Cheap long-range weapons eroded the battlefield value of expensive armor.

Evidence

New types of weapons changed all of this, including the crossbow and, later, the English longbow. Like sneaky males, these new technologies “cheated,” breaking the rules of engagement in ways that eroded the benefits of expensive armor. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 425

Categorization

• XREF: Directly parallels the sneaky-male cheater strategy from earlier chapters on animal weaponry — the same mechanism at human scale. — connects to: Cheap weapons of mass destruction will erode expensive conventional forces; Cheap weapons can disable the most expensive military technologies — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 417; An inexpensive weapon made elaborate armor a deadly liability rather than protection. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 430 (+2 more)

Related

• An inexpensive weapon made elaborate armor a deadly liability rather than protection. (similarity 0.89)
• Cheap asymmetric weapons can topple vastly more expensive military investments. (similarity 0.87)
• Cheap weapons of mass destruction will erode expensive conventional forces (similarity 0.87)
• Cheap weapons can disable the most expensive military technologies (similarity 0.86)
• Cheap weapons let untrained commoners overcome heavily armored elites (similarity 0.85)
• Weapon escalation ends when costs outweigh benefits and cheaters invade (similarity 0.84)
• Weapon growth widens the gap between the best- and worst-armed males. (similarity 0.83)
• Poor-quality males pay steeper costs for large weapons and so invest less (similarity 0.82)
• Weapon expense is what keeps signals of fighting ability honest (similarity 0.82)
• Cold War weapons costs multiplied simultaneously across every system category (similarity 0.82)
• Weapons evolve only when reproductive benefits exceed costs (similarity 0.81)
• Costly advanced weapons deter rivals just like large animal weapons (similarity 0.81)
• Some elaborate animal weapons are astonishingly cheap to produce and carry (similarity 0.80)
• Weapon costs follow the same handicap economics in nations as in individuals (similarity 0.80)
• Only a minority of males can afford to build full-size weapons (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Cheap asymmetric weapons can topple vastly more expensive military investments. #corroborates (0.85) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 441
• Cheap weapons let untrained commoners overcome heavily armored elites #expands (0.80)