Haven't kept up with the blogposts for a while, but at least I'm keeping up with my reading. Just finished: The Mustang Herder by Max Brand. Fantastic as an audiobook--the reading by Will Osborne was right out of a 50's TV western show.
Currently reading, as an audiobook (like always--who has time to "just" read these days?): The Archers Tale, by Bernard Cornwell. I haven't read much historical fiction, but Crichton's Timeline got me interested in the Middle Ages, so I thought I'd give it a try. Cornwell handles the martial aspects of the age quite well. This book really makes a point about how the superior missile weaponry of the English gave them an advantage over their lesser-trained, but easily hired, crossbow-wielding mercenary opponents.
In some respects, this is a question of maai, or engagement distance, and the relative shock power of a long-distance kill. Think Marine snipers in Iraq with a Barrett .50. I covered maai in an article a long time ago, and it always seems like one of those universal factors of combat. Whether you're sticking knights with arrows or taking out infantry with a fifty cal, it's still of paramount importantce.