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You find yourself in an enclosed area, mixture of buildings and landscape from the region you live in, say a walled area 2km on a side.

No firearms available, they have their missile weapon and small sword as a backup, you have whatever you can find in your local, so kitchen knives, maybe a petrol chainsaw if you got lucky, but no guns or electricity to say power high AC traps you might improvise.

No other rules other than you have to kill or incapacite them, to get the key of them that allows you to exit the 'arena'.

Which of those three soldiers from history do you fear most, by all means specify which type and era of the specific missile troop you've choosen and why.

edit:
Please ignore the cut and paste typo of an extra 'by' in the poll question.

The bow guy due to rate of fire. Though I guess if we are in a very confined space maybe the slinger guy since I think he needs less space to kill me.

Elon Musk

Quote from: FunkMonk on November 07, 2022, 04:35:37 PMElon Musk

 :lol:

Slinger. The other two have no ammunition.

They have a sword, but have they studied the blade?

A slinger needs more space to use his weapon than the archer or crossbowman as far as I am aware; he is at the most disadvantage in the described terrain. [Well, not where I live, perhaps...large gardens, straight streets, etc.)

Whether I would fear the archer or crossbowman worse would depend on the type of bow or crossbow in question. For reasons of utility I'd probably fear a man using a steppe composite bow ahead of a crossbowman ahead of a longbowman (heavily simplified, of course.)

Actually, I might fear a man with a repeating crossbow more than the steppe composite bowman in this scenario as I would be an unarmored individual armed worse than a Chinese robber of the 3rd Century.

" they have their missile weapon and small sword as a backup"

They don't have ammunition for their weapon. Except the slinger. This is not a difficult choice.

A trained slinger was considered the most dangerous of missile troops in the ancient world.  Training took forever, though, so trained slingers were never numerous and the type pretty much died out during the Dark Ages.

Quote from: Berkut on November 07, 2022, 05:21:59 PM" they have their missile weapon and small sword as a backup"

They don't have ammunition for their weapon. Except the slinger. This is not a difficult choice.

In which case the slinger does not have ammunition either; not many appropriately shaped lead, clay or stone sling-bullets just lying around in a modern built up area.

I'll assume that each practitioner has roughly the same level of accuracy. I'll also assume that being hit is probably about the same level of trouble / damage. I think (but don't know) that the extra force of the crossbow bolt is not that significant as you don't have armour anyhow.

I reckon the main way you'd win is by ambushing the enemy at close quarters before they can shoot at you, wielding something that gives you a fighting chance against their sidearm (so some sort of hatchet or machete, with a metal garbage lid as a shield maybe).

Your biggest concern, I expect, is going to be prior to the ambush - if you're spotted in the open. As such, I think the most important traits are going to be speed and size of the missile. The slower in flight and the larger the missile the better for you, as you can see it coming and potentially dodge / take cover / block it. Here I think the toughest is going to be the sling, followed by crossbow, followed by bow.

The other concern is rate of fire and mobility of the opponent. I'm guessing I'd conduct myself as if I'm facing a gun - move erratically, use cover etc (which I don't think our ancient / medieval missile troop is that used to). The faster the enemy can move, and the faster they can shoot, the less my mobility advantage will be. Here I think the toughest thing again is the sling, followed by bow, followed by crossbow (slow to load I think, not that easy to run and shoot with).

Based on that, I think the slinger is going to be tougher. But the make or break is  going to be if I can get the drop on the enemy and take them out in close quarter fighting.

Quote from: Agelastus on November 07, 2022, 05:36:33 PMIn which case the slinger does not have ammunition either; not many appropriately shaped lead, clay or stone sling-bullets just lying around in a modern built up area.

... imagine you're in a factory that produces large ball-bearings  :ph34r:

Which season is it? I'm not too worried by a naked dude in February.

If it weren't for the side arm I would say crossbowman because of the reload time.

You've made up no ground on Fredo mongers.

Quote from: Admiral Yi on November 07, 2022, 07:01:56 PMIf it weren't for the side arm I would say crossbowman because of the reload time.

You've made up no ground on Fredo mongers.

:sad:

Quote from: Agelastus on November 07, 2022, 05:36:33 PM

Quote from: Berkut on November 07, 2022, 05:21:59 PM" they have their missile weapon and small sword as a backup"

They don't have ammunition for their weapon. Except the slinger. This is not a difficult choice.

In which case the slinger does not have ammunition either; not many appropriately shaped lead, clay or stone sling-bullets just lying around in a modern built up area.

A stone can be picked up and placed in a sling. Not as ideal as a sling bullet to be sure, but works ok.

I would much rather go up against a crossbowman with makeshift bolts or an archer with makeshift arrows then a slinger with rocks.

I fear none. It is them that fear me and my working knowledge of ICE equipped vehicles.

Surely the sword is the major factor here?
The ranged weapon doesn't really come into it much if you stay in cover.

The slinger is by far the more dangerous. An easier to carry more portable weapon with plentiful ammo available.

Quote from: Grey Fox on November 07, 2022, 08:02:01 PMI fear none. It is them that fear me and my working knowledge of ICE equipped vehicles.

Good point. Running him over with a a car or truck is a pretty good gambit.