Pontikoi Toxotai
(Pontic Archers)Archers are ideal for harassing the enemy from afar, and goading them into foolish action.
Although archery was not highly thought of as a military skill in Greece, Crete produced truly excellent archers who were able to sell their services to the highest bidder as mercenaries. Firing bronze-tipped arrows from their heavy self bows, Cretan archers tended to carry shields, indicative of some additional prowess in melee, which must’ve made them an even more enticing proposition for a general hiring mercenaries for campaign. Their finest hours came when Alexander the Great hired Cretans directly into his army to support its unbeatable phalanx. Commanded by Clearchus, 500 Cretans accompanied the Macedonian phalanx into battle at Granicus, off-setting the Persians' numerical superiority on the day and enabling Alexander’s subsequent victory. Whereas the Romans didn’t traditionally use archers in their forces, once they conquered Greece Cretan archers began to appear as auxiliary troops in their armies. Notably, they fought in Caesar’s campaign in Gaul against Vercingetorix, causing him to rally the best archers the tribes could provide to range against them.
Unit Name Pontikoi Toxotai |
Main Unit Key AOR_29_Pontic_Archers |
Land Unit Key AOR_29_Pontic_Archers |
Naval Unit Key pel_transport |
Soldiers 175 |
Category Missile Infantry |
Class Missile Infantry |
Custom Battle Cost 376 |
Recruitment Cost 376 |
Upkeep Cost 75 |
9 |
├ Missile Weapon bow2 |
├ Projectile bow2 |
├ Missile Damage 9 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 0 |
└ Base Reload Time 14 |
Accuracy 5 |
Range 165 |
Reload 13 |
Shots Per Minute 5 |
Ammunition 15 |
Melee Attack 10 |
7 |
├ Melee Weapon dagger1 |
├ Weapon Damage 7 |
├ Weapon Deadliness 0 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Bonus vs. Cavalry 0 |
├ Bonus vs. Elephants 0 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 6 |
22 |
├ Base Defence 6 |
├ Shield none |
└ Shield Defence 16 |
1 |
├ Armour arm0 |
├ Armour Defence 1 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
20 |
├ Man Entity light_light |
├ Man Health 20 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 0 |
Base Morale 25 |
Abilities
Pontikoi Toxotai- Stamina (excellent)
Governs how fast the unit tires and restores fatigue, and is dependent on type of unit, weight and approach to combat. - Concentrate Fire
The unit fires its missiles towards a spot causing damage to everyone in the area of effect
Attributes
- Improved Stamina
This unit type has an improvement on the base stamina stat. - Hide (scrub & forest)
This unit can hide in scrub and forest until enemy units get too close. - Hide (scrub & forest)
This unit can hide in scrub and forest until enemy units get too close.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Transport- Very poor hull strength
- Very slow speed
- Weak ramming
- Long range
- Average rate of fire
- Good damage but low armour penetration
- Very weak in melee
- Very poor morale
Faction Availability | |
---|---|
Grand Campaign | |
Samnite Wars | |
Caesar in Gaul | |
Hannibal at the Gates | |
Imperator Augustus |