However, you also have to realize that there's a _big_ difference between target archery and combat archery. (Hmmm.... which could lead to two different combat tables for archers.) With target archery you have all the time in the world to shoot and you don't need a very strong bow... as a matter of fact, a lighter bow is preferred since you can hold the draw longer to aim (and don't end up shaking from the strain.) Combat archery has a couple of different scenario's, but the bottom line is that there is a bit more pressure on you. The first scenario is when you are a lone archer or are in a small group. You must pick your target and kill him quick... most likely while he's trying to rush you to get within melee range. A fast rate of fire is good here.... but accuracy counts too. The second scenario is in _large_ battles with several hundred archers to a unit. Basically what you want to do here is fire a concerted "rain" or "cloud" of arrows at the enemy units. The French at the battles of Crecy and Agincourt wrote of the sky darkening when the English archers fired upon them. Again, a good rate of fire is good here so that the enemy has little time to do any thing else under the rain of arrows... but accuracy is not _too_ much of an issue you're firing anywhere from 100yds to 240+yds. We in the SCA shout what is called a "clout shoot". We mark of a large sized perimeter (10 or 20 yds diameter) on the ground at roughly 100 yds. To me this is much too short of a range, so I usually have a second out one around 150 yds. Anyway, the idea is to see how many arrows you can lob into this area. If you can hit the marked area then you could probably hit a troop of men/horses. So, I could envision two different tables for an archer... one where he is not pressured and is trying for a specific mark. This might include knocking over a small item on a table from within a locked cell to performing as a sniper along a main road. A second combat table would provide results for an archer who is being pressed by an enemy or other archers. Or perhaps you could just use a single table with a list of bonuses and penalties to apply. (The latter, now, sounds better.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although, I would make 0-10 a difficulty of 0. At least for anyone who's trained in the bow. Or maybe 0-5. When I shoot at 10 yards I feel all too close. I rarely miss a 60cm round target at 20 yards... after that it gets harder quite quickly. After September 11th I might have some better data for you on the clout shooting. I'm going to set up a rectangle that's about two or three times as long as it is deep (maybe 10yds deep) and call that the "ranks of the enemy". Any arrows falling into that will score 1pt. I will also try to have two or three man-sized targets at the front of the ranks and any hits on them will count 3 pts. If you remind me I'll try to send you the score sheets. There will probably be three rounds of at-your-liesure shooting so they can take all the time they want. And then there will be three rounds where I make them all shoot in unison as they would in battle by calling out "Archers ready!... ready!.... release!". Not only is it a spectacular sight to see, but it also gives them a bit of a rushed feeling. It'll be interesting to see how the two sets of scores compare.