Talk:Attica/@comment-188.102.46.123-20140624145532/@comment-88.113.178.17-20140725155926

"A crossbow that fires faster than any bow, but is less lethal... "

AFAIK this is actually a pretty accurate summary of the historical repeating crossbow. The thing was built for volume of fire (for as long as the magazine lasted anyway), not striking power. Apparently when the Chinese were fighting their various steppe-nomad neighbours they liked to poison the bolts with something that doesn't feel pleasant in a wound, in the interests of better panicking horses...