Welcome,
Guest
. Please
login
or
register
.
1 Hour
1 Day
1 Week
1 Month
Forever
Login with username, password and session length
News:
Donate to the Lead Adventure Forum to keep it alive!
Home
Help
TinyPortal
Search
Calendar
Gallery
Search
Stats
Donations
Login
Register
Lead Adventure Forum
»
Forum
»
Miniatures Adventure
»
Age of Myths, Gods and Empires
(Moderators:
Elk101
,
rumacara
) »
Early Imperial Roman slingers
User
Welcome,
Guest
. Please
login
or
register
.
March 29, 2024, 01:51:22 AM
1 Hour
1 Day
1 Week
1 Month
Forever
Login with username, password and session length
Donate
We Appreciate Your Support
Search
Advanced search
stats
Members
Total Members: 10418
Latest:
ex-presidente
Stats
Total Posts: 1686604
Total Topics: 118111
Online Today: 626
Online Ever: 2235
(October 29, 2023, 12:32:45 AM)
Users Online
Users: 11
Guests: 472
Total: 483
Sterling Moose
Dangerboy
carlos marighela
FifteensAway
Rabbitz
acctingman1969
Gundamentalist 5.56
Sweign
frd
Skipper
winder
Recent
Ground Zero Games: FOUR-D...
by
The_Beast
[
Today
at 01:11:39 AM]
Wargames Illustrated free...
by
BlackMetallic
[
Today
at 01:11:30 AM]
Revisiting Yellow Ribbon-...
by
FifteensAway
[
Today
at 01:08:35 AM]
My completed ACW project-...
by
flatpack
[
Today
at 12:48:47 AM]
Cold War Commander Iran I...
by
flatpack
[
Today
at 12:46:34 AM]
1920 Russo-Polish War Pro...
by
batu
[
Today
at 12:27:25 AM]
My 2024 painting
by
syrinx0
[March 28, 2024, 11:36:44 PM]
Xth Legion
by
Colonel Blimp
[March 28, 2024, 11:23:26 PM]
To the Strongest for fant...
by
Hobgoblin
[March 28, 2024, 11:06:52 PM]
"quotSir. Does this mean tha...
by
carlos marighela
[March 28, 2024, 10:52:07 PM]
Who needs enemies with fr...
by
carlos marighela
[March 28, 2024, 10:46:35 PM]
BSC2024 Daeothar's Frostg...
by
Daeothar
[March 28, 2024, 10:45:30 PM]
History of the Runestaff.
by
Maceface
[March 28, 2024, 10:27:41 PM]
FOW Great War rules Opini...
by
LouieN
[March 28, 2024, 10:19:33 PM]
What size for an 'essenti...
by
forrester
[March 28, 2024, 10:16:53 PM]
« previous
next »
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Go Down
Author
Topic: Early Imperial Roman slingers (Read 1363 times)
dadlamassu
Mastermind
Posts: 1535
Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
on:
November 04, 2019, 04:10:04 PM »
I was looking through the Warlord Games site while the sale was on and saw a pack of Roman Legionary slingers. I have never heard of these troops and wonder how comm they were if at all. There is, of course. no reason why a Legionary might be not skillful with a sling, or bow or any other missile weapon depending upon his upbringing and personal hunting preferences.
The reason for asking is that I have a frame of the plastic legionaries that came "free" with a magazine and I have several hands with slings from some Dark Age figures. So I am considering adding a unit but would like to know how "historical" they might be.
Anyone know or have an educated guess?
Logged
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.'
-- Xenophon, The Anabasis
WuZhuiQiu
Mastermind
Posts: 1198
Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
Reply #1 on:
November 04, 2019, 05:00:19 PM »
I don't have any references handy, but my guess is that they were legionaries who also had some skill in using slings, and who were sometimes detailed from their cohorts to do so, perhaps when defending in sieges, much as Caesar's legionaries sometimes used "siege poles" (pikes?).
