this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2025
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[–] antbricks@lemmy.today 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Volley fire wasn't a thing with bows. You ever try holding a 90lb war bow at full draw waiting for someone to yell "Loose"? Never happened.

[–] HK65@sopuli.xyz 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Wikipedia seems to disagree:

The Persians army employed volleys of arrows, slingshots, and javelins against the Greeks in Gaugalema[21] and Thermopylae.[22][23] Ancient Greeks and Romans used arrow volleys.[24][20][19] The goddess Artemis was called "‘of the showering arrows".[25][26]

In medieval Europe, after the initial volley, archers would fire single shots at individual enemies.[27] Examples include the Battle of Hastings in 1066,[28] Battle of Crécy in 1346[19] and the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.[29]

I'd imagine it's possible that a volley meant that they started drawing at the same time rather than drawing and waiting.

[–] Frostbeard@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

I understood that English archers trained to hit certain distances. So as the enemy advanced they would get a volley at x, y, and xy, and so on. Not aim at individuals at that distance.