While I did study military history, this was not my area of concentration. My understanding was that crossbows came into fashion because they were a missile weapon that required much less training and physical skill/strength than the longbow. I remember reading that a pope at one point outlawed the use of crossbows in war because it allowed commoners to easily kill nobles.
But this rate of fire is just atrocious. He got off three shots in a 10 minute video at a not-very-distant target. At the distance of the target, I can’t imaging getting off more than one shot at a charging infantry unit. Even if you had a dedicated loader for each crossbow man, I can’t see it going a lot faster, since loading the bolt, aiming, and firing take much less time than simply setting the bow. I’m not sure I see it being all that effective in a hunting scenario, since surely the game would start running after the first shot.
Yeah, that’s really the only way I can see it working. It just seems more failure prone than the lever style crossbow. I suppose a crank would allow someone to pull a heavier bow if there’s enough mechanical advantage, but if you’re already committed to having a caddy I’d think you’d be better off just hiring a stronger guy.
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