Assault Dieres - Mercenary Sabean Spearmen

The waterline ram was first mounted on a vessel in around 850BC. Warships and naval tactics were transformed. Ships were no longer platforms for infantry battles on the water; the ship itself became the weapon. Galleys changed as the new reality sank in. Ramming at speed would hole and sink an enemy, therefore slimmer, faster, handier ships were required. More speed on demand obviously required more oars a fast ship with a single row of oars ended up being stupidly, impractically long. The solution, then, was to put in a second set of oars above the first, but slightly offset to allow for rowers' benches. These biremes, a Latin word meaning 'two oars', or dieres, the Greek equivalent, were no longer than previous designs but had twice the number of rowers. They were fast, manoeuvrable, and could carry a fighting contingent. Some nations also gave their bireme crews fire pots; these clay pots filled with oil and pitch were hurled at enemy ships in the entirely reasonable hope of setting them ablaze.

(Mercenary Sabean Spearmen)
The warriors of the Sabaean region were light infantry, cavalry and archers as mercenaries and auxiliaries for the Roman Empire. Dressed desert-fashion, they were entirely familiar with and comfortable in arid places. This was secondary however, to their reputation as mostly reliable fighters, of far more worth than ordinary citizens or levies. This was due to the independence that the Sabaean kingdom maintained from the 8th century BC to AD275. This record was based on military might as well as diplomacy and the spice trade including frankincense and myrrh. Never conquered by Rome, Sabaean warriors still found work as mercenaries and auxiliaries in Roman service.

Unit Name Assault Dieres - Mercenary Sabean Spearmen

Main Unit Key Mer_Ert_Galley

Land Unit Key Mer_Afr_Spear

Naval Unit Key egyptian_two

Soldiers 60

Category Light Ship

Class Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost 390

Recruitment Cost 390

Upkeep Cost 290

Ship Health 501

└ Ship egyptian_two

Ship Speed 7

Melee Attack 13

Weapon Damage 25

├ Melee Weapon rome_spear

├ Melee Damage Base 20

├ Melee Damage Ap 5

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 20

├ Bonus vs Elephants 20

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 11

Melee Defence 49

├ Base Defence 24

├ Shield oval

└ Shield Defence 25

Armour 45

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 10

└ Shield Armour 35

Health 50

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 10

Base Morale 30

Abilities

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

• Square
  The unit moves into a close square formation.
  Bracing, morale, melee defence
  Can't move

Attributes

• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
• Resistant to Heat
  This unit tires less quickly in the desert.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Very light crew
• Fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Good boarding

• Average defensive unit
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Weak attack
• 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_aithiops	Aethiopia	Aksum Meroe Ptolemais Theron	1	0.15	1	1
2	rom_province_pool_naval_arabia_felix	Arabia Felix	Eudaemon Maas-gat Marib	1	0.15	1	1
3	rom_province_pool_naval_arabia_magna	Arabia Magna	Adummatu Gerrha Yathrib	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
4	rom_province_pool_naval_aithiops	Aethiopia	Aksum Meroe Ptolemais Theron	1	0.15	1	1
5	rom_province_pool_naval_arabia_felix	Arabia Felix	Eudaemon Maas-gat Marib	1	0.15	1	1
6	rom_province_pool_naval_arabia_magna	Arabia Magna	Gerrha Adummatu Yathrib	1	0.15	1	1