An expert bowman could outmatch a group of 12 crossbowmen.
But if you had a group of 50+ men to arm with bows or crossbows (hundereds and thousands weren’t uncommon historically), a crossbow was more effective because there’s no way in hell you’d get, say, 10.000 expert bowmen. If you were to arm such a legion with bows, you’d most likely suffer more damage from friendly fire than from enemy fire.
Crossbows are clunky and slow operate.
Their plus is that untrained people can use them.
An expert bowman could outmatch a group of 12 crossbowmen.
But if you had a group of 50+ men to arm with bows or crossbows (hundereds and thousands weren’t uncommon historically), a crossbow was more effective because there’s no way in hell you’d get, say, 10.000 expert bowmen. If you were to arm such a legion with bows, you’d most likely suffer more damage from friendly fire than from enemy fire.