>>64221468
at the typical Napoleonic engagement range of a hundred-odd yards they're not shooting "indirect" at all, they're shooting at a target that is perfectly visible

i.e. about sixty of these targets more or less shoulder to shoulder, ten deep

>>64221495
>The first line takes 6 volleys and halts to give a ragged volley, 2 to 3 more arrow volleys slam in and the line breaks, fleeing back through the second line and unnerving the men of it whom then advance into the teeth of the arrow maelstrom and also break after firing one ineffectual volley
something like that, yes

based on firsthand accounts, in these head-on Napoleonic column-vs-line battles, three volleys can absolutely wreck the attacker

like I said earlier, the main advantage here is that the longbow shoots at virtually the same effective range as the Napoleonic smoothbore musket, against an unarmoured opponent, but at twice the rate of fire, minimum. all else being equal the longbowmen win.

oh, and they carried 2x to 3x the number of arrows that typical Napoleonic musketeers carried too.