Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-30830745-20180225111723/@comment-26149161-20180225152417

Glflegolas wrote: Actually, I think the Uruk crossbowers are fine the way they are, even though it's not exactly canon. It gives the faction a bit of individuality over the Black Uruks of Mordor. Same with the Berserkers the way they are now. Saruman definitely had the technology to build crossbows available to him, so just because Tolkien doesn't mention it in the books doesn't mean that there weren't a few crossbowmen around. Maybe making the crossbowmen rarer and adding an Uruk hai archer would make the most sense.

Glflegolas (admin) Send a Messenger  12:59, February 25, 2018 (UTC) One thing the books did mention, though, is that the Uruks explicitly used longbows of yew. These were noted both at the Battle of Helm's Deep and at the Skirmish at Amon Hen--the latter of which was a battle where Sauron would send his absolute best men to kill the Fellowship. Now, unless he mass-produced crossbows between sending them out and the battle of Helm's Deep, we can safely assume that he had none.

Furthermore, the two main benefits of a crossbow--its ease of training and its penetration of plate--are rendered moot. These Uruks have had at least 20 years to train by the time of the War of the Ring, so it's totally feasible that they could have mastered a longbow in that time. Though the mod  is at the time of Bilbo's birthday, it has assumedly moved back the production of the Uruks, so the same can be applied.

And with no plate armor in Middle-earth, the need for a weapon that can rip through cuirasses is much less needed. While it would have advantages nonetheless over regular bows, it just doesn't have the demand that it would in medieval Europe.

Ithilion, Discussions Moderator (Auta i lómë)