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Old 04-17-2012, 03:25 PM   #91
The Colonel
 
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Default Re: Why short bow instead of long bow?

In terms of arms control, there was a point in English law where it was illegal not to own and train with a longbow if you fitted into a given social slot. Oh how the mighty have fallen...

As this implies, training (as already mentioned) is the major issue, that and whether your home nation actually makes longbows. Many RPGs assume that any weapon that exists is available anywhere ... in pre-modern times this was very definitely not the case. IIRC the Creteans used to be prestigious mercenary archers in the ancient world at least partially due to their superior bows - if Cretean bows were freely available worldwide this would have been much less the case. Much the same applies to the Anglo-Welsh warbow - various combinations of factors prevented any of the neigbouring nations from developing it as a military weapon. I think the Burgundians might have used it to some degree, but I'm not sure whether they trained their own or hired English or Welsh bowmen.
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