Raiding Hemiolia - Gunud Shbeta
A hemiolia is a light and fast raiding ship developed in the 4th century BCE, favoured by pirates but also used by navies as a light patrol ship. It has one and a half rows of oars, making it faster and more powerful than earlier uniremes.(Light Archer Spearmen)
These lightly armoured Arabian archers are versatile troops. Equipped with bows and spears, these men are able to provide an army with ranged support while also acting as light spearmen. However, the versatility of these troops is their main advantage, and they should not be expected to hold out for long in melee against disciplined opponents.
The 'one-and-a-half' or 'hemiolia' was a light galley which was much favoured by pirates in the ancient world. It developed from the bireme, a ship that had two full decks of oars along its entire length. The hemiola reduced the number of oars on the upper level, leaving roughly half the number of oars and rowers in the midship section. The smaller number of rowers had little effect on overall speed because the laden weight of the vessel also dropped. Because it used both oars and sails, and the crew could rapidly change propulsion method, it was an ideal vessel for chasing down fat, wealthy merchant ships. Boarding attacks were mounted from hemiolas; ramming was not a useful tactic as loot ended up with the fish rather than enriching the pirates! The speed and handiness of hemiolas made them useful as scouts, supply boats and vessels used to pick off damaged enemies at the edge of battles.
(Gunud Shbeta)
Drawn from a vast area and numerous tribes, the warriors of sub-Saharan Africa were unsurprisingly diverse in appearance and culture. They all possessed long and rich warrior traditions, such as that of the Nubians and their descendants who ruled Kush, and Aksum. Despite tribal differences weapons and equipment differed only in detail: spears, javelins, bows and short swords were favoured. Relatively little armour was worn, but some tribes did employ wicker, wood or hide shields. Adornments and decorations varied greatly and some groups sported warpaint. Aethiopians in Persian service were known for painting themselves chalk white on one side and vermillion on the other, and using spears and bows of palmwood. Fighting as allies and mercenaries for Carthage, Persia, and the eastern Successors, tribesmen could be found throughout Africa and Asia Minor.
Unit Name Raiding Hemiolia - Gunud Shbeta |
Main Unit Key Eas_Raiding_Hemolia_Arab |
Land Unit Key Eas_Mar_Missile_Arab |
Naval Unit Key persian_one_halfer |
Soldiers 80 |
Category Light Ship |
Class Missile Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 688 |
Recruitment Cost 688 |
Upkeep Cost 172 |
9 |
├ Missile Weapon bow2 |
├ Projectile bow2 |
├ Missile Damage 9 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 0 |
└ Base Reload Time 14 |
Accuracy 5 |
Range 165 |
Reload 13 |
Shots Per Minute 5 |
Ammunition 31 |
402 |
└ Ship roman_one_halfer |
Ship Speed 4 |
Melee Attack 19 |
9 |
├ Melee Weapon spear2 |
├ Weapon Damage 9 |
├ Weapon Deadliness 0 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Bonus vs. Cavalry 3 |
├ Bonus vs. Elephants 10 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 11 |
54 |
├ Base Defence 17 |
├ Shield shield3 |
└ Shield Defence 37 |
1 |
├ Armour arm0 |
├ Armour Defence 1 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
21 |
├ Man Entity medium_light |
├ Man Health 20 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 1 |
Base Morale 50 |
Abilities
Raiding Hemiolia- Row Hard 10
Increases speed for 10 strokes.
Ship speed
- Stamina (good)
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. - Resistant to Heat
This unit tires less quickly in the desert. - Hide (scrub & forest)
This unit can hide in scrub and forest until enemy units get too close. - Resistant to Heat
This unit tires less quickly in the desert.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Raiding Hemiolia- Very poor hull strength
- Light crew
- Very fast speed
- Weak ramming
- Very poor boarding
- Poor missile combat
- Long range
- Average rate of fire
- Good damage but low armour penetration
- Very weak in melee
- Very poor morale
Faction Availability | |
---|---|
Grand Campaign | |
Imperator Augustus |