
Assault Tetreres - Mercenary Dacian Spears
Ramming attacks from these ships inflict terrible damage.Spearmen, even ill-trained Dacians, are always needed in the battle line.
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.
(Mercenary Dacian Spears)
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.
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Unit Name Assault Tetreres - Mercenary Dacian Spears |
Main Unit Key Mer_Thr_Heavy_Galley |
Land Unit Key Mer_Dac_Spears |
Naval Unit Key greek_four |
Soldiers 120 |
Category Medium Ship |
Class Melee Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 570 |
Recruitment Cost 570 |
Upkeep Cost 420 |
Ship Health 825 |
└ Ship greek_four |
Ship Speed 6 |
Melee Attack 11 |
Weapon Damage 22 |
├ Melee Weapon rome_celtic_spear_anti_cav |
├ Melee Damage Base 15 |
├ Melee Damage Ap 7 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Bonus vs. Large 25 |
├ Bonus vs Elephants 20 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 12 |
Melee Defence 54 |
├ Base Defence 24 |
├ Shield celtic |
└ Shield Defence 30 |
Armour 45 |
├ Armour cloth |
├ Armour Defence 10 |
└ Shield Armour 35 |
Health 50 |
├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium_fast |
├ Man Health 40 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 10 |
Base Morale 30 |
Abilities
Assault Tetreres- Row Hard 20
Increases speed for 20 strokes.
Ship speed
Attributes
- Hide (forest)
This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Assault Tetreres- Average hull strength
- Medium crew
- Average speed
- Average ramming
- Average boarding
- Average defensive unit
- Low damage but average armour penetration
- Weak attack
- 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_thracians | 1 | 0.15 | 1 | 1 |