Mierce Missile Ship

Sae Wylfing - Fyrd Javelinmen

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.

(Fyrd Javelinmen)
The fyrd was, in the simplest terms, a levy of ordinary individuals who were not tied to a lord as fighting vassals. The Saxons used fyrds throughout their period of dominance and even for the settled Danes, levying troops was a frequent necessity. After King Alfred of the West Saxons finally defeated Guthrum the Dane in AD 878, he famously implemented a defence-in-depth system of forts that also reformed the Saxon fyrds by dividing them into three main groups. One part of the force remained at home on their estates, while another stayed out on patrol in the field in a constant state of readiness. The third group were the men guarding their local forts, all of which culminated in Anglo-Saxon England becoming a very well-defended place indeed.

When the men of the fyrd were called upon to fight, they were frequently doing so to protect their homes and livelihoods. The throwing spear or javelin was one such genus of weapons they used, with the thrusting variety not always entirely distinct from the thrown variety. The advantage of the javelin thrower was the ability to potentially pierce through shields and armour from distance, but this was offset by the reduced range and limited output compared to standard archers, since there were only so many javelins a thrower could carry at any one time. Javelin throwing was certainly a unique skill, with the most skilful Viking warriors allegedly even able to catch spears in mid-flight to hurl them straight back!

Unit Name Sae Wylfing - Fyrd Javelinmen

Main Unit Key shp_eng_fyrd_javelinmen

Land Unit Key eng_fyrd_javelinmen

Naval Unit Key vik_sae_wylfing_mis

Soldiers 80

Category Light Ship

Class Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost 200

Recruitment Cost 200

Upkeep Cost 50

Missile Damage 37

├ Missile Weapon vik_jav_levy

├ Projectile vik_javelin_levy

├ Missile Damage 28

├ Missile Ap Damage 9

└ Base Reload Time 30

Accuracy 36

Range 80

Reload 40

Rate of Fire 3

Ammunition 7

Hull Strength

└ Ship vik_sae_wylfing

Speed

Melee Skill 8

Melee Damage 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 2

Melee Defence 38

├ Base Defence 8

├ Shield vik_medium

└ Shield 30

Armour 7

├ Armour vik_cloth_helmet

├ Armour Defence 7

└ Shield Armour 0

Health 100

├ Man Entity vik_inf_mis_light

├ Man Health 100

└ Bonus Hit Points 0

Morale 28

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]]Snipe[[/col]]
  This unit remains hidden while firing.

Strengths & Weaknesses

No Strengths and Weaknesses