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Assault Tetreres - Mercenary Dacian Spears Mercenaries Melee Ship

Assault Tetreres - Mercenary Dacian Spears

Ramming attacks from these ships inflict terrible damage.

Spearmen, even ill-trained Dacians, are always needed in the battle line.

There is a good deal of debate as to how large ancient warships worked; the principles are understood, but the details are not always so clear. A Roman 'quadreme' or Greek 'tetreres' would seem to have four rows of oars if the name is translated literally. However, it is unclear how four sets of oars each with one rower apiece could be used without them getting in a terrible tangle even with a magnificently trained crew, or how the top set of rowers would be able to handle the extremely long oars pitched at a steep angle and still produce any power. The chances are that the term 'oar' had become synonymous with 'rower' and that the lowest bank had more than one man per oar. The other option was to go back to a double row of oars, with two men apiece. Two banks of oars would also have made for a cheaper construction task for each ship. Either way, the result was a ship that could rival the lighter trireme in speed, yet had more deck space for a large fighting contingent or artillery pieces.

(Mercenary Dacian Spears)
The exact origins of the Dacians are something of a mystery. Dacian lands were centred around the Carpathian Mountains but, unlike their Thracian neighbours, they seldom got involved in the conflicts of others. The Dacians fought almost entirely on foot, and usually looked to their Sarmatian allies when serious cavalry were needed. Many Dacian infantry fought as peltasts, equipped with javelins, short swords and oval shields, but they also fielded archers. However, the Dacians were most feared because of a weapon called the 'falx', which they used with deadly, limb-lopping skill. A two-handed sword with a forward-curving blade, a falx could cut a man in two from the top of his head to his breastbone. This weapon was so effective that the Romans improved their legionary armour to cope with it. The brow-ridge on later legionary helmets was there to stop a blow from a falx. Rome’s eventual victory in the Dacian Wars (AD101-106), celebrated by Trajan’s Column, finally dealt with the warlike Dacian tribes once and for all.

Assault Tetreres - Mercenary Dacian Spears

Unit Name

Assault Tetreres - Mercenary Dacian Spears

Main Unit Key

Mer_Thr_Heavy_Galley

Land Unit Key

Mer_Dac_Spears

Naval Unit Key

greek_four

Soldiers

120

Category

Medium Ship

Class

Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost

570

Recruitment Cost

570

Upkeep Cost

420

Ship Health

825

└ Ship

greek_four

Ship Speed

6

Melee Attack

11

Weapon Damage

22

├ Melee Weapon

rome_celtic_spear_anti_cav

├ Melee Damage Base

15

├ Melee Damage Ap

7

├ Armour Piercing

No

├ Bonus vs. Large

25

├ Bonus vs Elephants

20

└ Bonus vs Infantry

0

Charge Bonus

12

Melee Defence

54

├ Base Defence

24

├ Shield

celtic

└ Shield Defence

30

Armour

45

├ Armour

cloth

├ Armour Defence

10

└ Shield Armour

35

Health

50

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_medium_fast

├ Man Health

40

└ Bonus Hit Points

10

Base Morale

30

Abilities

Assault Tetreres
  • Row Hard 20
    Increases speed for 20 strokes.
    Ship speed

Attributes

  • Hide (forest)
    This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Assault Tetreres
  • Average hull strength
  • Medium crew
  • Average speed
  • Average ramming
  • Average boarding
Mercenary Dacian Spears
  • Average defensive unit
  • Low damage but average armour penetration
  • Weak attack
  • Poor morale

Faction Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No. Pool Faction Initial Unit Count Chance To Replenish Max Replenish Per Turn Max Count
1 rom_faction_pool_naval_thracians 1 0.15 1 1