Bolt Trajectory

[Kongamato]

In MTW, the angle at which an archer fires is different depending upon what type of bow is used. Shortbows and Longbows use angles up to 45 degrees to fire their arrows, but Crossbows and Arbalests fire at a straight-ahead angle, which made me wonder why they would do so, as it limits their range. What reasons (accuracy, construction, training etc...) would account for Crossbowmen and Arbalesters not going for max range by firing at a higher angle?

[ShadeFlanders]

Crossbow/arbalester bolts were made for piercing armour, given the great amount of energy the bolts are shot with it is easier to aim "straight line" and using an arc would mean greater range but the bolts would be more or less useless because they would lose more energy and as such their armour piercing. And I bolts aren't stable enough (aerodanymically speaking) for arched trajectories which would make them hard to aim. I think. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Mr Frost]

Also , archers praticed constantly because their weapon was so difficult to use . Consequently , judging arc and trajectory would have been second nature . Crossbow and Arbalasters on the other hand were poorly trained {by comparrison} as a monkey could learn to aim and fir one with a chance to hit http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif .

In WWII OnLine , I am quite an accurate gunner with most cannon and have made some very good long range kills on difficult targets , but this is only with flat trajectory guns {except for the StuG when using the range finder which makes a huge difference} and I am hopeless with aerial gunnery {ie , when using a Fighter} because I get my accuracy from using the sights correctly ... not from great natural tallent or long pratice .
I.E. I can get very good accuracy in most cases , but only in a flat trajectory weapon {I do poorly with the early model Panzer IV we have at present , as It's 7.5cm L24 gun has such an aching trajectory ... without the StuGs' rangefinder , and the safety of long range to deploy it , I am hopeless with that gun} whereas those with natural tallent {or who pratice a LOT} can hit tagets I will rarely even attempt {like shooting a straffing fighter from an angle with an a tankgun or the PaK36 ATgun} ... in most cases I can equal their accuracy but when deflection firing and such become factors I get left behind .

That's the annalogy : The Crossbowmen and Arbalasters won't waste their time {and ammunition} on targets they feel they cannot hit .

[Hakonarson]

Historicaly crossbowmen did elevate their weapons - indeed some large medieval crossbows had sighting systems remarkably similar to rifle sights with sliding vertical rear sights to account for range.

At "normal" battle ranges the main reason why crossbowmen did not use clout shooting was because they only shot in 1 or 2 ranks at a time by rotation due to their low rate of fire.

Ie the front rank or 2 would shoot, then retire to reload while the next rank or 2 shot.

Archers did not shoot like this because they reloaded so much faster and any number of ranks could shoot effectively at the same time if they elevated over the heads of those in front.

[CBR]

The start velocity of arrows and bolts were nearly the same historically.. but in MTW arb and xbows have 250 while bows only 150.

So in MTW they dont need to elevate the weapon much while in real life you would have to elevate a xbow if shooting at longer ranges just like archers would.

CBR

[Hosakawa Tito]

All projectiles start to drop the instant they leave the bow or gun barrel. The higher the velocity the less they drop, distance being equal. I think the regular bowman also arched his shot more to achieve better penetration on his target, due to the fact that there is less/thinner armor on the head, neck, top of shoulder. Usually that is where there are seams where the armor meets in those areas. The crossbow can shoot farther than a regular bow, but not anymore accurately. I have read accounts of castle defenders armed with crossbows making kills out to 400-500 yards, but that was probably more the targets bad luck than the skill of the shooter. Shooting that far is a waste of ammo. Better to keep the shots under 250 yards to ensure good penetration and hit percentage. I think the game accurately portrays this.