| Lithobolos | |
|---|---|
| |
| Unit type | Heavy siege engine |
| Base cost | 70  Wealth, 50  Timber, 30  Metal
|
| Ramping cost | 20 Wealth, 10 Timber, 10 Metal
|
| Creation time | 250t (16.7s) |
| Hit points | 160 |
| Line of sight | Short |
| Movement speed | Plodding |
| Attack strength | 50 |
| Attack range | 10-25 |
| Armour | Insignificant |
| Population cost | 
|
| Created at | 
|
| Prerequisites | 
|
| Upgrades from | N/A |
| Upgrades to | N/A |
| Available to |           
|
Literally meaning "Stone thrower" in Greek, the Lithobolos is best described as an upscaled bow and primarily functions with a pair of levered arms which can be wrenched back to throw a stone into the air. Compared to a normal archer, it unfortunately has a drastically higher cost, poorer rates of fire and armour, and terrible accuracy to boot, and so you would be asking yourself: why on earth am I buying this unit? to which, there are two answers.
The first is that the Lithobolos is the sole ranged unit capable of taking buildings down at a distance. It is true that massed heavy infantry can easily trash an enemy city and gut its surrounding buildings to nothing, but if an enemy has erected a Fort, such measures may be impossible. To which, we must add the second answer: Lithoboloi have fairly good range, allowing them to outrange even fortresses, thus once you obtain these units, it would be much better to do in siege warfare what the term "siege" actually means (French, "seat", ie "sit down"): let your army sit down and take a break, while the Lithoboloi have a crack at the enemy, thus sparing your men of any further losses, although it must be said that Lithoboloi are not the fastest of units. Bring supply wagons or an autocratic Patriot, and the Lithobolos will take care of any enemy fortifications for you.