ANST - Slings

[j'lynn yeates]

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> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG
> [mailto:owner-ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG]On Behalf Of Michael F.
> Gunter  

> Agreed. In fact there was a "game" amongst Crusader knights to see
> who could come back with the most arrows stuck in their armor. 
> Until the advent of the longbow the arrow was not a major factor
> against the  heavily armored knights.

not just the longbow ... the oriental recurves probably were as
deadly if not more, especially if you factor in the mobility of a
mounted archer (read about the mongol invasions of the middle easy
and eastern europe ..).  as for knights being impervious to all but
longbows ... read up on what happened to the polish knights (at the
time, probbaly the best armed, most powerful force of heavy
shock-cavalry in europe) at the hands of the mongols.

in these oriental cultures, knowing how the arrows damaged their
targets it was common, and in many cases required to wear silk under
your armour?  why? ... when a spinning arrow hits flesh it digs a
nasty wound channel.  if the heads are barbed, they can not be easily
extracted, leaving the wound open to bleed freely, as any-bow hunter
knows.  this coupled withe the physical shock values of an impacting
arrow makes it a damned leathel weapon.  back to silk, if you are
wearing a undershirt of this marvelous stuff, the spinning arrow gets
trapped in the fabric making the wound channel much more shallow. 
the silk-wrapped arrow also tends to plug the wound channel
(staunching blood flow) and makes the head easier to withdraw).

check out the marvelous prints from the japanese fuedal age show
samuarii on the battlefield looking like pin cushions but still able
to function.

'wolf
... any wonder that when wargaming, one my favorite units is the
horse archer?
  

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