Trieres - Illyrioi Epibatoi
A trireme is a 37 meter long oared warship (galley) with three decks of oars, developed from the bireme in the 5th century BCE. Popular with Carthaginian, Greek and Roman navies, this is the main warship of the classical age.(Illyrian Corsairs)
Bloodthirsty men that have taken to piracy in order to fill their coffers.
Of all the warships found in the ancient world, it is the trireme, or trieres, that remains the most famous and recognisable. Nearly all Hollywood 'sword and sandal' movies will include a trireme somewhere. The vessel was entirely designed for war. Its name came from the three rows of oars carried on each side, stacked above each other in staggered columns to give the rowers some room to work. The top row of oars pivoted on a rowlock, or oarlock, mounted on an outrigger projecting from the hull. This allowed the top oars to pitch down at a sharper angle to reach the sea without getting tangled in the lower ones. The trireme was a greyhound of a ship, capable of high-speed dashes with a well-trained crew and, contrary to popular belief, not all rowers were slaves. Aboard Greek vessels they were citizens, and were given respect, not the lash. They were also largely fair-weather ships, and unsuited to rough seas such as the Atlantic; the lowest level of oars were, at most, less than half a metre above the waterline. That, however, did not stop the trireme being a superb weapon against other ships: a high-speed ramming attack could rip a hole in the side of almost any target. The type was also large enough to be used in other ways, which lead to it carrying archers and assorted light artillery pieces.
(Illyrioi Epibatoi)
Although called Illyrians by Greeks and Romans, these seafaring people from the Adriatic coast were actually not a single nation or tribe. The Greeks first had dealings with them during the Bronze Age, and the name was then applied to everyone in the area. The Illyrians were actually several petty, and not-so-petty, kingdoms that warred with each other when not fighting Greeks or their Macedonian neighbours. The Illyrians could not be lightly dismissed as barbarians: under powerful warlords such as Bardyllis, king of the Dardanians, they conquered Macedon and installed a puppet ruler in 393BC. It was Phillip II and Alexander the Great who eventually ended Illyrian interference in their affairs. The Illyrians were also pirates, and terrorised the Adriatic for centuries; this was what eventually prompted their subjugation by the Romans.
Unit Name Trieres - Illyrioi Epibatoi |
Main Unit Key Bar_Assault_Trireme_Admiral_Illy |
Land Unit Key Bar_Marine_Heavy_Illy |
Naval Unit Key greek_three |
Soldiers 80 |
Category Medium Ship |
Class Melee Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 1188 |
Recruitment Cost 1188 |
Upkeep Cost 297 |
12 |
├ Missile Weapon prec2 |
├ Projectile prec2 |
├ Missile Damage 12 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 0 |
└ Base Reload Time 10 |
Accuracy 5 |
Range 80 |
Reload 0 |
Shots Per Minute 6 |
Ammunition 4 |
693 |
└ Ship greek_three |
Ship Speed 4 |
Melee Attack 27 |
10 |
├ Melee Weapon gsword3 |
├ Weapon Damage 10 |
├ Weapon Deadliness 0 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Bonus vs. Cavalry 0 |
├ Bonus vs. Elephants 0 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 15 |
78 |
├ Base Defence 20 |
├ Shield shield6 |
└ Shield Defence 58 |
10 |
├ Armour arm5 |
├ Armour Defence 10 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
23 |
├ Man Entity medium_heavy |
├ Man Health 20 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 3 |
Base Morale 55 |
Abilities
Trieres- Row Hard 10
Increases speed for 10 strokes.
Ship speed
- Stamina (average)
Governs how fast the unit tires and restores fatigue, and is dependent on type of unit, weight and approach to combat.
Attributes
- Hide (forest)
This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Trieres- Poor hull strength
- Light crew
- Fast speed
- Weak ramming
- Poor boarding
- Average missile combat
- Good attack
- Average defence
- Average damage but low armour penetration
- Normal morale
Faction Availability | |
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Grand Campaign | |
Imperator Augustus |