mongolian horseback archery

[dreadlordmrson]

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Been thinking of a talk I had with a friend a while back about the under-appreciation of horseback archery in fantasy stories.

There's two different thoughts bundled up together in there.
One of which is some people like to make orcs "like mongols" in that they do marauding warbands and a religious mandate to conquer the world around them.
But.
You don't typically see orcish horse archers.
People who don't know bows don't necessarily think of them as a "strength" weapon. They're the nimble dexterity weapon, right? For people not strong enough to hack and slash?
...people who know bows are scoffing right now.
Also orcs are brutish and uncivilized and would just eat the horses, right?
...at best this is a Lord of the Rings-inspired viewpoint and at worst it's repackaged racism (it could also be both).
Nah, orcs should 100% have horse archers and it would be EPIC.

But also I'm working with elves for one of my worlds right now, who have a bit of an asian theme to them (It's more complex than that, I'm summarizing). And I decided it would be cool if they had samurai-style horse archers.
There's no orcs in that world. I won't be putting both these ideas in the same place.

Comments

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Been thinking of a talk I had with a friend a while back about the under-appreciation of horseback archery in fantasy stories.<<

It impresses the hell out of me. But then, I had centaur archers with recurve shortbows or stacked, mechanical crossbows. And their anatomy meant they could twist a full 180 to fire over their own haunches while galloping.

>>You don't typically see orcish horse archers.<<

That's because orcs are assholes, more prone to eat a horse than train with one. They lack the empathy to make good equestrians.

>>People who don't know bows don't necessarily think of them as a "strength" weapon.<<

ROTLFMAO!!!!

Average sword weight > 4 pounds

Average war hammer = 3-7 pounds

Historic hunting bow = 50–60 pound draw

English longbow = 100-180 pound draw

Qing bow = up to 240 pound draw

>> Nah, orcs should 100% have horse archers and it would be EPIC. <<

Suitable for later versions of orcs where they have their own civilization.

>>But also I'm working with elves for one of my worlds right now, who have a bit of an asian theme to them (It's more complex than that, I'm summarizing). And I decided it would be cool if they had samurai-style horse archers.<<

Go for it.

Re: Yes ...

[dreadlordmrson]

XD
Yeah anyone who's watched a Blumineck video or two should know better than to think archers aren't strong.

Like it's not just the draw weight.
It's that you have to pull back that weight every time you shoot. Over and over. Every arrow a lift.

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Pull back and hold which is quite difficult, especially if you don't have a compound bow to make full draw slightly easier.

Re: Yes ...

[dreadlordmrson]

And hold it steady enough to hit what you're aiming at!

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

When you're lifting weights, nobody cares how much you shake; you can vibrate like a coin-operated bed as long as you get the bar in the right position. With a bow, you must be able to hold it steady. "A Perfection That Eludes Us" has a scene about that.