Logged
dadlamassu
Mastermind
Posts: 1535
Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
Reply #2 on:
November 04, 2019, 05:29:13 PM »
That was my thinking. I suppose they would be useful defending or attacking walls, palisades, barricades etc. Especially if the Legionaries had used them before joining up. Slings were used by the common folk for hunting and probably by children in games.
Logged
Andrew_McGuire
Guest
Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
Reply #3 on:
November 06, 2019, 05:56:59 PM »
I wonder if they got a bonus for the additional proficiency. It would have looked good on their CV, anyway - "able to cast sling shot accurately up to 500 paces while wearing
lorica segmentata
and carrying
scutum
and
pila
, 1000 paces if unencumbered. Verified kills of 10 + German berserkers, two Parthian
cataphracti
, and a share in an elephant. Horse archers no problem."
Logged
Ethelred the Almost Ready
Mastermind
Posts: 1083
Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
Reply #4 on:
November 06, 2019, 07:01:17 PM »
I also have no reference to hand (in a cafe before work) but I remember reading somewhere that a proportion of legionaries were skilled in using slings. Whether this was through official training or just an ad hoc thing I do not know.
Logged
Ethelred the Almost Ready
Mastermind
Posts: 1083
Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
Reply #5 on:
November 06, 2019, 07:03:44 PM »
And using a very quick google:
https://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/showthread.php?tid=22532
Logged
dadlamassu
Mastermind
Posts: 1535
Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
Reply #6 on:
November 06, 2019, 08:20:18 PM »
The academic paper linked in the thread is interesting, thanks.
Logged
Maddoc
Librarian
Posts: 149
Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
Reply #7 on:
November 07, 2019, 12:45:46 PM »
I recall reading about the practice from some sources (which probably quoted each other,
) where Legionaries (and Auxiliaries) could utilise slings or bows if needed - if wielding either though, they wouldn't be carrying their shield at the same time. Pretty sure holding up that shield and those pila make it a LOT harder to use a sling properly!!
Logged
dadlamassu
Mastermind
Posts: 1535
Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
Reply #8 on:
November 07, 2019, 05:07:59 PM »
Would not surprise me at all that a fair proportion of soldiers (most types and periods) were proficient with period hunting weapons - bows, slings, shotguns etc. I know that in the unit that I served in we had several people who were proficient with hunting small bore and air-rifles, a couple were crackshots with a catapult, a few had their own shotguns, several archers, anglers and so on. The lads with the catapults quite often topped up the compo with rabbits.
I have also read that Dark Age warriors and the wealthier Greeks (hoplites) though not using missile weapons for war used bows and slings for hunting.
I would also consider it likely that Legionaries proficient with slings would be deployed (probably without shields and Pila) to deal with hostile slingers. Then as the lines closed they would pass back through the ranks and pick up shields and pila from behind their Century/Cohort forming a rear rank. I have no evidence for this but just consider it likely.
For wargame purposes I need to decide on whether to equip my Legionary Slingers with shields or not
Logged
Ethelred the Almost Ready
Mastermind
Posts: 1083
Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
Reply #9 on:
November 08, 2019, 04:48:39 AM »
Dadlamassu,
that certainly seems reasonable. The Ten Thousand were able to find men proficient with bows and slings. I don't see why Romans should be any different.
Logged
WuZhuiQiu
Mastermind
Posts: 1198
Re: Early Imperial Roman slingers
«
Reply #10 on:
November 11, 2019, 03:30:27 PM »
Other cultures' slingers are thought to have been able to use shields, so I don't see why the legionary slingers could not have done so. And any limited mobility owing to carrying scuta may not have been much of an issue if they kept close to their formed-up units.
Logged
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Go Up
« previous
next »
Lead Adventure Forum
»
Forum
»
Miniatures Adventure
»
Age of Myths, Gods and Empires
(Moderators:
Elk101
,
rumacara
) »
Early Imperial Roman slingers