Crypt Cleanser
Posts: 720
Joined: Friday, 7th January 2011, 01:43
Wednesday, 23rd July 2014, 09:37
bikeshedding: renaming greater sling
This name sounds ad hoc and so simple that I'd want to propose replacing it with an actual sling weapon
Staff sling or fustibalus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_%28weapon%29#Variants
The staff sling, also known as the stave sling, fustibalus (Latin), fustibale (French), consists of a staff (a length of wood) with a short sling at one end. One cord of the sling is firmly attached to the stave and the other end has a loop that can slide off and release the projectile. Staff slings are extremely powerful because the stave can be made as long as two meters, creating a powerful lever. Ancient art shows slingers holding staff slings by one end, with the pocket behind them, and using both hands to throw the staves forward over their heads.
The staff sling has a similar or superior range to the shepherd's sling, and can be as accurate in practiced hands. It is generally suited for heavier missiles and siege situations as staff slings can achieve very steep trajectories for slinging over obstacles such as castle walls. The staff itself can become a close combat weapon in a melee. The staff sling can throw heavy projectiles a much greater distance and at a higher arc than a hand sling. Staff slings were in use well into the age of gunpowder as grenade launchers, and were used in ship-to-ship combat to throw incendiaries.
duvessa wrote:Christ, you can't remove anything without tavern complaining about it.
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