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Pursuit Trihemiolia - Rhodioi Sphendonetai AthenaiAthenai Missile Ship

Pursuit Trihemiolia - Rhodioi Sphendonetai

The trihemiolia is a lighter version of the trireme, with two and a half rows of oars. Developed by the Rhodians, it has been their favoured ship design for centuries and is an ideal pirate hunter, able to keep up with lighter raiding ships.

(Rhodian Slingers)

Few can match the deadly accuracy of the men of Rhodes.

It is thought that the Rhodians, a significant naval power in the eastern Mediterranean, developed the 'trihemiolia' or 'two-and-a-half' as a vessel for pirate hunting. Given that Rhodes is an island entirely reliant on the sea and shipping this is a believable theory. Pirates used the hemiola, a handy little vessel developed from the dieres or bireme, a ship with two rows of oars; it makes sense that pirate hunters would think of taking a trieres, or trireme, with three rows of oars and modifying it in a similar fashion. A trihemiolia still had three rows of oars on each side, but the top row was reduced to only half the number of oars, positioned midships. The result was a faster, handier vessel that provided a height advantage over a hemiola for any archers on board. There was also a strategic benefit to the Rhodians, who could only draw on the manpower of one island: they could have six trieres warships with full complements of rowers, or seven trihemiolias for the same number of men. The useful design was soon adopted by other maritime powers around the Mediterranean.

(Rhodioi Sphendonetai)
Slingers were common in ancient armies. Slings are ancient weapons, dating back to Palaeolithic times. In comparison to bows, they were easy to make and had a greater effective range. Constructed from braided flax, hemp or rushes, a sling has a cradle where the shot is placed. One end has a finger-loop, while the other has a knot or strip giving a firm handhold. The slinger puts his middle finger through the loop and holds the knotted end with his thumb and forefinger. After whirling the shot in the sling it is released with a flick of the wrist. Quick to fire and reload, the sling was widely hated by those on the receiving end. Shot varied from stones collected in rivers to shaped lumps of clay and lead; lead shot could fly over 400 metres. Such missiles were sometimes inscribed with comments such as “Catch!” or “Take that!” Shot was difficult to see in flight, and although it lacked the penetrating power of an arrow it could easily break bone or stave-in armour at short ranges. Famously, the Roman Consul Paullus was killed by a slinger early in the disastrous Battle of Cannae.

Pursuit Trihemiolia - Rhodioi Sphendonetai

Unit Name

Pursuit Trihemiolia - Rhodioi Sphendonetai

Main Unit Key

MERC_Pursuit_Hemolia_Rhodes

Land Unit Key

Gre_Marine_Rhodes

Naval Unit Key

greek_two_halfer

Soldiers

100

Category

Light Ship

Class

Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost

812

Recruitment Cost

812

Upkeep Cost

203

Missile Damage

8

├ Missile Weapon

sling3

├ Projectile

sling3

├ Missile Damage

6

├ Missile Ap Damage

2

└ Base Reload Time

11

Accuracy

15

Range

215

Reload

28

Shots Per Minute

8

Ammunition

40

Ship Health

585

└ Ship

greek_two_halfer

Ship Speed

5

Melee Attack

17

Weapon Damage

7

├ Melee Weapon

dagger2

├ Weapon Damage

7

├ Weapon Deadliness

0

├ Armour Piercing

No

├ Bonus vs. Cavalry

0

├ Bonus vs. Elephants

0

└ Bonus vs Infantry

0

Charge Bonus

8

Melee Defence

39

├ Base Defence

13

├ Shield

shield1

└ Shield Defence

26

Armour

1

├ Armour

arm0

├ Armour Defence

1

└ Shield Armour

0

Health

20

├ Man Entity

light_light

├ Man Health

20

└ Bonus Hit Points

0

Base Morale

40

Abilities

Pursuit Trihemiolia
  • Row Hard 10
    Increases speed for 10 strokes.
    Ship speed
Rhodioi Sphendonetai
  • Stamina (excellent)
    Governs how fast the unit tires and restores fatigue, and is dependent on type of unit, weight and approach to combat.

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

Pursuit Trihemiolia
  • Poor hull strength
  • Medium crew
  • Uncatchable
  • Weak ramming
  • Poor boarding
  • Average missile combat
Rhodioi Sphendonetai
  • Very long range
  • Average rate of fire
  • Low damage but average armour penetration
  • Very weak in melee
  • Very poor morale