Composite Bowman

The composite bow was the most sophisticated ranged weapon the Stone Age produced — a laminated construction of wood, horn, and sinew bonded under tension, shorter than a simple wooden bow yet capable of far greater draw weight and range. Horn on the belly resisted compression; sinew on the back stretched to store energy; the wood core held the layers together. Nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe developed and perfected this technology, and their composite recurve bows outranged every simple bow a settled civilization could produce. A skilled composite bowman could loose accurately at sixty to eighty meters — double the range of a simple yew bow. In the game he is the Stone Age's premier ranged unit, dramatically outclassing the simple bowman in both range and damage, but expensive and requiring investment in the composite bow technology before he can be fielded.