Ma'in Missile Ship

Pursuit Trihemiolia - Tribes People

Fast, relatively powerful pursuit ships, well able to hunt down pirates and other seagoing scum.

A wise man fights the desert before his fellow man.

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.

(Tribes People)
The Arabian peninsula was not a state, but a land occupied by inter-related tribes and powerful families. The nomadic Bedouin raised sheep and traded goods across the desert, while farmers were settled around the oases. The camel helped the nomadic tribes to grow in power, and the variety of tribes produced many different fighting styles but infantry remained important in Arab armies. Unarmoured slingers were fast and effective skirmishers, and Arabs also prided themselves on their close-combat skills. Traditionally, they fought as raiders looking for loot rather than conquest. Raids or 'razzias' brought honour to victorious warriors, as well as livestock and goods for their tribes. Conflicts were usually small in scale and casualties were largely avoided as a fighting retreat in the face of great odds was not considered shameful. After the conquest of Egypt, Rome had to cross the Arabian Peninsula in order to secure the lucrative trade with India, but the Romans never fully conquered the desert or the desert peoples.

Abilities

Pursuit Trihemiolia

• Row Hard 10
  Increases speed for 10 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.
• Resistant to Heat
  This unit tires less quickly in the desert.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Pursuit Trihemiolia

• Poor hull strength
• Medium crew
• Uncatchable
• Weak ramming
• Poor boarding
• Average missile combat

Tribes People

• Short range
• Fast rate of fire
• Very good damage and armour penetration
• Very weak in melee
• Very poor morale

Ma'in Units
General (6)
1.Noble Swordsmen
2.Nabatean Noble Spearmen
3.Nabatean Noble Swordsmen
4.Yathrib Heavy Lancers
5.Noble Infantry
6.Armoured Camel Riders
Melee Infantry (12)
7.Noble Swordsmen
8.Indo-Kush Guild Warriors
9.Indo-Kush Swordmen
10.Kardakes Swordsmen
11.Tabriz Peltasts
12.Desert Swordsmen
13.Red Sea Light Infantry
14.Maas Gat Marauders
15.Qidria's Swords
16.Mascat Sword Infantry
17.Gerrha's Guard
18.Nabatean Noble Swordsmen
Missile Infantry (9)
19.Levy Skirmishers
20.Slingers
21.Tribes People
22.Indo-Kush Longbowmen
23.Levy Peltasts
24.Arabian Light Infantry
25.Arabian Bowmen
26.Nabatean Heavy Archers
27.Nabatean Heavy Peltasts
Spear Infantry (14)
28.Levy Spearmen
29.Indo-Kush Spearmen
30.Kardakes Sparabaras
31.Ekbatani Spears
32.Desert Spearmen
33.Citizen Spearmen
34.East Coast Levies
35.Noble Infantry
36.Red Sea Hoplites
37.Arabian Light Spearmen
38.Qidrian Light Spearmen
39.Marib Spearmen
40.Gerrhaean Heavy Spearmen
41.Nabatean Noble Spearmen
Melee Cavalry (7)
42.Camel Spearmen
43.Arabian Cavalry
44.Levy Cavalry
45.Desert Camel Spearmen
46.Sabean Nobles
47.Himyar Cavalry
48.Yathrib Heavy Lancers
Missile Cavalry (3)
49.Camel Archers
50.Desert Camel Archers
51.Sabean Raiders
Shock Cavalry (2)
52.Armoured Camel Riders
53.Arabian Chosen Lancers
Fixed Artillery (3)
54.Eastern Giant Ballista
55.Eastern Bastion Scorpion
56.Eastern Scorpion (Fixed)
Field Artillery (6)
57.Eastern Bastion Ballista
58.Eastern Ballista
59.Eastern Scorpion
60.Eastern Large Onager
61.Eastern Bastion Onager
62.Eastern Onager
Admiral (1)
63.Missile Penteres - Archers
Melee Ship (3)
64.Assault Tetreres - Levy Spearmen
65.Fire Pot Dieres - Levy Spearmen
66.Assault Dieres - Levy Spearmen
Missile Ship (7)
67.Missile Trieres - Levy Skirmishers
68.Scorpion Trieres - Levy Skirmishers
69.Scorpion Penteres - Slingers
70.Tower Penteres - Slingers
71.Missile Penteres - Slingers
72.Raiding Hemiolia - Tribes People
73.Pursuit Trihemiolia - Tribes People
Artillery Ship (2)
74.Light Artillery Penteres - Eastern Ballista (Ship)
75.Artillery Penteres - Eastern Onager (Ship)