[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by GloucesterChief

Armor of the Polish Winged Hussars. As the rest of Europe was going for less armor on cavalry due to the emergence of guns in armies, the Poles continued to field cavalry clad in heavy armor. The wings were actually worn into battle and there are many theories as to why.



First is that the Tartars and Cossacks of the Ukraine and Crimea used lassos in battle to lasso and pull down cavalry and the wings prevented that. Another is that the ostrich feathers in the wings made a whistling sound at full gallop which unnerved horses not used to it. A final theory is that is was simply for flamboyance and to strike fear into the opposing army as the Winged Hussars were the premier cavalry in their age.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

The dominance of the English longbow is generally known. Far less known is the bow that allowed the Mongols to become the greatest conquerors in history. The Mongolian recurved bow allowed for phenomenal power and accuracy while shooting from horseback. The concept of "Mongol hordes", sweeping across Europe by sheer weight of numbers, is a gigantic fallacy. In fact, it was Mongolian speed/maneuverability plus the recurved bow, that led to the largest empire in human history.

Originally Posted by GloucesterChief

Most people don't understand exactly what a longobws purpose was. It wasn't to kill knights, though if it penetrated a gap or weak point in the armor it certainly could. It was meant to kill horses thus unmounting the knight at least if not trapping, crippling, or killing them outright.

Once the opposing armies charge was swarmed under a rain of arrows as the longbow had both range and rate of fire, the real killing would be done by the English knights who usually fought dismounted, billmen with their bill hooks with could easily penetrate armor, or the yeoman bowman themselves using long daggers to stab through gaps and weak points in the armor.

Longbowmen also didn't draw and fire from quiver. They stuck the arrows point first into the ground and took them from there. It was faster to draw and shoot that way.

English Bill hook:

This stuff is cool to me.