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Assault Quadrireme - Principes Rome (Samnite Wars)Rome (Samnite Wars) Melee Ship

Assault Quadrireme - Principes

Ramming attacks from these ships inflict terrible damage.

Wealthy, older Roman citizens, the principes are a heavy infantry force.

There is a good deal of debate as to how large ancient warships worked; the principles are understood, but the details are not always so clear. A Roman 'quadreme' or Greek 'tetreres' would seem to have four rows of oars if the name is translated literally. However, it is unclear how four sets of oars each with one rower apiece could be used without them getting in a terrible tangle even with a magnificently trained crew, or how the top set of rowers would be able to handle the extremely long oars pitched at a steep angle and still produce any power. The chances are that the term 'oar' had become synonymous with 'rower' and that the lowest bank had more than one man per oar. The other option was to go back to a double row of oars, with two men apiece. Two banks of oars would also have made for a cheaper construction task for each ship. Either way, the result was a ship that could rival the lighter trireme in speed, yet had more deck space for a large fighting contingent or artillery pieces.

(Principes)
During the 4th century BC the Romans abandoned the phalanx in favour of armies consisting chiefly of hastati, principes and triarii. These were deployed in maniples: compact blocks of men, arranged in a checkerboard formation. This allowed flexibility when moving across the battlefield, particularly when compared to the sluggish movements of a solid pike phalanx. Like most sophisticated city-states of the ancient world, Rome expected its men to fight, and supply their own war gear when they did so. A cynical observer might be tempted to note that the manipular Legion also made sure that the hierarchy of Rome was preserved. The youngest and least wealthy became hastati, the first line of battle in a Roman Legion. Behind them came the second line of principes, older and richer men, and finally came the triarii, the most experienced warriors. “Going to the triarii” was a Roman saying that came to be used in all kinds of situations, implying that everything else had been tried and found wanting.

Assault Quadrireme - Principes Assault Quadrireme - Principes Assault Quadrireme - Principes Assault Quadrireme - Principes Assault Quadrireme - Principes Assault Quadrireme - Principes Assault Quadrireme - Principes Assault Quadrireme - Principes Assault Quadrireme - Principes
Assault Quadrireme - Principes

Unit Name

Assault Quadrireme - Principes

Main Unit Key

Rom_Principes_Four

Land Unit Key

Rom_Principes

Naval Unit Key

roman_four

Soldiers

120

Category

Medium Ship

Class

Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost

750

Recruitment Cost

750

Upkeep Cost

150

Missile Damage

30

├ Missile Weapon

rome_pilum_light

├ Projectile

pilum_light

├ Missile Damage

20

├ Missile Ap Damage

10

└ Base Reload Time

15

Accuracy

5

Range

40

Reload

0

Shots Per Minute

4

Ammunition

2

Ship Health

825

└ Ship

roman_four

Ship Speed

6

Melee Attack

47

Weapon Damage

35

├ Melee Weapon

rome_gladius

├ Melee Damage Base

30

├ Melee Damage Ap

5

├ Armour Piercing

No

├ Bonus vs. Large

0

├ Bonus vs Elephants

0

└ Bonus vs Infantry

0

Charge Bonus

14

Melee Defence

53

├ Base Defence

23

├ Shield

scutum

└ Shield Defence

30

Armour

75

├ Armour

mail

├ Armour Defence

40

└ Shield Armour

35

Health

60

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_very_heavy

├ Man Health

45

└ Bonus Hit Points

15

Base Morale

55

Abilities

Assault Quadrireme
  • Row Hard 10
    Increases speed for 10 strokes.
    Ship speed
Principes
  • Attacking Testudo
    The troops of this unit raise their shields above their heads in a defensive formation.
    Protection against missiles
    Limited speed

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 Quadrireme
  • Average hull strength
  • Medium crew
  • Average speed
  • Average ramming
  • Average boarding
Principes
  • Good attack
  • Average defence
  • Average damage but low armour penetration
  • Normal morale
Upgrade
Required Technology Cohort Organisation Cost 150 Upgrade To Assault Quadrireme - Legionaries
Required Technology Professional Soldiery Cost 450 Upgrade To Assault Quadrireme - Legionary Cohort
Requires Buildings
Assault Quadrireme - Principes Lv. 0 Coastal Patrol
Coastal Patrol
(rome_port_patrol_4)
Level 3
Garrison Buildings
Assault Quadrireme - Principes x 2 Coastal Patrol
Coastal Patrol
(rome_port_patrol_4)
Level 3