Gallic Slingers

Summary
Slingers are cheap missile infantry available to the Gallic faction group. They are a basic missile unit available from the start of the game, alongside Gallic Javelineers, having a relatively long-ranged attack but being utterly incapable of melee combat.

"The sling is one of the earliest ranged weapons developed. Slingers are cheap and easy to train, but lack the range or damage of more advanced ranged units. Without armour or melee weapons, slingers are highly susceptible to charges and direct combat."

- In-game Description

History
Slings were a popular ranged weapon among many peoples of Europe, and also noted as being used by the Gauls. The Gauls were, however, not historically noted for being particularly proficient in ranged combat, with the developers probably adding a wide variety of missile options (including 2 distinct early-game missile brigades) to their roster to compensate for the lack of heavy infantry.

Ancient authors frequently describe slingers as being able to outrange archers, at least in European warfare where the stronger composite bow was uncommon. In-game, though, slingers are outranged by archers, likely because archers were designed as a more advanced elite missile unit with better stats as a reward for the extra investment required to unlock them, whereas slingers are a basic missile fodder unit.

Tactics
Slingers are a basic missile brigade of the Gallic faction group available from the start of the game. They have less damage, defenses and melee capabilities than the Gallic Javelineers which are also available from the start of the game, but are cheaper in both gold and recruits and have a slightly longer range. They can be used as a long-ranged missile support unit in the early stages of the game until the stronger Gallic Archers become available. Their cheap cost in recruits and quick recruitment time also makes it possible to quickly draft a temporary unit of slingers to provide additional missile support in a pinch.

Compared to other early-game missile brigades, Slingers outrange Leves and Axemen and require less recruits, but have a lower damage output, worse defenses and no capacity for melee combat. The same holds true when compared to Gallic Javelineers and Peltasts, which are stronger but more expensive than Leves. Greek Psiloi are similar to slingers but have a higher damage output and lower gold cost in exchange for worse defenses and requiring more recruits. Gallic Slingers are identical to their Illyric counterparts in terms of performance.