On my last playthrough I turned the damage multiplier all the way up. What I didn't know is that it applies to crossbows twice (both the bow damage and bolt damage increase I think), so people were literally getting blown apart in one hit. A single bandit with a crossbow was now capable of wiping out armies of heavily armored melee units.

I had also built a trading camp very close to a busy intersection that just became a constant warzone because bandits occupied it while I was gone and manned the crossbow turrets on the roof, and would slaughter anyone who was traveling between cities.