- Intent: To create a lighter piece of Draelvasier artillery capable of tracking down small, agile units such as starfighters, speeders, and light armored vehicles that Ballistas and other heavier equipment struggle with.
- Image Source: Syracuse Art Freak - Space Jockey & Derelict
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: Syracuse Art Freak - Space Jockey & Derelict
- Manufacturer: The Bryn’adul
- Affiliation: The Bryn’adul
- Model: Longbow Cannon
- Modularity: None
- Production: Minor
- Material: Verikast frame & barrel
- Classification: Multipurpose light artillery
- Size: Large
- Weight: Very Heavy
- Ammunition Type: Refined Dramedius Prime Ore Shells (HE) / Superheated metal spikes (AP)
- Ammunition Capacity: Average (50 shells/spikes maximum in chamber)
- Effective Range: Long Range (~2.5 km)
- Rate of Fire: Average (45 shells/spikes per minute)
- Stopping Power: High
- Recoil: Low
- N/A
- Spin Me Right Round: Longbows can spin a full 360 degrees on their tracks and depress up to 45 degrees upwards or 10 degrees downwards, leaving very few blind spots and enabling the Longbow to properly engage even the most nimble of fighters.
- Right On The Mark: The Longbow's mobility enables it to track fast-moving hostiles much better than its Ballista big brother, capable of spinning at nearly 30 km/h in order to track its target and fire a precise shot. Thanks to its stable frame and light projectiles, recoil is relatively low.
- Multipurpose Light Artillery: Aside from its anti-starfighter role on static fortifications on capital ships and fortresses, Longbows can also be mounted on wheeled chariots as independent batteries manned by Drones or installed into larger creatures such as M'gaelak Towers. Their large barrels can inflict immense damage on lightly armored infantry formations with high-explosive shells, while troop transports and light armored vehicles with less than 80mm of armor can be penetrated in a singles hot by its armor-piercing spikes. Furthermore, while Longbows in planetary atmospheres can be manned by Drones to save on automation costs, most capital ships can instead use their organic command systems to automatically direct unmanned Longbows in the void of space.
- Small Boi: In comparison to most Draelvasier artillery, biomechanical or organic, Longbows pack a fairly weak punch: it takes two Longbows to match one Obalisc in firepower. Furthermore, even the Longbow's armor-piercing spikes are largely ineffective against the sloped and heavy armor of most military walkers and battle tanks.
- Gunner's Curse: One of the fastest ways to die as a Drone is to man a Longbow emplacement in a planet's atmosphere. With almost no flank or frontal protection, the gunner is llargely immobile and extremely vulnerable to sniper fire, shrapnel, or even fumes from damage to the Longbow barrel.
The Longbow is the first of several armaments in an ambitious Byrn'adul rearmament program.
After recent conquests and skirmishes, an Ish'makra war committee came to the consensus that a new light gun was needed to support Byrn'adul air wings in intercepting qualitatively superior Silver Jedi and Alliance air divisions which had proved troublesome in prior engagements. As a result, a gun far smaller but with far better tracking systems than the anti-capital Ballistas was put into development. The Longbow was the final product, designated as a multi-purpose light artillery battery. Due to its cheapness of production, it is found just as part of mobile artillery pieces in ground battles as in its intended anti-aircraft role, forming the backbone of ground artillery in areas where conditions are unfavorable for larger artillery beasts.
