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Part 1: Repeating crossbow.<br />
Excuse me, are those your bolts in my chest?<br />
Repeating Crossbow. Uraithen, Deathrain. A Weapon used almost exclusively<br />
by <strong>Druchii</strong> warriors, combining a high rate of fire with the<br />
natural skill of the Elves. The background and game mechanics are<br />
well known to all of you, and thus, this article will neither describe it’s<br />
role on the battlefield nor its place in <strong>Druchii</strong> weaponry, but instead<br />
will concentrate on it’s possible design and construction, while also<br />
commenting on how it could be used and maintained in reality.<br />
The Crossbow.<br />
All of you, as fantasy wargaming and RPG enthusiasts, know what a<br />
crossbow is, how it works and how it is constructed. To sum this up,<br />
the crossbow is a ranged weapon, shooting bolts thanks to the power<br />
of its short, massive bow and thick bowstring. The triggering mechanism<br />
is very simple, but the main problem for eons has been the<br />
same – reloading. For the centuries in which it was used, many methods<br />
for cocking the mighty string were invented – hooks, winders,<br />
cranks and various lever mechanisms. Yet in the 14th century it was<br />
almost impossible to reload it with bare hands. In effect the missiles<br />
were loosed with growing force, able to pe<strong>net</strong>rate the thickest armour.<br />
Constructed with modern materials, nowadays it is used for either<br />
sport, hunting or military applications.<br />
The first evidence of crossbows comes from China, while in Europe it<br />
was used from the times of the Romans. It was a very dangerous<br />
weapon, which although slower than the bow, packed a lot more<br />
punch. Even the village idiot was able to shoot the mightiest Knights<br />
from their saddles. The crossbows were made redundant by black<br />
powder weapons, which changed battlefields forever.<br />
The Repeating Crossbow<br />
But, what is the Repeating Crossbow then, you may ask.<br />
Firstly, note the word “repeating”. Not “self-repeating”, but<br />
“repeating”. Without going into the subject in great detail, the phrase<br />
implies that the Crossbow needs some outside force to cock and reload<br />
it, in same way as the 19 th -20th century rifles, the so-called leveraction<br />
rifles.<br />
It is believed that the Repeating Crossbow was invented in China<br />
around 100-150 AD, but there are written sources mentioning its existence<br />
as far back as 200BC! The first pictorial evidence of it comes<br />
from the times of Ming Dynasty, and photographic evidence comes<br />
from the late 19th century when they were used during the Boxer Rebellion.<br />
As the name suggests, the Repeating Crossbow is capable of<br />
loosing an enormous number of bolts in very short time period. The<br />
main problem is, as with the crossbow, reloading and cocking – a lot
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