Trireme - Classiarii
A trireme is a 37 meter long oared warship (galley) with three decks of oars, developed from the bireme in the 5th century BCE. Popular with Carthaginian, Greek and Roman navies, this is the main warship of the classical age.(Roman Marines)
Of all the warships found in the ancient world, it is the trireme, or trieres, that remains the most famous and recognisable. Nearly all Hollywood 'sword and sandal' movies will include a trireme somewhere. The vessel was entirely designed for war. Its name came from the three rows of oars carried on each side, stacked above each other in staggered columns to give the rowers some room to work. The top row of oars pivoted on a rowlock, or oarlock, mounted on an outrigger projecting from the hull. This allowed the top oars to pitch down at a sharper angle to reach the sea without getting tangled in the lower ones. The trireme was a greyhound of a ship, capable of high-speed dashes with a well-trained crew and, contrary to popular belief, not all rowers were slaves. Aboard Greek vessels they were citizens, and were given respect, not the lash. They were also largely fair-weather ships, and unsuited to rough seas such as the Atlantic; the lowest level of oars were, at most, less than half a metre above the waterline. That, however, did not stop the trireme being a superb weapon against other ships: a high-speed ramming attack could rip a hole in the side of almost any target. The type was also large enough to be used in other ways, which lead to it carrying archers and assorted light artillery pieces.
(Classiarii)
During the 4th century BC the Romans abandoned the phalanx in favour of armies consisting chiefly of hastati, principes and triarii. These were deployed in maniples: compact blocks of men, arranged in a checkerboard formation. This allowed flexibility when moving across the battlefield, particularly when compared to the sluggish movements of a solid pike phalanx. Like most sophisticated city-states of the ancient world, Rome expected its men to fight, and supply their own war gear when they did so. A cynical observer might be tempted to note that the manipular Legion also made sure that the hierarchy of Rome was preserved. The youngest and least wealthy became hastati, the first line of battle in a Roman Legion. Behind them came the second line of principes, older and richer men, and finally came the triarii, the most experienced warriors. “Going to the triarii” was a Roman saying that came to be used in all kinds of situations, implying that everything else had been tried and found wanting.
Unit Name Trireme - Classiarii |
Main Unit Key Rom_Assault_Trireme |
Land Unit Key Rom_Marines |
Naval Unit Key roman_three |
Soldiers 80 |
Category Medium Ship |
Class Melee Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 1188 |
Recruitment Cost 1188 |
Upkeep Cost 297 |
15 |
├ Missile Weapon pilum1 |
├ Projectile pilum1 |
├ Missile Damage 12 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 3 |
└ Base Reload Time 6 |
Accuracy 5 |
Range 80 |
Reload 0 |
Shots Per Minute 10 |
Ammunition 4 |
693 |
└ Ship roman_three |
Ship Speed 4 |
Melee Attack 24 |
10 |
├ Melee Weapon gsword3 |
├ Weapon Damage 10 |
├ Weapon Deadliness 0 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Bonus vs. Cavalry 0 |
├ Bonus vs. Elephants 0 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 13 |
79 |
├ Base Defence 21 |
├ Shield shield6 |
└ Shield Defence 58 |
14 |
├ Armour arm8 |
├ Armour Defence 14 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
22 |
├ Man Entity medium_medium |
├ Man Health 20 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 2 |
Base Morale 65 |
Abilities
Trireme- Row Hard 10
Increases speed for 10 strokes.
Ship speed
- Stamina (low)
Governs how fast the unit tires and restores fatigue, and is dependent on type of unit, weight and approach to combat.
Attributes
- Disciplined
This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often. - Hide (forest)
This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Trireme- Poor hull strength
- Light crew
- Fast speed
- Weak ramming
- Poor boarding
- Average missile combat
- Good attack
- Average defence
- Average damage but low armour penetration
- Normal morale
Faction Availability | |
---|---|
Grand Campaign | |
Samnite Wars | |
Hannibal at the Gates | |
Macedonian Wars |