Raiding Hemiolia - Mercenary Peltasts

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.

(Mercenary Peltasts)
These skirmishers were named for their small crescent-shaped leather or wicker shields or 'peltai'. It was a common habit to name troops for their shield style in the Greek world. They wore little or no armour and carried three javelins. After harassing the enemy by flinging javelins, they would hastily retreat before any counter-charge or flanking move could be carried out. As armies developed and tactics became more complex, peltasts were expected to take part in hand-to-hand combat: with such expectation they were given stiffened linen cuirasses and short swords. They were still expected to use javelins, but could then join in the close fighting. Eventually, peltasts even exchanged their characteristic shield for the heavier thureos. Their name and battlefield function remained unchanged.

Unit Name Raiding Hemiolia - Mercenary Peltasts

Main Unit Key Mer_Car_One_Halfer

Land Unit Key Mer_Gre_Peltasts

Naval Unit Key greek_one_halfer

Soldiers 80

Category Light Ship

Class Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost 490

Recruitment Cost 490

Upkeep Cost 360

Missile Damage 32

├ Missile Weapon rome_javelin

├ Projectile javelin_normal

├ Missile Damage 20

├ Missile Ap Damage 12

└ Base Reload Time 10

Accuracy 5

Range 80

Reload 18

Shots Per Minute 7

Ammunition 7

Ship Health 402

└ Ship greek_one_halfer

Ship Speed 6

Melee Attack 18

Weapon Damage 24

├ Melee Weapon rome_shortsword

├ Melee Damage Base 20

├ Melee Damage Ap 4

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 0

├ Bonus vs Elephants 0

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 10

Melee Defence 40

├ Base Defence 15

├ Shield peltast_thureos

└ Shield Defence 25

Armour 65

├ Armour spolas

├ Armour Defence 35

└ Shield Armour 30

Health 50

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_light

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 10

Base Morale 40

Abilities

• Row Hard 10
  Increases speed for 10 strokes.
  Ship speed

Attributes

• Resistant to Fatigue
  Fatigue has less of an effect on this unit.
• Hide (scrub & forest)
  This unit can hide in scrub and forest until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Light crew
• Very fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Very poor boarding
• Poor missile combat

• Short range
• Fast rate of fire
• Very good damage and armour penetration
• Large shield
• Very weak in melee
• Poor morale

Empire Divided Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No.	Pool	Province	Region	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
1	rom_province_pool_naval_asia	Asia	Ephesus Pergamon Pessinus Rhodos	1	0.15	1	1
2	rom_province_pool_naval_hellas	Achaia	Athenae Gortyna Sparta	1	0.15	1	1

Grand Campaign Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No.	Pool	Province	Region	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
3	rom_province_pool_naval_asia	Asia	Ephesus Pergamon Pessinus Rhodos	1	0.15	1	1
4	rom_province_pool_naval_hellas	Hellas	Athenai Hierapytna Sparta	1	0.15	1	1