Birlinn - Alban Crossbowmen
This transport ship is light and easy to manoeuvre, but almost defenceless if attacked.Crossbows are ideal for hunting, even more so when the hunted are enemy combatants.
For most of history the only way to move cargoes and people over long distances at any kind of reasonable speed was by water; this remained true until the invention of the railway. Trading vessels carried goods, following the coastlines for the most part, and up navigable rivers. The pattern of settlement and colonisation was almost entirely based on where ships could go. It was also considerably easier to move armies by sea than march them long distances. Trade ships were hired or requisitioned for such tasks, and this was an added incentive for generals to reach a quick conclusion to a campaign: war hurt trade, and used up ships needed for vital food supplies.
(Alban Crossbowmen)
Thought to have been invented simultaneously in both Greece and China during the fifth century BC, various forms of crossbow had been spreading rapidly across Europe from well before the Migration Period. By the turn of millennium into the Common Era, the Romans had already fielded their large torsion-sprung scorpion and ballista bolt throwers for the first time, and by the second century were training cavalry to use handheld adaptations on the battlefield. Eventually, the crossbow reached the barbarian tribal confederations of northern and western Europe, where it was used in deadly combination with the pike tactics emerging at the time, while also becoming a popular hunting weapon.
The crossbow originally came about as a way of automating the simple bow. It worked by mounting a shorter arrow or bolt horizontally on a barrel or stock that, once fitted, could be drawn with a ratchet mechanism to a much greater tension than a man alone could generate without one. This meant that the crossbow could penetrate heavy armour far more effectively than ever before. Also, unlike the bow which took many years of training and practice to master, a layman could be taught to use a crossbow in well within a week. Comparably poor rates of fire was the weapon’s only real downside, but since it could be held in tension for a much longer period of time, crossbowmen often had time to pick and choose their shots carefully. This aspect meant that crossbows were unequalled as the sniper rifles of the ancient and medieval worlds.
Unit Name Birlinn - Alban Crossbowmen |
Main Unit Key shp_sco_alban_crossbowmen |
Land Unit Key sco_alban_crossbowmen |
Naval Unit Key vik_birlinn_mis |
Soldiers 80 |
Category Light Ship |
Class Missile Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 300 |
Recruitment Cost 300 |
Upkeep Cost 70 |
38 |
├ Missile Weapon vik_crossbow |
├ Projectile vik_crossbow_normal |
├ Missile Damage 11 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 27 |
└ Base Reload Time 43 |
Accuracy 26 |
Range 125 |
Reload 35 |
Rate of Fire 2 |
Ammunition 14 |
└ Ship vik_birlinn |
Speed |
Melee Skill 11 |
9 |
├ Melee Weapon vik_dagger |
├ Melee Base Damage 7 |
├ Armour-piercing Damage 2 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Attack Against Cavalry 0 |
├ Attack Against Elephants 0 |
└ Attack Against Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 3 |
11 |
├ Base Defence 11 |
├ Shield vik_none |
└ Shield 0 |
7 |
├ Armour vik_cloth_helmet |
├ Armour Defence 7 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
100 |
├ Man Entity vik_inf_mis_med |
├ Man Health 100 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 0 |
Morale 45 |
Abilities
No Ability
Attributes
- [[col:yellow]]Resistant to Fatigue[[/col]]
Fatigue has less of an effect on this unit. - [[col:yellow]]Hide (forest)[[/col]]
This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close. - [[col:yellow]]Ignore Terrain[[/col]]
Speed penalties caused by the terrain are ignored by this unit. - [[col:yellow]]Snipe[[/col]]
This unit remains hidden while firing.
Strengths & Weaknesses
No Strengths and Weaknesses