the good work.
Crispvs
Going back to crossbows for a moment, you are right of course, but it should probably be noted that the principle does not always apply. During the fifteenth century it became popular to arm levies with early handguns and these turned out to be cheaper to produce and / or light to carry on campaign than contemporary crossbows. They were extremely unpopular with soldiers and many deliberately damaged theirs or simply left them behind, bringing instead whatever weapon happened to come handy.
Your points are valid though, which is probably why, during the battle of Agincourt, when the Geonese crossbow armed mercenaries took up their position in front of the main French battle line, the well trained English archers promptly shot them all dead before they could do any real shooting!
Regarding wobbling bolts, I should add that in my experience of watching these things in action for a few years now, bolts normally wobble a bit in flight. It was just that the bolts from Bernard's machine wobble so much.
And now back to the current matter, I agree that testing is very important and that the resultant data will prove very useful for everyone. Keep up the good work.
Crispvs
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