bdodig
Recruit
Vrkas said:i vote to add tactical nukes, will completely settle the OP archers issue...........my 2c....
as for bdodigs post.....
Im pretty sure the armor Im wearing weighed less if not the same as what they wore back then, your high if you are going to tell me people of the body type / build of that period could run "preeety fast" with armor on.....
Im a recon scout and in better shape than 90% of soldiers and I can tell you theres very few people who can run fast in kit for more than 100m and then not be spent. So i dont buy that little dudes of that time period were ninja sprinting around in kit with all the crap they used to carry and wear....
There's the minor point that most armours and gear (bar heavy plate which vanilla units don't wear; and I prefer playing 1257 with RCM anyway) of the time weigh far less then the actual full kit of a modern day combatant. We're talking about 15kg to 20kg of combat gear for the timeframe (and most of it being armour, so it does not shift your center of mass, making it easier to move; moreso for plate which provided you with excellent weight distribution) compared to the 20 to 50kg of combat gear for today's solder. The plated knight of the timeframe was much less encumbered then the modern day marine with full gear, body armour, ammo, water, food and communications gear.
So yeah, people at the time could run preety fast with kit on. I can run preety fast with 15kg of stuff on me, if for a more limited time frame. It was definitely possible for a trained man to run and catch a not so fit archer.
Archers "kiting" isn't going to happen, unless you can, by virtue of carrying 10-15kg less (if you fight naked, I guess), outrun the other guy to give yourself at the very least ten seconds to turn, draw a bow with a 60+kg draw, aim, fire, and resume running. Don't see that working out.
The only reason for unarmoured troops at the time was the serious expense of it making outfitting everyone with armour unfeasible, really. Archers historically used whatever they could get their hands on.