Suebi (Caesar in Gaul) Field Artillery

German Onager

One of the simplest forms of one-armed catapult, the onager relied on twisted skeins of animal sinew which provided the power to hurl either rocks or shot. Inaccurate but powerful, it was an effective siege engine against buildings and fortifications, but was of far less use on the battlefield unless firing into massed infantry ranks. First mentioned by Philon of Byzantium in his treatise ‘Mechanics’, the onager had a sling-like cradle attached to a firing arm. This arm was inserted and twisted to propel its shot through torsion. As the firing arm was released, the sling-like cradle would unhook, firing the projectile. A padded beam was incorporated into the housing frame to restrain the arm. Larger machines could require as many as eight or ten crewmen, and the incredible recoil meant that they could not be easily or safely mounted on walls or towers. Quickly constructed wherever wood was readily available, onagers soon became a staple of ancient siege warfare.

Unit Name German Onager

Main Unit Key Ger_Onager

Land Unit Key Ger_Onager

Naval Unit Key barbarian_transport_small

Soldiers 40

Category Siege Engine

Class Field Artillery

Custom Battle Cost 1600

Recruitment Cost 750

Upkeep Cost 85

Missile Damage 190

├ Engine onager

├ Missile Weapon rome_onager

├ Projectile rock

├ Missile Damage 110

├ Missile Ap Damage 80

└ Base Reload Time 15

Accuracy 5

Range 350

Reload 4

Shots Per Minute 4

Ammunition 20

Melee Attack 9

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 5

Melee Defence 8

├ Base Defence 8

├ Shield none

└ Shield Defence 0

Armour 27

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 27

└ Shield Armour 0

Health 60

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium

├ Man Health 55

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 35

Abilities

No Ability

Attributes

• Cannot Run
  This unit cannot run and will only move at walking pace.
• Resistant to Cold
  This unit tires less quickly in snow.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Very slow speed
• Weak ramming

• Long range
• High damage with its different rounds
• Hard to destroy
• Inaccurate
• Low rate of fire

Requires Buildings
Lv. 0	Carpenter (barb_craftsmen_wood_3) Level 2
Lv. 1	Builder's Hall (barb_craftsmen_wood_4) Level 3

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Aestii Anartes Bastarnae Cherusci Cimbri Frisii Gutones Lugii Marcomanni German Rebels Rugii Suebi Suebi tribal council
Caesar in Gaul	Nemetes (Caesar in Gaul) German Rebels (Caesar in Gaul) Suebi (Caesar in Gaul) Suebi tribal council (Caesar in Gaul) Vangiones (Caesar in Gaul)
Imperator Augustus	Arii (Imperator Augustus) Buri (Imperator Augustus) Cherusci (Imperator Augustus) Cimbri (Imperator Augustus) Frisii (Imperator Augustus) Gutones (Imperator Augustus) Helisii (Imperator Augustus) Helveconae (Imperator Augustus) Marcomanni (Imperator Augustus) Marcomanni Elders (Imperator Augustus) Nahanarvali (Imperator Augustus) Quadi (Imperator Augustus) German Rebels (Imperator Augustus) Rugii (Imperator Augustus) Semnones (Imperator Augustus)