Heaven’s Reference Pages

Slinger
Age: Tool (RoR only)
Prerequisites: Build Town Center, build Barracks, research Slinger.
Upgrade Cost: - - -
Cost: 40 food, 10 stone
Hit Points: 25
Attack: 2
Armor: - - -
Piercing Armor: 2
Range: 4
Speed: Medium
Upgrade of: - - -
Special: +2 attack vs. archers; +2 armor vs. missile weapons, Ballista, Helepolis; increased attack vs. walls and towers.
Description:
The Slinger is an infantry unit used to defend against early archer and Watch Tower attacks. It cannot be upgraded.
Bronze Shield, Iron Shield, and Tower Shield increase piercing armor. Alchemy increases attack strength. Stone Mining and Siegecraft increase attack strength and range. Slingers do not get armor upgrades from Leather Armor, Scale Armor and Chain Mail.
Comments
The Slinger is one of the new units in ROR. He has increased attack (+ 2) against archers and 2 piercing armour. They also have increased attack against all buildings (not only against towers and walls). Apparently they don't profit from Ballistics. Because of their miserable 25 HPs and lack of armour they don't last long in battle against other units than archers. Ships can easily kill them and so can most Bronze Age and Iron Age land units. None of the civilisations have a bonus for this naughty boy. This unit is of some use when countering Bowmen (and compies and CAs when your opponent doesn't dance them). Because of the Iron Age technologies that benefit Slingers they're also some use in the Iron Age but they're weak.
Peter
Slingers have changed RM the most out of all 5 of the new units. They will stop dead a bowman or watch tower rush. If you know your opponent if trying a tool archer rush, you can stop him. But the problem is people go on to try and win with slingers. With only 25 HP, axeman will slaughter them, and even villies. Shang or Rome have the best chance with slingers due to their villie and building cost bonuses.
Best use these guys when against Assyria or another good civ to tool archer rush with. Otherwise, stick to axeman or wait till bronze with compies. Slingers can hold off impies and compies for a while but CAs will murder them.
Centy
History
Slingers were light troops who threw stones at the enemy, causing casualties and disrupting 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 of the target. Roman art shows slingers throwing rocks the size of 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 shot to the head. A contingent of Rhodesian slingers were part of the 10,000-man mercenary force whose march from Persia is described by Xenophon in his book Anabasis.
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