Assault Raider - Mercenary Illyrian Raiders

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 Illyrian Raiders)
Although called Illyrians by Greeks and Romans, these seafaring people from the Adriatic coast were actually not a single nation or tribe. The Greeks first had dealings with them during the Bronze Age, and the name was then applied to everyone in the area. The Illyrians were actually several petty, and not-so-petty, kingdoms that warred with each other when not fighting Greeks or their Macedonian neighbours. The Illyrians could not be lightly dismissed as barbarians: under powerful warlords such as Bardyllis, king of the Dardanians, they conquered Macedon and installed a puppet ruler in 393BC. It was Phillip II and Alexander the Great who eventually ended Illyrian interference in their affairs. The Illyrians were also pirates, and terrorised the Adriatic for centuries; this was what eventually prompted their subjugation by the Romans.

Unit Name Assault Raider - Mercenary Illyrian Raiders

Main Unit Key inv_barbarian_raider_melee_mercenary_ill_raiders

Land Unit Key inv_mercenary_ill_raiders

Naval Unit Key barbarian_raider_melee

Soldiers 80

Category Medium Ship

Class Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost 350

Recruitment Cost 350

Upkeep Cost 260

Missile Damage 32

├ Missile Weapon rome_javelin_precursor

├ Projectile javelin_prec

├ Missile Damage 20

├ Missile Ap Damage 12

└ Base Reload Time 15

Accuracy 5

Range 40

Reload 0

Shots Per Minute 4

Ammunition 2

Ship Health

└ Ship barbarian_raider

Ship Speed

Melee Attack 34

Weapon Damage 26

├ Melee Weapon rome_celtic_axe

├ Melee Damage Base 16

├ Melee Damage Ap 10

├ Armour Piercing Yes

├ Bonus vs. Large 0

├ Bonus vs Elephants 0

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 16

Melee Defence 40

├ Base Defence 15

├ Shield thureos

└ Shield Defence 25

Armour 60

├ Armour chest

├ Armour Defence 25

└ Shield Armour 35

Health 45

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium_fast

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 55

Abilities

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

Attributes

• Guerrilla Deployment
  This unit can deploy outside of the deployment zone.
• Stalk
  This unit can move hidden in any terrain.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Average hull strength
• Light crew
• Very fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Average boarding

• Average attack
• Weak defence
• Average damage but low armour penetration
• Poor morale

Rise of the Republic Mercenaries Pool