Pursuit Trihemiolia - Illyrioi Grosphomachoi
The trihemiolia is a lighter version of the trireme, with two and a half rows of oars. Developed by the Rhodians, it has been their favoured ship design for centuries and is an ideal pirate hunter, able to keep up with lighter raiding ships.(Illyrian Raiders)
Ill-trained but eager men that will rape and pillage their way to fortune.
It is thought that the Rhodians, a significant naval power in the eastern Mediterranean, developed the 'trihemiolia' or 'two-and-a-half' as a vessel for pirate hunting. Given that Rhodes is an island entirely reliant on the sea and shipping this is a believable theory. Pirates used the hemiola, a handy little vessel developed from the dieres or bireme, a ship with two rows of oars; it makes sense that pirate hunters would think of taking a trieres, or trireme, with three rows of oars and modifying it in a similar fashion. A trihemiolia still had three rows of oars on each side, but the top row was reduced to only half the number of oars, positioned midships. The result was a faster, handier vessel that provided a height advantage over a hemiola for any archers on board. There was also a strategic benefit to the Rhodians, who could only draw on the manpower of one island: they could have six trieres warships with full complements of rowers, or seven trihemiolias for the same number of men. The useful design was soon adopted by other maritime powers around the Mediterranean.
(Illyrioi Grosphomachoi)
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 Pursuit Trihemiolia - Illyrioi Grosphomachoi |
Main Unit Key Bar_Pursuit_Hemolia_Illy_2 |
Land Unit Key Bar_Marine_Illy |
Naval Unit Key illyrian_two_halfer |
Soldiers 100 |
Category Light Ship |
Class Missile Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 812 |
Recruitment Cost 812 |
Upkeep Cost 203 |
11 |
├ Missile Weapon prec1 |
├ Projectile prec1 |
├ Missile Damage 11 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 0 |
└ Base Reload Time 10 |
Accuracy 5 |
Range 80 |
Reload 0 |
Shots Per Minute 6 |
Ammunition 4 |
650 |
└ Ship persian_two_halfer |
Ship Speed 4 |
Melee Attack 25 |
11 |
├ Melee Weapon axe2 |
├ Weapon Damage 11 |
├ Weapon Deadliness 0 |
├ Armour Piercing Yes |
├ Bonus vs. Cavalry 0 |
├ Bonus vs. Elephants 0 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 15 |
47 |
├ Base Defence 16 |
├ Shield shield2 |
└ Shield Defence 31 |
8 |
├ Armour arm4 |
├ Armour Defence 8 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
23 |
├ Man Entity medium_medium |
├ Man Health 20 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 3 |
Base Morale 50 |
Abilities
Pursuit Trihemiolia- Row Hard 10
Increases speed for 10 strokes.
Ship speed
- Stamina (good)
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
Pursuit Trihemiolia- Poor hull strength
- Medium crew
- Uncatchable
- Weak ramming
- Poor boarding
- Average missile combat
- Average attack
- Weak defence
- Average damage but low armour penetration
- Poor morale
Faction Availability | |
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Grand Campaign | |
Imperator Augustus |