I was reviewing my post and it made me think of something less fantastical with historical precedent. The crossbow.
China’s first Emperor Qin Shi Huang utilized crossbows to great effect by essentially organizing his Army around three man crossbow teams. These crossbow were huge something like 3 times the size of a medieval equivalent and each bolt had an iron core and tip. The three man team consisted of a loader, shooter, and a pavise-man. Essentially the army would advance to contact while sustaining a continuous barrage and then engage with polearms and longswords in close combat. The continuous suppressing fire would also break apart enemy formations for cavalry exploitation. The crossbow’s iron core and large size generated armor penetrating force and velocity. The flatter trajectory of the crossbow supported by the pavise also made the fire more accurate.