Although it was replaced by the musket in the late middle ages, The Bow had the advantage of being amazingly accurate depending on the skill of the wielder. It had an effective range of up to 200+ yards, And was the primary weapon of destruction during the battle of Agincourt.

With steel enforced armor becoming largely available, And Muskets being invented not long after, Archery was considered obsolete in warfare. Despite having better range and accuracy, The Musket had far better killing power and rendered armor useless. Only a direct hard hit with a bow would kill a man on the field in the late middle ages. Thus it was replaced by the Matchlock.

During the Napoleonic Wars, The British forces considered making an Archer battalion. But with Rifles on the horizon during the 19th century, Both the Musket and Bow where now officially outdone in War, In Range, accuracy and reload speed of the Breech loading Rifle. Which had nearly 5 times the maximum range of the Bow.(Area targets up to 2000m), And triple the killing power of a musket with the Minie Ball that would splatter inside the body. This bullet was later marked as inhumane for Warfare and was replaced with the Modern bullets which cut today.

All that being said, I love archery<3

Heinrich = Me. No re posting or re using!

Artwork by Keihound