Trieres - Rhodioi Sphendonetai
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.(Rhodian Slingers)
Few can match the deadly accuracy of the men of Rhodes.
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.
(Rhodioi Sphendonetai)
Slingers were common in ancient armies. Slings are ancient weapons, dating back to Palaeolithic times. In comparison to bows, they were easy to make and had a greater effective range. Constructed from braided flax, hemp or rushes, a sling has a cradle where the shot is placed. One end has a finger-loop, while the other has a knot or strip giving a firm handhold. The slinger puts his middle finger through the loop and holds the knotted end with his thumb and forefinger. After whirling the shot in the sling it is released with a flick of the wrist. Quick to fire and reload, the sling was widely hated by those on the receiving end. Shot varied from stones collected in rivers to shaped lumps of clay and lead; lead shot could fly over 400 metres. Such missiles were sometimes inscribed with comments such as “Catch!” or “Take that!” Shot was difficult to see in flight, and although it lacked the penetrating power of an arrow it could easily break bone or stave-in armour at short ranges. Famously, the Roman Consul Paullus was killed by a slinger early in the disastrous Battle of Cannae.
Unit Name Trieres - Rhodioi Sphendonetai |
Main Unit Key Gre_Missile_Trireme_Rhodes |
Land Unit Key Gre_Marine_Rhodes |
Naval Unit Key greek_three |
Soldiers 80 |
Category Medium Ship |
Class Melee Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 1062 |
Recruitment Cost 1062 |
Upkeep Cost 266 |
8 |
├ Missile Weapon sling3 |
├ Projectile sling3 |
├ Missile Damage 6 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 2 |
└ Base Reload Time 11 |
Accuracy 15 |
Range 215 |
Reload 28 |
Shots Per Minute 8 |
Ammunition 40 |
693 |
└ Ship greek_three |
Ship Speed 4 |
Melee Attack 17 |
7 |
├ Melee Weapon dagger2 |
├ Weapon Damage 7 |
├ Weapon Deadliness 0 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Bonus vs. Cavalry 0 |
├ Bonus vs. Elephants 0 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 8 |
39 |
├ Base Defence 13 |
├ Shield shield1 |
└ Shield Defence 26 |
1 |
├ Armour arm0 |
├ Armour Defence 1 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
20 |
├ Man Entity light_light |
├ Man Health 20 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 0 |
Base Morale 40 |
Abilities
Trieres- Row Hard 10
Increases speed for 10 strokes.
Ship speed
- Stamina (excellent)
Governs how fast the unit tires and restores fatigue, and is dependent on type of unit, weight and approach to combat.
Attributes
- Improved Stamina
This unit type has an improvement on the base stamina stat. - Hide (scrub & forest)
This unit can hide in scrub and forest until enemy units get too close. - Hide (scrub & forest)
This unit can hide in scrub and forest until enemy units get too close.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Trieres- Poor hull strength
- Light crew
- Fast speed
- Weak ramming
- Poor boarding
- Average missile combat
- Very long range
- Average rate of fire
- Low damage but average armour penetration
- Very weak in melee
- Very poor morale
Faction Availability | |
---|---|
Grand Campaign | |
Macedonian Wars |