Warmatrix

A sling is a simple piece of flax, hemp, wool or leather, about 0.5 - 1 meters long, that is cheap and easy to make. It can launch clay balls, stones or bullets. The weapon is swung around once or twice to build up speed and then one end is released to let the projectile fly. Slings may well have been invented around the time that the first hand bows appeared, 60,000 years ago. There is little archeological evidence for this, but as slings are made from soft materials, the oldest ones probably have wasted away long ago, leaving no archeological trace. Slings were used as hunting weapons and later also in war. In ancient times, the Balearic islands were famous for their slingers, as was Rhodos.
A basic sling is a simple piece of cloth that is loaded with stones. More refined slings store their projectiles in an open pouch, where two strings are attached to. The best sling projectiles are rounded stones or metal bullets, but even rough pebbles will do, though they have less range and accuracy. The weight of the missiles varies wildly, from as less as 10 grams to as much as 600. Range and accuracy vary accordingly and also depend a lot on the skill of the person wielding the sling. With average ammunition of a few dozen grams each, a skilled slinger can outrange an archer. At the time of this writing, the world record for an extreme sling throw was 477 meters with a bullet of 62 grams. Sling bullets fly faster than arrows fired from a handbow, and their trajectory is more flat. This requires a range free of obstacles, but also makes it harder to see them coming. Bullets cannot cause piercing wounds like arrows do, but their concussion damage can be severe.
The main disadvantage of the sling is that it is difficult to master. Inexperienced slingers can miss their targets wildly, even accidentally throwing missiles backwards, so long training and practice and required for effective use. Slings can be wielded overhand, for accuracy, or underhand, for long range, or even horizontally. Each slinger tends to prefer a different style of sling and slinging. Before the invention of the composite bow, slings were generally superior to handbows. But the skill requirement was a barrier and after the Ancient Era was largely supplanted by other missile weapons that were easier to operate.
A variant of the sling is the staff sling a.k.a. stave sling, a sling attached to a short stick. It requires two hands to wield and is far less accurate, but more powerful. Staff slings were popular in the Middle Ages as siege weapons, lopping missiles over enemy walls.