Chris
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I tend to believe the sling was a very deadly and accurate weapon in the right hands. Although stories can be embellished, the frequency and independence of the texts does paint a convincing picture for me. Plus, certain sources, like Roman slinger qualifications are empirical, and are less likely to be skewed. And, that qualification was something along the lines of a watermelon 9 out of 10 times at 200 feet.
Now, I think that the effective, accurate range for a sling is around 150 feet. I think after that point, your only aiming at an object in it's entirety (like a whole soldier).
We also have to consider that bows at distances of over 150 weren't particularly accurate either (guns weren't either until maybe 150 years ago; "don't shoot until you see the whites in their eyes"). Plus, Ranged troops were never meant to engage infantry at such ranges either. Long bows with enormous draw were meant to do clout shooting. So both slingers and archers were all doing distanced shots (~30-45 degrees). The whole concept of accuracy gets lots at this stage. Ranged troops were meant to barrage infantry or cavalry, not snipe them off (although there are some accounts of longbow men being able to pic off escaping men at 1000 feet). So it's not like we can say the sling is any better or worse than the bow. In my eyes, I think they would be comparable.
Another thing. Ancient armies used huge numbers of slingers. We know this from recovered texts and images, as well as ten's of thousands of glands recovered at ancient battle sites. Bows existed, and were used... But why still use slings? Sure they were cheap, but these militaristic empires had the resources to equip their men with bows if they wanted. Perhaps they were a superior weapon in the day... And we know from historical accounts that slingers often out-ranged their archer counterparts.
There is too much historical evidence to deny. The sling was the greatest weapon of war (ranged) 4000+ years ago. It could make or break a nation, which is why the very best slingers were brought in from exotic lands (like the Balears).
Chris
P.S. I typed this really quick, so excuse any typos and nonsensical bits.
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