Editing Composite bow (section)

===By mounted archers===
[[File:OttomanHorseArcher.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Ottoman horse archer]]
The [[mounted archery|mounted archer]] became the archetypal warrior of the [[steppe]]s and the composite bow was his primary weapon, used to protect the herds, in steppe warfare, and for incursions into settled lands.

Classic tactics for horse-mounted archers included skirmishing: they would approach, shoot, and retreat before any effective response could be made.<ref>Maurice's Strategikon: Handbook of Byzantine Military Strategy. George T. Dennis (Translator) {{ISBN|978-0-8122-1772-8}}</ref> The term [[Parthian shot]] refers to the widespread horse-archer tactic of shooting backwards over the rear of their horses as they retreated. [[Parthia]]ns inflicted heavy [[Roman–Parthian Wars|defeats]] on [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], the first being the [[Battle of Carrhae]]. However, horse archers did not make an army invincible; [[Han dynasty|Han]] General [[Ban Chao]] led successful military expeditions in the late 1st century CE that conquered as far as Central Asia, and both [[Philip of Macedon]] and his son [[Alexander the Great]] defeated horse archer armies. Well-led Roman armies defeated Parthian armies on several occasions and twice [[Roman–Parthian Wars|took]] [[Ctesiphon|the Parthian capital]].