I'm a longbow person because I value quantity over quality.

  • JustSo [she/her, any]
    ·
    4 days ago

    The crossbow is the obvious choice.

    It can be built small enough for a novelty assassins toy (pistol crossbow) or large enough to be used as a siege weapon (ballista) or anything in between.

    Recent advancements have provided us with magazine fed crossbows with lever cocking mechanisms enabling rapid follow up shots with minimal reload time and the ability to keep the weapon approximately on-target while cycling the weapon.

    The longbow requires strength and training to use properly, more so than the intuitive and superior crossbow.

    Prolonged longbow use deforms the skeleton of the user.

    Longbow wrist slap owies.

    A ballista on the back of a technical provides a mobile crewed weapons platform that can be operated with a skeleton crew to devastating effect.

    Crossbows are heavily restricted in my part of the world, demonstrating the understandable fear they strike in the heart of the hegemonic power structure.

    Crossbows are still kept in modern military arsenals for a reason. (I don't know what that reason is but you don't want to be out-bow'd do you?)