I haven't found any good use for the sniper crossbow. It's pretty good when you run out of prisoners, ale and sumpter horses though, so you can shoot those warhorses with it. And oh yeah, it's pretty hard to do with a sword, those plates are damn thick! I broke my reinforced broadsword (the ideal sword along with falchion to chop heads with, I always carry one for those pesky river pirates just in case they don't happen to have ones of their own) trying to hit it broken, and after that, I hit my head to the wall so bad that my great helmet suddenly became a "battered great helmet."
Luckily, you can also create throwing double-sided axes, so no need to pay gazillions for that strange swadian equipment.
Maybe I really should sleep more... Waddya peoples think?