Slinger

Age: Tool
Train at: Barracks
Special: +2 attack against archers; increased attack against walls and towers.
Notes: Alchemy also increases the slinger's attack strength. When a slinger is fully upgraded, he has an attack of 5, a range of 6, and 5 piercing armor. With Logistics, Slingers only count as half units toward your population total.

Unit Name	LOS	HP	Move	ROF	Range	Damage	Cost
Slinger	5	25	1.2	1.5	4	2 Piercing	40f, 10s

The Slinger is an infantry unit used to defend against early archer and Watch Tower attacks.

Bronze Shield, Iron Shield, and Tower Shield increase piercing armor. Stone Mining and Siegecraft increase attack strength and range. Slingers do not get armor upgrades from researching Leather Armor, Scale Armor, and Chain Mail.

Slingers were light troops who threw stones at the enemy to cause casualties and disrupt formations. A barrage of heavy stones could cause wounds and bone fractures. The stone was held in a cloth sling and swung in a vertical loop to build centrifugal force. One end of the sling was released, launching the stone. Slingers were an alternative to archers and javelin men. They threw stones of different weights, depending on the range to the target.

Roman art shows slingers throwing rocks the size of a grapefruit, probably at short range. Specially shaped stones could be thrown accurately to a respectable distance. The best known slinger of antiquity was David, who slew the Philistine champion Goliath in single combat with a slingshot to the head. A contingent of Rhodesian slingers were part of the 10,000-man mercenary force whose march home from Persia is described by Xenophon in his book Anabasis.