Infantry in the Middle Ages heavy toll on the English invaders of their lands. Adapted by the English, the longbow was nevertheless a difficult weapon to master, requiring long years of use and practice. Even bow construction was extended, sometimes taking as much as four years for seasoned staves to be prepared and shaped for final deployment. A skilled longbowman could shoot 12 arrows a minute, a rate of fire superior to competing weapons like the crossbow or early gunpowder weapons. The nearest competitor to the longbow was the much more expensive crossbow or Arbalest, used often by urban militias and mercenary forces. It required
BFG (weapon) BFG (weapon) The BFG is a fictional weapon found in many video game titles, mostly in first-person shooter series such as "Doom" and "Quake". The abbreviation BFG stands for "Big Fucking Gun" as described in Tom Hall's original "Doom" design document and in the user manual of "". The "Quake II" manual says it stands for "Big, Uh, Freakin' Gun". These euphemistic labels imply the more profane name of the BFG, "Big Fucking Gun". Another version of the name used in the "Doom" motion picture is "Bio Force Gun". The versions found in the "Doom" games are called "BFG 9000"