Hepteres - Machimoi Epibatoi
A septireme is a 45 meter long oared warship with two decks of oars, the top row powered by three oarsmen, and the bottom by four. Developed around 280 BCE, these huge flagships are slow and cumbersome, but are difficult to sink and can hold many marines.(Egyptian Marines)
An arms race in warship size developed between the various nations around the Mediterranean. Size, in terms of the number of rowers, ships length and bulk and above all majesty of the vessel became as much a tool of statecraft as of warfare. A people who could afford such ships were almost certainly rich enough to withstand the strains of any war. A 'four' or quadreme was still a handy warship, able to manoeuvre in battle. The same could not be said of some of the large polyremes, a word meaning many oars. Practical archaeology shows that too many banks of oars simply don't work, so polyreme probably referred to the number of rowers: a septireme is likely to have had some seven rowers per bank of three oars, arranged in three, three, and two to an oar going up from the waterline. King Demetius of Macedon led his fleet at the battle of Salamis in 306BC from the deck of a hepteres or 'seven', but his ambitions didn't stop there. Neither did those of other kingdoms, and later lumbering warships including 'elevens', 'thirteens' and larger. As bigger ships to carry more rowers such vessels could also carry big marine contingents, arrow towers and an array of useful artillery.
(Machimoi Epibatoi)
The thureos, a large oval-shaped shield, became common throughout the Hellenistic world from the 3rd century BC. Made from wood covered in hide, it differed from the earlier Greek hoplon in having a central handgrip, which was protected by a vertical spine running the length of the shield. This in turn could be further reinforced by the addition of a wide metal strip that protected the grip and the user’s hand. Inspired by the sub-rectangular and oval shields of the Celts, possibly through contact with the migrating Galatians, its usage seems to have spread through the Illyrian and Thracian tribes before it was adopted by the Greeks. Although large, the thureos was light in comparison to the traditional hoplon, and was adopted by heavily-armoured peltasts. Named after their shields, 'thureophoroi' could fight as common peltasts, skirmishing with javelins, but could also form up with their larger shields and longer spears in a similar fashion to a phalanx. The versatile and useful design of the thureos meant it was used by many armies, including the auxiliaries and cavalry of the later Roman Legions.
Unit Name Hepteres - Machimoi Epibatoi |
Main Unit Key Gre_Assault_Hepteres_Egy |
Land Unit Key Egy_Marines |
Naval Unit Key greek_seven |
Soldiers 180 |
Category Heavy Ship |
Class Melee Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 2188 |
Recruitment Cost 2188 |
Upkeep Cost 547 |
11 |
├ Missile Weapon prec1 |
├ Projectile prec1 |
├ Missile Damage 11 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 0 |
└ Base Reload Time 10 |
Accuracy 5 |
Range 80 |
Reload 0 |
Shots Per Minute 6 |
Ammunition 4 |
1617 |
└ Ship greek_seven |
Ship Speed 3 |
Melee Attack 27 |
10 |
├ Melee Weapon gsword3 |
├ Weapon Damage 10 |
├ Weapon Deadliness 0 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Bonus vs. Cavalry 0 |
├ Bonus vs. Elephants 0 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 13 |
79 |
├ Base Defence 21 |
├ Shield shield6 |
└ Shield Defence 58 |
12 |
├ Armour arm7 |
├ Armour Defence 12 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
24 |
├ Man Entity rome_infantry_very_heavy_slow |
├ Man Health 20 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 4 |
Base Morale 60 |
Abilities
Hepteres- Row Hard 30
Increases speed for 30 strokes.
Ship speed
- Stamina (poor)
Governs how fast the unit tires and restores fatigue, and is dependent on type of unit, weight and approach to combat.
Attributes
- Disciplined
This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often. - Hide (forest)
This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Hepteres- Exceptional hull strength
- Very heavy crew
- Very slow speed
- Strong ramming
- Good boarding
- Very good missile combat
- Good attack
- Average defence
- Average damage but low armour penetration
- Normal morale
Faction Availability | |
---|---|
Grand Campaign | |
Imperator Augustus | |
Macedonian Wars |