Quote:
Originally Posted by DanHoward
It is a decent test. Some random observations.
Joe is using Extra Effort to shoot that bow because he tires way too fast. In battle they used bows that were lighter than the ones they trained with to reduce the rate of fatigue.
He is also way too close. Archers only had one shot before a knight moved 25 yards to hit him. At those ranges the archers aren't standing there still shooting; they are dropping bows and drawing hand weapons or running away.
This is the the first arrows-vs-armour test I have seen that attempts replicate the mail that was actually worn at the time instead of using the modern commercial Indian mail.
None of the arrows would have hit the skirt at longer ranges. Arrows would be arcing down to hit the head, shoulders, and upper torso. If the skirt was vulnerable to these arrows, they would have worn an additional layer of protection.
As Toby says, the mail that they used in that test was intended to be a supplemental defence, not the primary armour. Mail that was specifically designed to stop arrows was heavier and denser.
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I get the point on the range (clearly set up for practical reasons) but with such heavy arrows would the range make that much difference. In terms of energy at impact?
(I take you point about angle effecting the likelihood of mail being hit square on though)
Good point about the bow use and fatigue. Thing is Fatigue and Extra Effort vs. not using either is pretty binary in GURPS. In reality there is range in between no effort at all I can do this every second of the entire day and 1FP per action. (I liked* AP for this as a more midway point)
Plus we don't know how often and at what rate Joe Gibbs was actually firing during the day overall.
Also he seem to be drawing and aiming (often at specific areas on the target) in a way he might not do when shooting at areas at specific ranges. That might be factor, it might not
Seeing if he could achieve and sustain some of the claimed rates of fire at Agincourt even if it just shooting patch of ground 200 yards away with a 160lb bow would be a good extra test though.
I do also take the point about the difference between mail as the primary method of protection against arrows in some places and as the ancillary one in others. They themselves make the point that the mail varied even within their amour set. And for me the Aventail is a great example of this. They also make the point that vs. hand held melee weapons both are fine.
Looking at your point about commercial available mail vs. well made stuff, what did you think of base line test they did vs. patches of it? There didn't seem to be much difference is their effectiveness. Do you think with a lighter bow you would have seen a more pronounced and meaningful difference? Of course that was also one shot per arrow type not enough get a good result really (which again they do say to be fair)
*sorry to be clear I still like it, I'm just not running anything at the moment (which is why I haven't been posting much recently)