Bowmen

".. [S]shafts were flying around their ears now, thudding into the deck and the wooden shields mounted on the rail. The hissing song of string and shaft was soon joined by the cries of the wounded."

— Lynn Flewelling, "Traitor's Moon

In game

Bowmen — Vital statistics
Bowmen	Light infantry unit with medium-powered range, able to take out slow-moving targets but must be protected from cavalry. Strong versus heavy infantry, light ships Weak versus siege weapons, buildings, melee cavalry
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrades to
Level 2: Mercenaries Military	9.6s (144t)	74	6	14	1.6s (25t)	17	Crossbow Infantry Composite Bowmen Retinue Longbowmen Shenbinu Infantry
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 50 : 40;	: 1; : 1	1		None	1–10	Good range and attack speed. Damage bonus versus infantry Damage penalty versus heavy cavalry, structures, heavy ships and Battering Rams

Overall strategy

Unlike the vanilla unit in Rise of Nations, Bowmen in Warbirth have an altogether different unit designation -- they form light ranged support, and are not used for attacking heavy infantry -- at least not the heaviest units like Achaean Hoplitai, but are instead meant to counter the units that are traditionally used to counter such units -- namely, Skirmisher Levies and Thracian JAvelineers. These units are usually bereft of armour, and as such are prime targets for Bowmen who have decent range and punching power, compared to the cheaper albeit more unreliable Slingers who outrange them in many cases.

For this reason, Bowmen are best used to attack enemy light infantry, in particular slow-moving units, such as swordsmen and axe units. It is true that some more powerful archer units such as Assyrian Heavy Archers are capable of armour piercing attacks, but overall, low-level Bowmen are still better used for damaging any enemy unit that isn't well-armoured. For heavy ranged support, you are advised to use units like Composite Bowmen and/or Medium Chariotry, if they are on hand.

Unit summary

• Rush Crush — Massed infantry can easily overwhelm Bowmen. Bring your ownheavy infantry as a "moving wall" to protect them.
• Elamite Archers — Elam's UU replacement for the Bowman has better movement and train speed.

See also

• Archers (Scythian Bowmen)
• Slingers
• Rong Archers
• Libyan Skirmishers
• European Bowmen
• Beidi Crossbowmen

Notes

Bowmen are used mostly by Middle Eastern and Asian factions, as well as the Argives and possibly the Thracians and Phrygians, all others don't recruit them.

• Aegean & Semitic - same. Naked head.
• Egyptian - is a variant of Aegean and Semitic.
• European - one version is macedonian_toxotai_2 by Super7700. Take the other from RKC. Perhaps, long tunic, or short-sleeved tunic, like a Hittite.
• Chinese - is in WIP.

History

Contrary to popular belief, the bow itself was not a popular weapon with many ancient cultures of the Old World. It was ideal for most of the time for hunting and attacking unarmoured foes, but once body armour, made either from simply textiles or even bronze, became more popular, soldier gradually switched either to slings or for javelins. These weapons were difficult to use, or had far lower range, but they had one advantage and that was the ability to hit targets at a very far distance, or damage targets wearing armour.

This, however, did not mean the end of archery per so. The simple bow was improved by using better materials and by better training. Employing better wood or strips of laminated wood increased the tensile strength of the bow, increasing power and thus range. Arrows were improved also by such changes as metal arrowheads. Even so the cost and man-hours required to create a weapon that was sufficiently powerful enough to match the stopping power of slingshot or javelins meant that such weapons and such training was normally limited to an aristocratic warrior caste for most of the Bronze Age.