:> To my profound distress (as an archer) there are no traditions of the :> longbow in Genertelan human warfare. Specialists may have one, but you :>won't get full units armed with them.
David Dunham replied:
>Possibly because they're part of a higher technology level than Chaosium
>would like, or they'd like to reserve them for dragonewts. As an archer,
>you'll just have to take solace in gods like Golden Bow,
>Urengerum/Sagittus, Kuschile, etc.
I foolishly venture out of trolldom again: Heck, do you need longbows? I know the "bow thread" has been through here before, but I posit the following:
Frex, the figures I've seen are longobow, average 75 pound pull & 250 range yard max, Mongol 100-160 lb. pull, 350 yard max. The Mongol figure is a little distorted because they used _two_ bows, a long-range and a more powerful short-range (each warrior carried one of each type, plus a fairly amazing variety of arrows). This _suggests_ that the Mongol bow offers a bit more in war, although the technique was perhaps even more specialized. (I'm not an archer, but I've heard the "Mongolian thumb lock" business is tricky). As far as everyone seems to like the idea of the Pentians being Mongols, it seems logical that they have the same weaponry. I think Sandy Petersen alluded to this at some point.
Based on that, the real revolution in Ralian warfare would come when you drag in a decent group of Pentian mercenaries -- they'll chop those iron-clad knights to chutney like Baidar went through Poland, as long as they have shamanic/sorcerous cover. (It's fairly obvious where _my_ biases are on this one, :) The only trouble is getting rid of them afterwards...
Alternatively, just buy the darn things from the Pentians. RW, they were difficult to make and the nomads didn't sell them much, but they might be a trade item in a world where Repair gives 'em a longer life. (Granted, they don't sell the _special_ bows that all the extra sweat, ritual and enchantment go into -- they make lesser knock-offs to sell the dirty agriculturalist traders) You're not getting the full effect of being a horse nomad, but they are niftly little weapons in and of themselves. Buy a couple hundred and train your own elite archers.
Still doesn't give you such a weapon native to Ralios, but does present a nice opportunity to show how one of the native rulers could upset the current balance of power on the battlefield. If no one else, I'm sure ol' Lord Death on a Hobby-Horse would _love_ it. ("Wow, these Pent guys rape and pillage almost as good as me! Look at 'em sack those cities! Quick, get the enlistment forms!")
Just out of curiousity, Joerg, what's your take on the longbow vs. nomad bow business? Seems to be a matter of favoritism, with the medieval English lovers taking the longbow, the Mongolophiles taking the nomad bow... Too bad the Mongols didn't make it to the channel to suit my comparative whims. <g>
James Frusetta
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