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Sagena - Mercenary Avar Boatmen Mercenaries Melee Ship

Sagena - Mercenary Avar Boatmen

Like its namesake, the arrow is slender, fast, and deadly.

Fighting effectively at sea takes skill, courage, and sea-legs in abundance.

The 'sagena' - meaning 'arrow' - and its smaller cousin the 'kondura' were the vessels of choice of the Narentine pirates, Slavic pagans who switched fishing for piracy and the slave trade during the 8th and 9th centuries AD. Probably based on the Nordic drakkar, these ships were long, slender and shallow, which made them considerably faster than the opposition. The sagena could carry up to forty warriors and the kondura half that number. The ability to outrun the Byzantine Roman authorities, coupled with their capture of Papal emissaries on their way to Constantinople in AD870, intimidated them to the point where Emperor Constantine VII ordered a large amount for use in his own fleets. The most famous example to be discovered is the so-called 'Condura Croatica', found buried in the town of Nin in 1966, and dated to the 14th century - indicating that the kondura and sagena were hardy and effective enough to remain in production for many centuries.

(Mercenary Avar Boatmen)
In the past, naval warfare was just another way for infantry to fight one another. The earliest documented naval battles are those of ancient China, 'grapple and hook' battles where boarding operations and close-quarters combat decided the victor. During the early Middle Ages, the Frankish navy was of no real distinction, yet Charlemagne did maintain a sizeable navy to defend against Viking raids, which was something other kingdoms generally failed to do. At the time, the distinction between fighting on land and at sea was small, yet chiefly a matter of 'sea legs' - maintaining balance whilst toppling your opponent.

Sagena - Mercenary Avar Boatmen

Unit Name

Sagena - Mercenary Avar Boatmen

Main Unit Key

cha_merc_avar_longship_boatmen

Land Unit Key

cha_merc_avar_boatmen

Naval Unit Key

cha_sagena

Soldiers

128

Category

Light Ship

Class

Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost

370

Recruitment Cost

370

Upkeep Cost

220

Hull Strength

1800

└ Ship

att_shp_light_longship_melee

Speed

7

Melee Attack

48

Melee Damage

32

├ Melee Weapon

att_spear

├ Melee Base Damage

24

├ Armour-piercing Damage

8

├ Armour Piercing

No

├ Attack Against Cavalry

20

├ Attack Against Elephants

20

└ Attack Against Infantry

0

Charge Bonus

33

Melee Defence

35

├ Base Defence

10

├ Shield

cha_round

└ Shield Defence

25

Armour

6

├ Armour

cha_cloth

├ Armour Defence

6

└ Shield Armour

0

Health

100

├ Man Entity

cha_infantry_medium

├ Man Health

100

└ Bonus Hit Points

0

Morale

34

Abilities

Mercenary Avar Boatmen
  • Douse Fire
    Sacrifice your ship's mobility for a short time to focus effort on putting out the blaze.
  • Use the Whip
    Improved defence and fatigue resistance for a short time at the cost of overexertion.

Attributes

  • Resistant to Fatigue
    Fatigue has less of an effect on this unit.
  • Hide (forest)
    This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

No Strengths and Weaknesses