[Ansteorra-archery] on the use of archers

[Marlin and Amanda Stout]

Donnchadh Beag mac Griogair wrote:
> That being said, I don't think volley fire is quite what we want.  
> Most people think of volley fire as a large group of un-aimed arrows 
> shot in an arc.  I think what would work well is coordinated direct 
> fire shot en mass or in waves.  If we are getting ready to make a big 
> push to take a flag, then an archery unit (say around 10 archers) 
> could work with the local area commander to mass all fire to a certain 
> area right before a charge.  It's a tactic that I would certainly be 
> willing to look into, but it's going to take good coordination between 
> the different commanders.

I think a /very/ good tactic would be to have groups of archers that can 
be massed on the battlefield to hit a specific target. So, if the 
commander wanted a particular part of the enemy line to be pushed back 
he could send one or two of these archer units to that part of the field 
to fire into the flanks of the units he wanted weakened. Remember as you 
discuss the ravine battle that an archer can only carry 15 rounds at a 
time into the battle. So, you'd have a squad or 2 of archers get their 
assigned target (ie, 'go support the attack on the middle flag' or 'go 
shoot up Calontir'), they'd move into position slightly to the sides of 
the enemy (ideally) and fire into them, as quick as possible while their 
ammo lasts. Then they'd fall back to reammunition while another squad 
gets sent in behind them.

An individual archer with just 15 rounds may not have too much effect at 
a given time of the field. But 5 archers can probably pour their 75 
rounds into the enemy in 5 minutes, a much more telling weight of fire 
if it's placed well. And shooting up the flanks of a unit while it's 
engaged in the front can be devastating, especially in conjunction with 
a push by the infantry. The enemy will be less likely to be watching the 
archers on their flanks if they're getting pressed in the front. The 
archers can help the infantry attack by picking off spears and polearms, 
the infantry can help the archers by fixing the enemy's attention to the 
front. Everybody wins, except the enemy.

Charles
BG
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