Stone Thrower

The Stone Thrower is the first siege unit avaliable in Age of Empires. The Stone Thrower is also the only thing that can be built at the siege workshop during the Bronze Age. It has a lower attack than the Catapult. At the iron age it can be upgraded into the Catapult then the Heavy Catapult.

Upgrades
Iron Age
 * Alchemy increases attack by one point.
 * Ballistics increases the accuracy.
 * Engineering increases the range by 2 points.
 * The Stone Thrower can be upgraded into a Catapult.

Civilization Bonuses

 * If played as the Hittites, the hit points increases from 75 to 150 hit points.
 * If played as the Sumerians, the rate of fire doubles (same rate of fire as a Ballista).
 * If played as the Macedonians, the cost per unit is 50% cheaper and 4 times resitant to enemy conversion.

History
The stone thrower was an artillery weapon based on the principle of the lever. The stone thrower fired a heavy missile, usually a large stone or stone wrapped in burning oily rags. The missile was placed in a large basket at the end of the throwing arm. Tension was built up on the other end of the arm while the throwing basket was held taut against a fulcrum. When released, the throwing arm swung up and forward until checked, throwing the missile. Stone throwers were used primarily against fixed positions, especially cities and fortifications. Stones were used to knock down walls to open the way for an infantry assault. Fireballs set wood rubble on fire, burning out the defenders. Small stone throwers were also used on the battlefield to disrupt massed enemy formations, although the enemy rarely offered easy targets within range. The stone thrower was invented around 400 BC by Greeks seeking to capture an island fortress off the coast of Sicily.

Related Articles

 * Age of Empires:Units
 * Catapult
 * Heavy Catapult
 * Siege Workshop