Phoenix-TheRealDeal

Slings... were kewl cuz just about anybody could have a sling and learn to use it. They were 'bad news' on the battlefield, too. I particlarly like the way Balearic Slingers did things. They fought entirely naked except for their 3 slings and a shoulder slung pouch of sling bolts (usually ceramic, sometimes leaden). Why naked? Cuz them suckers didn't want anything interfering with the natural wind-tunnel design of the human body when it came time to RUN! They were more accurate, as well as being farther ranged, than most slingers back in the day. To achieve their high degree of accuracy and keep the range correctly even when the foe was closing, they used all 3 slings of different lengths. The longest one was held in hand and served for the longest range, of course. The 2nd one was of mid-length wrapped about the waist. As the foemen came into 'mid-range' the slinger took up his 2nd sling without missing a beat. It was told to me, by Piteas aka Alejandro Carneiro, who is a professor of roman-greco-ibero studies at a university in Spain, that when the the slinger took the shortest one down that was wrapped about his head, sort of like a headband, then with the next few shots it was time-to-run. I presume that they held their position until the very last 'seconds', then scooped up their first two slings--dropped to the ground--before taking off for 'safer parts'. Well, as if these tactics were not enough to make them the most famous slingers of the ancient and classical world, then there is the matter of their training that developed their awesome degree of accuracy. From the time that they were wee lads of only a few years of age they had to throw sling bolts for their supper. A series of posts in the ground placed at intervals of increasing distance were in evry man's 'front yard'. Mama would place the tyke's bread ration atop one of them, however far out was the norm for 'the day', and he then had to knock it off before he could eat of it. As time went on, of course, the distance grew longer, and ultimately the exercise was to include the use of all three slings on posts of varying distance... and I can hear his pop now bellowing, even if he hit every target, "Dammit, you are still too SLOW!" hehe. Well, and didja know that a good slinger could drive a ceramic sling bolt THRU a bronze helmet and right into a d00d's head! That's pretty 'bad jose' in my book. It is said that the Rhodian slinger were also quite famous for their developed skill with the sling, but I know naught of their training technique. One thing is pretty sure though... David probably knew exactly what he was doing when going to confront Goliath, eh? Do you suppose that is where the saying came from, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall?"

Sorry, didn't see your post... but now sent.

Mateo, and welcome to our forums.

MarkT:

rommel145, and welcome to our forums.

Dave. Welcome to our forums... and programmers with C++ and Lua experience who want to really do something here with us are practically a 'shoo-in', methinks. Hehe, I like the way you stated your interests in profile.... do you think that Jen would be willing to settle for a 3rd place bronze medal?

Xtreme_Computing, welcome to our forums.

Coming into your mailbox about now.

0ad Civ: Iberians & Romans In 190 BC at a place named Lyco in 'Further Spain', of which the whereabouts is now unknown, the Romans suffered a severe setback when the army under Lucius Aemilius was defeated by the Lusitani in the lands of the Bastetani in the southeastern region around and behind New Carthage (Cartagena). 6,000 Romans were killed. The remainder retreated back behind their ramparts (camp), which they held with difficulty, and were subsequently led back to safer country like sheep. (Livy)

Klaas, I've read Xenophon's Anabasis in an English translation and I love it! I think that it is one of the greatest military adventure stories ever told, and presents the brilliance and leadership of a man that has few parallels in history. That Xenophon was not a polished writer is a known fact in literary circles, but he was a great observer and thinker and pretty obviously had a real knack for finding creative solutions to get the 10,000 out of jam after jam, though most of the time he 'led from the rear', that is was not the commanding general of the army--but he was its principal motivator and tactician. He must have been a pretty convincing orator, to his audience, anyway, because they listened to what he had to say and then acted upon it, not to mention but in passing having elected him to be their 5th Strategoi (that body of men having had 5 generals). It is well known nowadays that ALL contemporary writers of 'history' during the classical age inflated the numbers, probably for propaganda purposes directed for local consumption (no TV camera onsite to record it instantly as it was). We'll have to forgive them for that, eh? (Xenophon IS considered to have been one of the more truthful writer in this regard.) From the time of Hans Delbruck, historians have been 'proving' that to have been so based upon the other facts that can be known, and more modern estimates of those fallacious numbers have been rendered from their analises. Whatever the figure was, Artaxerxes greatly outnumbered his younger brother Cyrus who wanted to overthrow him and take the kingship for himself and won the battle of Cunaxa rather handily, except for the fact that the Greek Mercenary phalanx put a rout to his minions on the right flank along the Euphrates. What is known, and what the real story is all about is that about 13-14,000 mercenary Greeks started out working for Cyrus, then at Cunaxa shortly found that they no longer had a boss, and that the victor on the field wanted to kill them all. Consequently, the story is of one of the greatest military feats of all time that took place in the march of the remaining 10,000 all the way from central Babylonia to the Euxine Sea... and then continuing with the further incredible difficulties and delays (and more battles) of those soldiers finally making it back to Greece (some of them, anyway) or Ionia from whence they had come about 4 years before. All things considered, I think of Xenophon, who led under the circumstances, successfully, to have been a greater general than most who have been recognised more than he just because they won a few battles. If you want me to, I can zip the version in English, it runs 187 pages, 619 KB unzipped, and send.

Archipelago, RF_Gandalf's Sea of Tonteria-Land (one of two SoT's he made at my request), ES@Canals.

Rather belated, Jerry, but welcome to our forums. RaW was what attracted moi to WFS and consequently, 0ad.

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Oluseyi and welcome to our forums. Yep, I'd sorta bet that Stuart aka Acumen would be the man to give you challenging and satisfying work.

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Welcome to the forums from one who lives where it is warm, Knight_B.

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Welcome aqgain to the forums, Maedhros.