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Old 12-07-2012, 09:45 AM   #46
Polydamas
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
Default Re: Bow - 3 shots in less than 2 turns - In real life.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
This is a valid point, and if you're facing an experienced opponent then shooting a lot of low-power arrows is probably a bad idea.

But . . . you can see arrows coming at you. That's going to make many people flinch, stop to block or otherwise slow them down.

While GURPS doesn't model it that well, it takes a very determined attacker to charge to contact against enemies who can produce a "hail of fire." Unless they know that their survival depends on getting into melee range they're going to go to ground or fall back.
Except that low-tech heavy infantry and cavalry routinely walked into a hail of fire. That was their job in a big battle. We know from the Rule of the Knights Templar that templars expected anyone with a hauberk to be braver than someone without, presumably because it is so hard to kill someone in a hauberk with muscle-powered weapons. A friend who was trained as a Canadian Navy firefighter has described how they learn to walk into fire in their protective suits and accept that if they stay calm and their team-mate do the job there is little danger. All in all, I think that good soldiers would have trusted their kit and not been dissuaded by a hail of slow, light arrows.
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