
Missile Raider - Mercenary Dacian Bowmen
These ships keep a contingent of archers aboard to harry enemy crews.A little gold sometimes goes a long way.
Most of the northern European tribes were not naval powers, but there were still able seafarers to be found amongst them. Shipbuilding techniques were well understood, so while many vessels were small leather-skinned boats for inland and inshore use, bigger sea-going vessels were also made. Shipwrights used heavy planking for hulls, stitched together and then fastened to a wooden skeleton to create sturdy craft able to cope with Atlantic conditions. Julius Caesar was surprised at the quality of the enemy ships when his fleet clashed with the Veneti from modern-day Brittany. The Veneti vessels had flat bottoms to cope with shallows, but were also of heavy oak construction to cope with rough seas. This made them tough opposition for Roman galleys, and capable of shrugging off a ramming attack. Caesar said that the enemy ships "...were constructed of planks a foot in breadth, fastened by iron spikes the thickness of a man's thumb; the anchors were secured fast by iron chains instead of cables”. When the Romans were forced to board, they faced fearsome warriors used to close-quarters fighting at sea.
(Mercenary Dacian Bowmen)
The exact origins of the Dacians are something of a mystery. Dacian lands were centred around the Carpathian Mountains but, unlike their Thracian neighbours, they seldom got involved in the conflicts of others. The Dacians fought almost entirely on foot, and usually looked to their Sarmatian allies when serious cavalry were needed. Many Dacian infantry fought as peltasts, equipped with javelins, short swords and oval shields, but they also fielded archers. However, the Dacians were most feared because of a weapon called the 'falx', which they used with deadly, limb-lopping skill. A two-handed sword with a forward-curving blade, a falx could cut a man in two from the top of his head to his breastbone. This weapon was so effective that the Romans improved their legionary armour to cope with it. The brow-ridge on later legionary helmets was there to stop a blow from a falx. Rome’s eventual victory in the Dacian Wars (AD101-106), celebrated by Trajan’s Column, finally dealt with the warlike Dacian tribes once and for all.
![]() |
Unit Name Missile Raider - Mercenary Dacian Bowmen |
Main Unit Key Mer_Dac_Raider |
Land Unit Key Mer_Dac_Bowmen |
Naval Unit Key barbarian_raider_ranged |
Soldiers 80 |
Category Medium Ship |
Class Missile Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 380 |
Recruitment Cost 300 |
Upkeep Cost 220 |
Missile Damage 35 |
├ Missile Weapon rome_bow |
├ Projectile arrow_normal |
├ Missile Damage 31 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 4 |
└ Base Reload Time 12 |
Accuracy 5 |
Range 125 |
Reload 13 |
Shots Per Minute 6 |
Ammunition 15 |
Ship Health |
└ Ship barbarian_raider |
Ship Speed |
Melee Attack 8 |
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 3 |
Melee Defence 12 |
├ Base Defence 12 |
├ Shield none |
└ Shield Defence 0 |
Armour 10 |
├ Armour cloth |
├ Armour Defence 10 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
Health 45 |
├ Man Entity rome_infantry_very_light |
├ Man Health 40 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 5 |
Base Morale 25 |
Abilities
Missile Raider- 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
Missile Raider- Good hull strength
- Medium crew
- Fast speed
- Weak ramming
- Poor boarding
- Good missile combat
- Long range
- Average rate of fire
- Good damage but low armour penetration
- Very weak in melee
- Very poor morale
Faction Mercenaries Pool
Mercenaries Pool | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Pool | Faction | Initial Unit Count | Chance To Replenish | Max Replenish Per Turn | Max Count |
1 | rom_faction_pool_naval_dacians | 1 | 0.15 | 1 | 1 |