Flocculencio
Donor
On the other hand, arrows require some degree of skill to craft right? Whereas with musket balls you just need a mold, a fire and some lead.
American frontiersmen use longbows as well as muskets/rifles
- Thread starter Melvin Loh
- Start date
On the other hand, arrows require some degree of skill to craft right? Whereas with musket balls you just need a mold, a fire and some lead.
Flocculencio
Donor
Then, if you really want to have bows, surely shortbows would be more practical? As was mentioned earlier, longbows work best in set-piece situations where you can mass your archers and loose an arrow-storm. If you're raiding and harrassing you might as well use lighter shortbows and snipe from the woods.
Yeah, but as I said in an earlier post, the Indians were skilled bowmakers, having honed their craft over thousands of years. I don't see why they wouldn't teach the early settlers how to make and use bows.
Max Sinister
Banned
Well, the law that every man had to train the longbow for some time per week was only abolished after longbows weren't used anymore in wars.
But why would the settlers want to learn how? I'm sure they were more than capable of making bows, and anyway they already had muskets and crossbows.
Besides, weren't early settler armies were pretty much invincible against indian bows, because they had metal armor?
Maybe an early colony runs out of shot and powder and is forced to turn to using bows in order to hunt.
Flocculencio
Donor
It then goes right back to using gunpowder the instant fresh supplies can be procured.
Basically you realy have to stretch and come up with all kinds of special situations to ensure that bows keep on being used in a military context.
