Bows were better than Guns #shorts

[katier]

"If you want a great bowman, start with his grandfather."

[texdillinger]

English kings actually passed laws that demanded that their citizens owned bows and trained with them and often subsidized archery tournaments to keep people motivated to practice archery.

[shortlivedglory]

It could actually take as much as a decade to replace your best archers. It's why they were often better armored than they generally needed to be.

[bug]

General upon losing 6 dudes: Years of academy training, wasted!
Assistant: Sir, they were gunmen.
General: ...Well, don't forget to bury them.

[Nerdnumberone]

Using a warbow isn't just about skill. Strength training is also a significant concern and it has to be the right muscles. Archeologists can identify the skeleton of an English longbowman by how their skeleton deformed. We are talking draw weights over 100lbs. Not only do they need to be able to pull that string back, but they need to be able to aim as well and repeat the action multiple times in a battle. A proper archer would practically need to learn from childhood to develop the right muscles.

[DeamonChocobo]

Once again I'm reminded of Oda Nobunaga from Drifters and his obsession with introducing guns to the fantasy world he was dropped into.

[orion_]

World War 2, a British army officer named Jack Churchill, although most people called him “Mad Jack”. In May 1940 Jack and his unit ambushed a German patrol in France close to L'Épinette. Jack gave the signal to his unit to attack by shooting the enemy staff sergeant with a barbed arrow using a long bow, making him the only British soldier to ever down an enemy using a long bow in World War 2.

[davidb]

imagine being a member the warrior elite aristocracy of your kingdom. you've trained for 20 years to a master of warfare and combat. then in your last battle you get yeeted out of existence by a 16 year old stable boy who was just taught how to make the firestick go pew.

[MrFelblood]

"Point and shoot" weapons really changed logistics more than tactics. Any school kid can point an imaginary crossbow in the general direction of a target.

[theredspy]

"I have a bow!-"

*"DODGE LEAD THY FILTHY CASUAL-"*

[shinobix]

I now want a game where you play as a historically accurate but highly skilled soldier who can wield a sword, a bow, and a gun

[psychromaniac]

The Battle of Shiroyama was a great example of this. Although, when WW1 rolled around, it was found that well-trained units still had their advantages over conscripts.

[samuelmellars]

Another advantage of crossbows and guns over bows is that you can keep them ready to fire for an indefinite length of time. So you can aim and wait, then when someone steps into range, there is no delay to firing

[sotired]

Now I'd like the explanation of the historic significance of "the kitty at the end" I'm sure this guy could find it.

[MoistNuggeteer]

I’ve used a bow with a 50lbs draw weight and it’s no joke to pull that to the rear and keep it steady. Medieval longbows would often have weights well over 100lbs. It would take years to train large numbers of people to use a bow like that consistently and accurately.

[djdayton]

I’ve been listening to his podcast, but what I really want to know is… how annoyed is his coworkers? My mom gets annoyed when I talk about history… imagine THIS GUY with the history of the universe 😂

[antic]

There was also the fact that as time went on guns just became better than bows. People often besmirch the musket’s accuracy, but in a decent few cases, bows were even worse—for example, an arrow’s accuracy could be heavily affected by the wind, a gun’s could not. And the rate at which guns improved outpaced protection, so guns could more easily penetrate armour compared to bows.

[unlimitedpower]

and the intimidation also really helps. it doesn't help morale when you hear all of the gun shots, the smoke and just holes appear in people

[roberthansen]

The arquebus consistently outperformed the bow in battle - it wasn't just more practical, it was a superior weapon.

[nehukybis]

This is true when you're talking about *very* early firearms- say, the middle of the 15th century. Unfortunately, too many people take this argument to its ridiculous extreme and claim bows were better than flintlock muskets. Horsemen continued to use bows long after the infantry traded them in for guns, since mounted men have trouble reloading muzzleloaders. I mean, consider the Japanese who were great archers and had excellent bows. And Japanese infantry gave up their bows for *matchlock* muskets as soon as they had the chance.