Missile Penteres - Mercenary Peltasts

The 'five', called a quinquereme in Latin and a penteres in Greek, was a ship first used by the Syracusans against the Carthaginians sometime around 398BC. Like other polyremes, a term meaning many-oared, the chances were that it did not have five banks of oars but that the word 'oar' was used to mean 'rower'. In such a case, the arrangement of rowers would be two-two-one going up from the waterline. It makes sense to keep as much weight as possible low in the vessel to help its stability; a high centre of gravity makes any ship liable to capsize if struck from the side. The quinquereme, then, would be a formidable vessel both in terms of appearance and combat value. With a large fighting contingent aboard and plenty of deck space, this heavy vessel could cope with most enemies and threats.

(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 Missile Penteres - Mercenary Peltasts

Main Unit Key Mer_Cil_Heavy_Galley

Land Unit Key Mer_Gre_Peltasts

Naval Unit Key greek_five

Soldiers 140

Category Medium Ship

Class Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost 930

Recruitment Cost 930

Upkeep Cost 690

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 1020

└ Ship greek_five

Ship Speed 5

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 20
  Increases speed for 20 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

• Good hull strength
• Medium crew
• Average speed
• Average ramming
• Poor boarding
• Good 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_cilicia	Syria	Antioch Samosata Tarsus Thapsacus	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
2	rom_province_pool_naval_cilicia	Cilicia	Tarsus Salamis Side	1	0.15	1	1