Originally posted by Sonny
So why don't we discuss whether crossbow units or longbow units will be more effective in CK.
Will heavy cavalry rule the battlefields or will infantry prevail?
If your vassal shows up with only infantry will you send him back home until he can raise a proper force?
-Crossbows: more powerful, higher armor penetration; longer reload time, slower moving, and just placing them in striking distance usually puts them at risk from cavalry or light infantry.
-Longbows: much greater range, quicker to reload, move faster. More versatile and in massed formations more deadly. Since theyre lighter-equipped than crossbowmen, they can also fight as light infantry if necessary (?)
-Heavy Cavalry pretty much rules until certain troop types appear to counter them like Brabantine, Lombard, & Flemish pikemen. Even these have to be used properly and in the right terrain to do the job. I guess there were earlier types capable of opposing heavy cavalry, like the English huscarls, Varangian Guard, etc. Longbows & crossbows can wither them from a distance but are dead meat unless protected by other infantry.
-In Germany, some of the Lotharingian princes contributed Brabantine pikemen in large numbers and they were a welcome addition to the imperial army, but they also sent knights. Swabian swordsmen were highly respected. German & Italian cities sent militia-type infantry, and Saxon spearmen turned out when necessary as against Henry IV. "Elite" Hungarian archers were sometimes sent to join imperial campaigns in Italy. The Welsh princes sent archers and spearmen when summoned by Henry II (1159, 1174, etc.). So I guess it depends which vassal shows up lacking.
All this is only my uneducated opinion.
Please correct where necessary.
