Missile Raider - Mercenary Steppe 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 Steppe 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 Paulus was killed by a slinger early in the disastrous Battle of Cannae.

Unit Name Missile Raider - Mercenary Steppe Slingers

Main Unit Key 3c_Mer_Ste_Missile_Raider

Land Unit Key 3c_Mer_Steppe_Slingers

Naval Unit Key 3c_barbarian_raider_ranged

Soldiers 80

Category Medium Ship

Class Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost 290

Recruitment Cost 290

Upkeep Cost 220

Missile Damage 23

├ Missile Weapon rome_sling_improved

├ Projectile sling_stone_improved

├ Missile Damage 17

├ Missile Ap Damage 6

└ Base Reload Time 10

Accuracy 5

Range 150

Reload 13

Shots Per Minute 7

Ammunition 25

Ship Health

└ Ship barbarian_raider

Ship Speed

Melee Attack 8

Weapon Damage 24

├ Melee Weapon rome_shortsword

├ Melee Damage Base 20

├ Melee Damage Ap 4

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 0

├ Bonus vs Elephants 0

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 3

Melee Defence 37

├ Base Defence 12

├ Shield pelta

└ Shield Defence 25

Armour 15

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 10

└ Shield Armour 5

Health 45

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_very_light_fast

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 20

Abilities

• 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 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

Empire Divided Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No.	Pool	Province	Region	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
1	3c_province_pool_naval_sarmatia_and_bosporous	Bosporus	Panticapaeum Phanagoria Tanais	1	0.15	1	1
2	3c_province_pool_naval_sarmatia_and_bosporous	Sarmatia	Melgunov Olbia Solokha	1	0.15	1	1