Which AP ranged unit?

[Ludens]

Which ranged unit does better damage against armored units: Longbowmen or Crossbows? In my English campaign I came to the point where both units are available to me...

Crossbow missiles are more effective against armour, but the Longbows' higher rate-of-fire makes more than up for that. Arbalesters beat both when it comes to armour penetration, but it depends on the situation (pure killing power versus rate-of-fire) wether you will prefer Longbows or Arbalesters.

[ajaxfetish]

I prefer arbalesters personally. Longbows can get a lot of arrows in the air fast, but soon they run out of ammo and there's usually plenty of fighting left to go. Arbs are in there for the long haul, and do better damage in the end. However, longbows do have decent attack, so even without arrows they can still contribute to the fight. Mounted crossbows can also be nice for their mobility, sniping at an enemy general or elite unit, then retreating behind your battle line and continuing to lend fire support during the melee.

Ajax

[Ciaran]

I have yet to play an English campaign, but I´d combine longbow archers and crossbows/arbalests, especially the pavise versions for the missile duels.

[Mithrandir]

I personally prefer a bit of both, 2 xbows just for the ammo, and 2 longbows...or more :) for the damage and flanking once out of ammo...

[katar]

i usually go with 4 longbows, having them all concentrate on a single target at the same time can rapidly anihilate the most threatening enemy unit before they get to you.

[_Aetius_]

Longbowmen fire over the line, Arbs will hit your own men, so unless you can redeploy them on the flank, which tends to be difficult, then they only have a short time to hit the enemies best units.

I use archers to shower the enemy infantry with arrows and use a couple of arbs to hit the enemy heavy cavalry, what I also like about Longbowmen is that they are passable light infantry that can do a fair bit of damage in melee. I think they work best in conjunction with each other.

[Vladimir]

I just use my longbow men to take out the general and their decent melee attack to hit their flanks.