Fire Pot Bireme - Classiarii
A fire-pot armed bireme, this 30 meter long oared warship (galley) has two decks of oars and jars of flammable pitch suspended over the bow on long poles. These are dropped onto enemy ships and can quickly ignite the decks.(Roman Marines)
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.
(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 Fire Pot Bireme - Classiarii |
Main Unit Key Rom_Firepot_Bireme |
Land Unit Key Rom_Marines |
Naval Unit Key roman_fire_pot_two |
Soldiers 60 |
Category Light Ship |
Class Melee Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 1062 |
Recruitment Cost 1062 |
Upkeep Cost 266 |
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 |
501 |
└ Ship roman_two |
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
Fire Pot Bireme- 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
Fire Pot Bireme- Very poor hull strength
- Very light crew
- Fast speed
- Very strong initial ramming
- Good boarding
- Good attack
- Average defence
- Average damage but low armour penetration
- Normal morale
Faction Availability | |
---|---|
Grand Campaign | |
Samnite Wars | |
Hannibal at the Gates | |
Macedonian Wars |