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Scorpion Penteres - Slave Slingers ArdiaeiArdiaei Missile Ship

Scorpion Penteres - Slave Slingers

Deadly accurate dart-throwers give these ships a significant crew-killing potential.

With the right stone even the lowliest slave can bring down a noble warrior.

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.

(Slave Slingers)
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.

Scorpion Penteres - Slave Slingers

Unit Name

Scorpion Penteres - Slave Slingers

Main Unit Key

Ill_Slingers_Five_Dbl_scorpio

Land Unit Key

Ill_Slave_Slingers

Naval Unit Key

greek_double_scorpio_five

Soldiers

140

Category

Medium Ship

Class

Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost

1020

Recruitment Cost

1020

Upkeep Cost

115

Missile Damage

20

├ Missile Weapon

rome_sling

├ Projectile

sling_stone

├ Missile Damage

16

├ Missile Ap Damage

4

└ Base Reload Time

10

Accuracy

5

Range

155

Reload

13

Shots Per Minute

7

Ammunition

35

Ship Health

1020

└ Ship

greek_five

Ship Speed

5

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

31

├ Base Defence

5

├ Shield

pelta

└ Shield Defence

26

Armour

52

├ Armour

cloth

├ Armour Defence

27

└ Shield Armour

25

Health

50

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_very_light

├ Man Health

45

└ Bonus Hit Points

5

Base Morale

20

Abilities

Scorpion Penteres
  • Row Hard 20
    Increases speed for 20 strokes.
    Ship speed

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.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Scorpion Penteres
  • Good hull strength
  • Medium crew
  • Average speed
  • Average ramming
  • Poor boarding
  • Very good missile combat
Slave Slingers
  • Very long range
  • Average rate of fire
  • Low damage but average armour penetration
  • Very weak in melee
  • Very poor morale
Requires Buildings
Scorpion Penteres - Slave Slingers Lv. 0 Boatyard
Boatyard
(barb_port_military_3)
Level 2
Raiders' Port
Raiders' Port
(barb_port_military_4)
Level 3