Missile Raider - Mercenary Briton Slingers

Most of the northern European tribes were not naval powers, but there were still able seafarers to be found amongst them. Shipbuilding techniques were well understood, so while many vessels were small leather-skinned boats for inland and inshore use, bigger sea-going vessels were also made. Shipwrights used heavy planking for hulls, stitched together and then fastened to a wooden skeleton to create sturdy craft able to cope with Atlantic conditions. Julius Caesar was surprised at the quality of the enemy ships when his fleet clashed with the Veneti from modern-day Brittany. The Veneti vessels had flat bottoms to cope with shallows, but were also of heavy oak construction to cope with rough seas. This made them tough opposition for Roman galleys, and capable of shrugging off a ramming attack. Caesar said that the enemy ships "...were constructed of planks a foot in breadth, fastened by iron spikes the thickness of a man's thumb; the anchors were secured fast by iron chains instead of cables”. When the Romans were forced to board, they faced fearsome warriors used to close-quarters fighting at sea.

(Mercenary Briton Slingers)
As far as the Celts were concerned, the best way to kill a man was in hand-to-hand combat. The Celts thought there was great value in personal bravery and there was no honour in killing from a distance. Even so, slingers, javelinmen and archers still had their place on the battlefield. It was often the only way that some Celts could go to war: Celtic warriors paid for their own equipment, so only the wealthy could afford, or had the right to carry, fine armour and weapons. Skirmishers were usually the poor: freemen who served as clients to the noble class. While they could never hope to achieve the same status as their noble masters, they could still prove their worth in the cut and thrust of battle.

Unit Name Missile Raider - Mercenary Briton Slingers

Main Unit Key Mer_Cal_Raider

Land Unit Key Mer_Bri_Slingers

Naval Unit Key barbarian_raider_ranged

Soldiers 80

Category Medium Ship

Class Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost 440

Recruitment Cost 440

Upkeep Cost 180

Missile Damage 22

├ Missile Weapon rome_sling_improved

├ Projectile sling_stone_improved

├ Missile Damage 17

├ Missile Ap Damage 5

└ Base Reload Time 9

Accuracy 5

Range 155

Reload 18

Shots Per Minute 8

Ammunition 35

Ship Health

└ Ship barbarian_raider

Ship Speed

Melee Attack 7

Weapon Damage 23

├ Melee Weapon rome_shortsword

├ Melee Damage Base 20

├ Melee Damage Ap 3

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 0

├ Bonus vs Elephants 0

└ Bonus vs Infantry 5

Charge Bonus 3

Melee Defence 44

├ Base Defence 5

├ Shield celtic_round

└ Shield Defence 39

Armour 53

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 27

└ Shield Armour 26

Health 50

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_very_light

├ Man Health 45

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 20

Abilities

• Row Hard 10
  Increases speed for 10 strokes.
  Ship speed

• Quick Reload
  Improved reloading for an extended time.
  Shots per minute
  Exertion: fatigue

Attributes

• Resistant to Fatigue
  Fatigue has less of an effect on this unit.
• Hide (scrub & forest)
  This unit can hide in scrub and forest until enemy units get too close.
• Resistant to Cold
  This unit tires less quickly in snow.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Good hull strength
• Medium crew
• Fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Poor boarding
• Good missile combat

• Very long range
• Average rate of fire
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Very weak in melee
• Very poor morale

Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No.	Pool	Province	Region	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
1	rom_province_pool_naval_caledonia	Pretanic Isles	Eilodon Elbana Stanwick	1	0.15	1	1

Grand Campaign Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No.	Pool	Province	Region	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
2	rom_province_pool_naval_caledonia	Caledonia et Hibernia	Eildon Eblana	1	0.15	1	1