Are arrows prices too low?

Sam Baughn · 01-20-2011, 04:35 AM

I've been reading Richard Wadge's Arrowstorm and he includes quite a lot of information about the economics of supplying English bowmen with their equipment during the Hundred Years War, including a great deal of data on the surviving records of prices paid for bows and arrows.

Obviously there was considerable variation in prices, but it seems that on average you could expect to get about thirty arrows for the cost of a bow in England during this period. Given that these were bows intended for military use in a nation which favoured longbows, these were almost certainly longbows.

However, by the prices given in the Basic set and Low-Tech, you can get a hundred arrows for the cost of a longbow. The fact that prices for bows and arrows weren't changed between the Basic Set and Low-Tech makes me think that nobody actually thought to review the prices of these items. Of course, I could be entirely wrong; it's quite possible that in other times and other places the relative cost of arrows was significantly lower.

However, if the numbers in Arrowstorm are actually typical, I think that it would be more accurate to charge at least $6 per arrow.

01-20-2011, 04:35 AM	#1
Sam Baughn Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and some other bits.	Are arrows prices too low? I've been reading Richard Wadge's Arrowstorm and he includes quite a lot of information about the economics of supplying English bowmen with their equipment during the Hundred Years War, including a great deal of data on the surviving records of prices paid for bows and arrows. Obviously there was considerable variation in prices, but it seems that on average you could expect to get about thirty arrows for the cost of a bow in England during this period. Given that these were bows intended for military use in a nation which favoured longbows, these were almost certainly longbows. However, by the prices given in the Basic set and Low-Tech, you can get a hundred arrows for the cost of a longbow. The fact that prices for bows and arrows weren't changed between the Basic Set and Low-Tech makes me think that nobody actually thought to review the prices of these items. Of course, I could be entirely wrong; it's quite possible that in other times and other places the relative cost of arrows was significantly lower. However, if the numbers in Arrowstorm are actually typical, I think that it would be more accurate to charge at least $6 per arrow.