interesting, skimming through 1ed the only real use the range table got seems to be as information on *what* the in world range of the weapon is and where it can be used.
The only other mention of range I could find was in combat complications, where you basically just declare the range as the narrative for the complication.
But somehow that sounds like a conflict or a backwards definition.
I mean either the LM defined the range in numeric terms, for example "the line of orcs is 30 yards in front of you", or he left it abstract.
In the abstract, sure you can use the complication as narrative for the TN modifier, but it doesn't distinguish between weapon types ie that part of the table is superfluous.
For the differences in short, medium and long range from the yards table to mean anything, you would need a numeric distance to matter at all.
I would guess they intentionally left out the distance table to keep things abstract.
Without that table you can simply take the complications as is and work the narrative from there. Sure, you could use the old table as an idea what to tell narratively but really without mechanical consequences or conflicts, e..g, you choose longe range as complication then you could use 20+ yards as meter-stick to place the opponent if the char uses a thrown weapon. (of course then you might wanna avoid long range as complication if you have another char with a great bow on the same target
)
That would be my read, unless I missed something.