Cimmeria Melee Ship

Assault Dieres - Young Axes

The waterline ram was first mounted on a vessel in around 850BC. Warships and naval tactics were transformed. Ships were no longer platforms for infantry battles on the water; the ship itself became the weapon. Galleys changed as the new reality sank in. Ramming at speed would hole and sink an enemy, therefore slimmer, faster, handier ships were required. More speed on demand obviously required more oars a fast ship with a single row of oars ended up being stupidly, impractically long. The solution, then, was to put in a second set of oars above the first, but slightly offset to allow for rowers' benches. These biremes, a Latin word meaning 'two oars', or dieres, the Greek equivalent, were no longer than previous designs but had twice the number of rowers. They were fast, manoeuvrable, and could carry a fighting contingent. Some nations also gave their bireme crews fire pots; these clay pots filled with oil and pitch were hurled at enemy ships in the entirely reasonable hope of setting them ablaze.

(Young Axes)
Far from being simple, ignorant barbarians, the various steppe tribes had a great cultural wealth. Living in an area stretching from the Caspian Sea to the northern shores of the Black Sea; the Greeks called them 'Scythians' and the Persians 'Saka', while a western group became known as the Sarmatians. Wearing trousers marked them as barbarians as far as the Greeks were concerned, before their tall, pointed caps and swarthy appearances were even considered. Looks apart, they were, however, exceptional horsemen, highly-skilled with composite-recurve bows and deadly hand-to-hand fighters. Grave goods suggest that Scythian women were as warlike as their men, and probably fought alongside them in battle. This may well be the origin of the Greek myths of Amazon warrior women.

Unit Name Assault Dieres - Young Axes

Main Unit Key Ste_Axes_Two

Land Unit Key Ste_Young_Axes

Naval Unit Key greek_two

Soldiers 60

Category Light Ship

Class Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost 270

Recruitment Cost 270

Upkeep Cost 50

Ship Health 501

└ Ship greek_two

Ship Speed 6

Melee Attack 28

Weapon Damage 26

├ Melee Weapon rome_celtic_axe

├ Melee Damage Base 16

├ Melee Damage Ap 10

├ Armour Piercing Yes

├ Bonus vs. Large 0

├ Bonus vs Elephants 0

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 14

Melee Defence 51

├ Base Defence 11

├ Shield caetra

└ Shield Defence 40

Armour 15

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 10

└ Shield Armour 5

Health 45

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 25

Abilities

• Row Hard 10
  Increases speed for 10 strokes.
  Ship speed

Attributes

• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
• Resistant to Cold
  This unit tires less quickly in snow.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Very light crew
• Fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Good boarding

• Average attack
• Poor defence
• Low damage but good armour penetration
• Poor morale

Requires Buildings
Lv. 0	Shipwright (greek_port_harbour_2) Level 1 Docks (greek_port_harbour_3) Level 2 Neosokoi (greek_port_harbour_4) Level 3

Garrison Buildings
x 2	Shipwright (greek_port_harbour_2) Level 1

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Cimmeria Cimmerian Nobles Cimmerian Secessionists