Re: Crossbow Argument
Posted: July 13th, 2010, 12:27 pm
I believe the basic problem with the Crossbow Argument are the facts. How far is it from one corner of the board to the other and how high is the ceiling?
Using the miniatures and furniture to judge the scale, each square is roughly 3 feet wide, making the distance from one corner to the other, 78 feet (26 yeards). Taking that and using the Gargoyle to measure the height of the ceiling (which we can't see), it's minimum of 9 feet high.
Now that we have the distance of 78 feet (26 yards) and the ceiling height of the corridor of 9 feet (I expect most rooms would have been carved with higher ceilings), we need to know how far a crossbow can shoot and the angle needed to make the range of 78 feet.
The average distance of a medieval crossbow is 300 yards, but distance and accuracy is two different things. Accurate shots are around 20-30 yards (40-50 for modern crossbows). Which is clearly within our needed range. Given the chance with dice rolls, this actually fits rather well. Now, what about the angle needed to achieve an accurate shot?
Now, I couldn't find any information on the angle or speed of an accurate medieval crossbow shot, but for an average modern crossbow, a bolt travels at 265 feet per second. That's just over 88 yards. Even if you half that, 44 yards (slightly less than generous given the ratio between the accuracy difference of modern and medieval crossbows), that's more than we need to make our accurate range. At 88 yards per second, we don't need to angle the crossbow much at all. I would say a crossbow in HQ should easily make the range of the HQ board given our height of 9 foot ceilings.
But each Morcar/Zargon to their own. The biggest problems with arguments such as these are where we draw the line between fantasy and reality, and complexity and simplicity. In real life, Orcs don't exist and people can't use magic. It's a fantasy world, designed to draw us away from reality. Enjoy it.
Using the miniatures and furniture to judge the scale, each square is roughly 3 feet wide, making the distance from one corner to the other, 78 feet (26 yeards). Taking that and using the Gargoyle to measure the height of the ceiling (which we can't see), it's minimum of 9 feet high.
Now that we have the distance of 78 feet (26 yards) and the ceiling height of the corridor of 9 feet (I expect most rooms would have been carved with higher ceilings), we need to know how far a crossbow can shoot and the angle needed to make the range of 78 feet.
The average distance of a medieval crossbow is 300 yards, but distance and accuracy is two different things. Accurate shots are around 20-30 yards (40-50 for modern crossbows). Which is clearly within our needed range. Given the chance with dice rolls, this actually fits rather well. Now, what about the angle needed to achieve an accurate shot?
Now, I couldn't find any information on the angle or speed of an accurate medieval crossbow shot, but for an average modern crossbow, a bolt travels at 265 feet per second. That's just over 88 yards. Even if you half that, 44 yards (slightly less than generous given the ratio between the accuracy difference of modern and medieval crossbows), that's more than we need to make our accurate range. At 88 yards per second, we don't need to angle the crossbow much at all. I would say a crossbow in HQ should easily make the range of the HQ board given our height of 9 foot ceilings.
But each Morcar/Zargon to their own. The biggest problems with arguments such as these are where we draw the line between fantasy and reality, and complexity and simplicity. In real life, Orcs don't exist and people can't use magic. It's a fantasy world, designed to draw us away from reality. Enjoy it.