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Attacking and Defending a Castle, Arrows Employing one of the most efficient weapons of the Middle Ages, the Medieval Archers did for centuries decide the outcome of the battle. Hunting, you may only get one shot at a rabbit, which could be the difference between eating and going hungry that night, so accuracy is required. If faced with a massive advancing army of horsemen there is a real need for rapid fire; Clout (plunging fire) is required to cheat the protection of a shield wall. When enemies did attack, they shot their arrows at the people trying to climb up ladders. They used longbows or crossbows, the longbows they used were wooden made 6 feet long and the string was made of hemp. The arrow for a long bow was about a three feet long and was tipped with metal heads on its arrows. The crossbow was very short and took longer to load than the longbow, but it was more powerful and had a lot better aim. The British foot soldiers were considered very good archers, they used short bow first then replaced it with the longbows, and finally used the crossbow. They used thin arrowheads for knights to puncture their armour and thick ones were used for the normal foot soldiers. Robin Hood? was well known, he was also known for his excellence in archery.
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