I too have tried many times to convince people that plate armor will defeat bodkin arrows shot from longbows. I have read in many varying sources that longbows had a chance in defeating plate armor at around 200 yards but that real “kill” range was within 50 yards. However even at “point blank range” plate armor could defeat longbows. The real “power” of the longbow was more as a terror weapon than anything else. Some points to remember when dealing with people about the longbows power are:
1) To “defeat” an opponent you need not kill or even wound him. All you need to do is “put the fear of God” in him by making him “think” he can be killed or wounded. So that he breaks and runs away.
2) A longbows initial rate of fire of 10-12 arrows a minute with 5-6 arrows a minute sustained ROF means if you have massed archers you will be raining down an awful lot of arrows in a very short amount of time. These arrow showers will disrupt cohesiveness in a unit and frighten or panic horses. When the enemies scattered line hits your solid line you will smash him.
3) Only the “English” (English, Scots, Irish, Welsh) ever had effective longbow units.
4) It takes a lifetime to make a skilled longbowman. You need to have “special” circumstances to have the ability to raise up an effective longbow force. Social advantages (such as hunting and weapons possession), genetics, and adequate diet are all needed to make an effective longbowman (a situation only seen in the British Isles). It should be noted that England was the only nation at the time that had a large “Yeoman” population. France and Germany in contrast kept all non-martial social classes from possessing weapons.
5) At Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt (English defeats of the French attributed to the longbow) all have special factors as to why the French lost. The longbow was a contributing factor not necessarily the deciding one.
6) The longbow was never successfully used in an offensive capacity. Longbowmen stood in defensive positions they didn’t attack. True the English were on the offensive in France but when the battle lines were drawn up the archers were deployed on the flanks in defensive positions with the intention of driving the enemy towards the English knights during the French assault. Longbowmen never marched forward using their arrows as a rolling barrage or to soften up an opponent's line (much as artillery is used today) to drive the French back and allow an assault force to take ground. Longbowmen had to stand in their defensive positions and pray the knights didn’t break through.
However the fact remains that until you hand a skeptic a longbow and let him shoot at plate armor (if he can even draw the heavy weight bows) and he sees the arrows bounce off or shatter on impact you really won’t dissuade too many people of the longbows “killer” myth.
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