


Assault Hexeres - Palmyrene Spearmen
These magnificent ships are both intimidating and extremely dangerous.Cheap spearmen are not necessarily poor spearmen.
As centuries passed, naval tactics and needs changed across the Mediterranean. There was a move towards larger ships, partly as an expression of national or dynastic power: the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt were particularly fond of large ships to show their wealth and influence in a physical way. These 'polyremes', a term meaning many oared, were not suitable for ramming work in battle. In practice many of them had no more oars than smaller ships; what they had were more rowers per oar than smaller ships. A Roman hexareme or Greek hexeres would have a couple of banks of oars with three men per oar, and appear to be an over-sized version of a smaller ship. Even so, thanks to being tremendously heavy and strongly constructed, they were slow moving, and hardly capable of the quick turns needed to take advantage of enemy mistakes. Instead the large ships made use of their wide decks and plentiful carrying capacities and became fighting platforms for infantry and artillery. Boarding or long-range bombardment were the methods to be used to defeat the enemy; naval warfare had come full circle in terms of fighting methods, even if ships had grown significantly.
(Palmyrene Spearmen)
These spearmen were drawn from the subjects of the eastern regions. They were inexpensive, and simply equipped with a spear, wicker shield and cloth armour. Their shields were oval or rectangular in shape with a central handgrip. While uniformly equipped for the most part, their appearance varied greatly depending where they were recruited, and all kinds of Greek and Persian influences were manifest. In battle, spearmen guarded the flanks of phalanxes, or provided protection for skirmishers and archers. Although ill-equipped to face heavy enemies, their numbers and spears made them an effective counter to unarmoured cavalry. They were also a common type of mercenary and levied unit throughout Asia Minor and the Middle East.
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Unit Name Assault Hexeres - Palmyrene Spearmen |
Main Unit Key 3c_Pal_Assault_Hexeres |
Land Unit Key 3c_Pal_Palmyrene_Spearmen |
Naval Unit Key 3c_greek_six |
Soldiers 160 |
Category Heavy Ship |
Class Melee Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 980 |
Recruitment Cost 980 |
Upkeep Cost 195 |
Missile Damage 29 |
├ Missile Weapon rome_javelin_light_nonprecursor |
├ Projectile javelin_light |
├ Missile Damage 20 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 9 |
└ Base Reload Time 10 |
Accuracy 5 |
Range 80 |
Reload 0 |
Shots Per Minute 6 |
Ammunition 2 |
Ship Health 1046 |
└ Ship greek_six |
Ship Speed 5 |
Melee Attack 24 |
Weapon Damage 25 |
├ Melee Weapon rome_spear |
├ Melee Damage Base 20 |
├ Melee Damage Ap 5 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Bonus vs. Large 20 |
├ Bonus vs Elephants 20 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 26 |
Melee Defence 55 |
├ Base Defence 30 |
├ Shield thureos |
└ Shield Defence 25 |
Armour 70 |
├ Armour spolas |
├ Armour Defence 35 |
└ Shield Armour 35 |
Health 50 |
├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium_fast |
├ Man Health 40 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 10 |
Base Morale 50 |
Abilities
Assault Hexeres- Row Hard 30
Increases speed for 30 strokes.
Ship speed
- Hoplite Wall
The unit moves into close wall formation.
Bracing, melee defence, shield strength
Acceleration, speed - Square
The unit moves into a close square formation.
Bracing, morale, melee defence
Can't move
Attributes
- Disciplined
This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often. - Formation Attack
The unit will try to stay in formation when in melee. - Hide (forest)
This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Assault Hexeres- Very good hull strength
- Heavy crew
- Slow speed
- Strong ramming
- Very good boarding
- Good defensive unit
- Low damage but average armour penetration
- Average attack
- Normal morale
Faction Availability | |
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Empire Divided |