Alani Pretenders (Empire Divided) Melee Ship

Assault Raider - Steppe Warband

Most of the northern European tribes were not naval powers, but there were still able seafarers to be found amongst them. Shipbuilding techniques were well understood, so while many vessels were small leather-skinned boats for inland and inshore use, bigger sea-going vessels were also made. Shipwrights used heavy planking for hulls, stitched together and then fastened to a wooden skeleton to create sturdy craft able to cope with Atlantic conditions. Julius Caesar was surprised at the quality of the enemy ships when his fleet clashed with the Veneti from modern-day Brittany. The Veneti vessels had flat bottoms to cope with shallows, but were also of heavy oak construction to cope with rough seas. This made them tough opposition for Roman galleys, and capable of shrugging off a ramming attack. Caesar said that the enemy ships "...were constructed of planks a foot in breadth, fastened by iron spikes the thickness of a man's thumb; the anchors were secured fast by iron chains instead of cables”. When the Romans were forced to board, they faced fearsome warriors used to close-quarters fighting at sea.

(Steppe Warband)
These nomadic tribesmen come from the vast steppes to the north of the Black and Caspian Seas, and were known variously as Scythians or Saka, and later the western Sarmatians. Light infantry, they were often armed with javelins or medium length spears and used shields covered in animal hide. Such shields could also be scaled with either horn or metal. This type of armour also extended to their clothing at times, with scaled versions of their tunics becoming widespread, especially amongst the nobility. These men also made extensive use of daggers, straight swords and the fearsome sagaris, a one-handed battle-axe, with both a bladed or hammer-like head and a pick-like point on the reverse for punching through armour. Complimenting their foot archers and horsemen, the role of such men was simply to protect the former from the latter. Far from barbarians, steppe culture, although nomadic, was a rich and diverse one.

Unit Name Assault Raider - Steppe Warband

Main Unit Key 3c_Ala_Assault_Raider

Land Unit Key 3c_Ala_Steppe_Warband

Naval Unit Key 3c_barbarian_raider_melee

Soldiers 80

Category Medium Ship

Class Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost 400

Recruitment Cost 400

Upkeep Cost 80

Ship Health

└ Ship barbarian_raider

Ship Speed

Melee Attack 25

Weapon Damage 34

├ Melee Weapon rome_celtic_hellenic_sword

├ Melee Damage Base 30

├ Melee Damage Ap 4

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 0

├ Bonus vs Elephants 0

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 25

Melee Defence 47

├ Base Defence 22

├ Shield oval

└ Shield Defence 25

Armour 45

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 10

└ Shield Armour 35

Health 45

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_light

├ 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

• Average hull strength
• Light crew
• Very fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Average boarding

• Average attack
• Weak defence
• Average damage but low armour penetration
• Poor morale

Faction Availability
Empire Divided	Alani (Empire Divided) Alani Pretenders (Empire Divided) Alani Secessionists (Empire Divided)