Pursuit Trihemiolia - Rhodioi Sphendonetai
The trihemiolia is a lighter version of the trireme, with two and a half rows of oars. Developed by the Rhodians, it has been their favoured ship design for centuries and is an ideal pirate hunter, able to keep up with lighter raiding ships.(Rhodian Slingers)
Few can match the deadly accuracy of the men of Rhodes.
It is thought that the Rhodians, a significant naval power in the eastern Mediterranean, developed the 'trihemiolia' or 'two-and-a-half' as a vessel for pirate hunting. Given that Rhodes is an island entirely reliant on the sea and shipping this is a believable theory. Pirates used the hemiola, a handy little vessel developed from the dieres or bireme, a ship with two rows of oars; it makes sense that pirate hunters would think of taking a trieres, or trireme, with three rows of oars and modifying it in a similar fashion. A trihemiolia still had three rows of oars on each side, but the top row was reduced to only half the number of oars, positioned midships. The result was a faster, handier vessel that provided a height advantage over a hemiola for any archers on board. There was also a strategic benefit to the Rhodians, who could only draw on the manpower of one island: they could have six trieres warships with full complements of rowers, or seven trihemiolias for the same number of men. The useful design was soon adopted by other maritime powers around the Mediterranean.
(Rhodioi Sphendonetai)
Slingers were common in ancient armies. Slings are ancient weapons, dating back to Palaeolithic times. In comparison to bows, they were easy to make and had a greater effective range. Constructed from braided flax, hemp or rushes, a sling has a cradle where the shot is placed. One end has a finger-loop, while the other has a knot or strip giving a firm handhold. The slinger puts his middle finger through the loop and holds the knotted end with his thumb and forefinger. After whirling the shot in the sling it is released with a flick of the wrist. Quick to fire and reload, the sling was widely hated by those on the receiving end. Shot varied from stones collected in rivers to shaped lumps of clay and lead; lead shot could fly over 400 metres. Such missiles were sometimes inscribed with comments such as “Catch!” or “Take that!” Shot was difficult to see in flight, and although it lacked the penetrating power of an arrow it could easily break bone or stave-in armour at short ranges. Famously, the Roman Consul Paullus was killed by a slinger early in the disastrous Battle of Cannae.
Unit Name Pursuit Trihemiolia - Rhodioi Sphendonetai |
Main Unit Key Gre_Pursuit_Hemolia_Rhodes |
Land Unit Key Gre_Marine_Rhodes |
Naval Unit Key greek_two_halfer |
Soldiers 100 |
Category Light Ship |
Class Missile Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 812 |
Recruitment Cost 812 |
Upkeep Cost 203 |
8 |
├ Missile Weapon sling3 |
├ Projectile sling3 |
├ Missile Damage 6 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 2 |
└ Base Reload Time 11 |
Accuracy 15 |
Range 215 |
Reload 28 |
Shots Per Minute 8 |
Ammunition 40 |
585 |
└ Ship greek_two_halfer |
Ship Speed 5 |
Melee Attack 17 |
7 |
├ Melee Weapon dagger2 |
├ Weapon Damage 7 |
├ Weapon Deadliness 0 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Bonus vs. Cavalry 0 |
├ Bonus vs. Elephants 0 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 8 |
39 |
├ Base Defence 13 |
├ Shield shield1 |
└ Shield Defence 26 |
1 |
├ Armour arm0 |
├ Armour Defence 1 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
20 |
├ Man Entity light_light |
├ Man Health 20 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 0 |
Base Morale 40 |
Abilities
Pursuit Trihemiolia- Row Hard 10
Increases speed for 10 strokes.
Ship speed
- Stamina (excellent)
Governs how fast the unit tires and restores fatigue, and is dependent on type of unit, weight and approach to combat.
Attributes
- Improved Stamina
This unit type has an improvement on the base stamina stat. - Hide (scrub & forest)
This unit can hide in scrub and forest until enemy units get too close. - Hide (scrub & forest)
This unit can hide in scrub and forest until enemy units get too close.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Pursuit Trihemiolia- Poor hull strength
- Medium crew
- Uncatchable
- Weak ramming
- Poor boarding
- Average missile combat
- Very long range
- Average rate of fire
- Low damage but average armour penetration
- Very weak in melee
- Very poor morale
Faction Availability | |
---|---|
Grand Campaign | |
Macedonian Wars |