menu
HomeHome / Divide et Impera / Ptolemaioi / Units / Tower Penteres - Machimoi Epibatoi
Tower Penteres - Machimoi Epibatoi PtolemaioiPtolemaioi Melee Ship

Tower Penteres - Machimoi Epibatoi

A quinquereme is a 45 meter long galley with three decks of oars, in a pattern of 2-2-1 oarsmen, developed around 400 BCE by the Syracusans. Its large size allows many marines on board, and also allows ballistae to be mounted on the large decks.

(Egyptian Marines)

The 'five', called a quinquereme in Latin and a penteres in Greek, was a ship first used by the Syracusans against the Carthaginians sometime around 398BC. Like other polyremes, a term meaning many-oared, the chances were that it did not have five banks of oars but that the word 'oar' was used to mean 'rower'. In such a case, the arrangement of rowers would be two-two-one going up from the waterline. It makes sense to keep as much weight as possible low in the vessel to help its stability; a high centre of gravity makes any ship liable to capsize if struck from the side. The quinquereme, then, would be a formidable vessel both in terms of appearance and combat value. With a large fighting contingent aboard and plenty of deck space, this heavy vessel could cope with most enemies and threats.

(Machimoi Epibatoi)
The thureos, a large oval-shaped shield, became common throughout the Hellenistic world from the 3rd century BC. Made from wood covered in hide, it differed from the earlier Greek hoplon in having a central handgrip, which was protected by a vertical spine running the length of the shield. This in turn could be further reinforced by the addition of a wide metal strip that protected the grip and the user’s hand. Inspired by the sub-rectangular and oval shields of the Celts, possibly through contact with the migrating Galatians, its usage seems to have spread through the Illyrian and Thracian tribes before it was adopted by the Greeks. Although large, the thureos was light in comparison to the traditional hoplon, and was adopted by heavily-armoured peltasts. Named after their shields, 'thureophoroi' could fight as common peltasts, skirmishing with javelins, but could also form up with their larger shields and longer spears in a similar fashion to a phalanx. The versatile and useful design of the thureos meant it was used by many armies, including the auxiliaries and cavalry of the later Roman Legions.

Tower Penteres - Machimoi Epibatoi

Unit Name

Tower Penteres - Machimoi Epibatoi

Main Unit Key

Gre_Assault_Quinquereme_Admiral_Egy

Land Unit Key

Egy_Marines

Naval Unit Key

egyptian_lft_five

Soldiers

140

Category

Medium Ship

Class

Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost

1562

Recruitment Cost

1562

Upkeep Cost

390

Missile Damage

11

├ Missile Weapon

prec1

├ Projectile

prec1

├ Missile Damage

11

├ Missile Ap Damage

0

└ Base Reload Time

10

Accuracy

5

Range

80

Reload

0

Shots Per Minute

6

Ammunition

4

Ship Health

1020

└ Ship

egyptian_five

Ship Speed

4

Melee Attack

27

Weapon Damage

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

Melee Defence

79

├ Base Defence

21

├ Shield

shield6

└ Shield Defence

58

Armour

12

├ Armour

arm7

├ Armour Defence

12

└ Shield Armour

0

Health

24

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_very_heavy_slow

├ Man Health

20

└ Bonus Hit Points

4

Base Morale

60

Abilities

Tower Penteres
  • Row Hard 20
    Increases speed for 20 strokes.
    Ship speed
Machimoi Epibatoi
  • Stamina (poor)
    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

Tower Penteres
  • Good hull strength
  • Medium crew
  • Average speed
  • Average ramming
  • Average boarding
  • Very good missile combat
Machimoi Epibatoi
  • Good attack
  • Average defence
  • Average damage but low armour penetration
  • Normal morale