Axum (Empire Divided) Melee Ship

Assault Tetreres - Sabean Armoured Spearmen

Ramming attacks from these ships inflict terrible damage.

Armour is hard to use in the desert heat, but it makes sword hits more manageable.

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.

(Sabean Armoured Spearmen)
The warriors of the Sabaean region were light infantry, cavalry and archers as mercenaries and auxiliaries for the Roman Empire. Dressed desert-fashion, they were entirely familiar with and comfortable in arid places. This was secondary however, to their reputation as mostly reliable fighters, of far more worth than ordinary citizens or levies. This was due to the independence that the Sabaean kingdom maintained from the 8th century BC to AD275. This record was based on military might as well as diplomacy and the spice trade including frankincense and myrrh. Never conquered by Rome, Sabaean warriors still found work as mercenaries and auxiliaries in Roman service.

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.
• Resistant to Heat
  This unit tires less quickly in the desert.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Assault Tetreres

• Average hull strength
• Medium crew
• Average speed
• Average ramming
• Average boarding

Sabean Armoured Spearmen

• Good defensive unit
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Average attack
• Normal morale

Axum (Empire Divided) Units
General (1)
1.Sabean Cavalry
Missile Infantry (2)
2.Sabean Archers
3.Sabean Javelinmen
Spear Infantry (2)
4.Sabean Armoured Spearmen
5.Sabean Spearmen
Melee Cavalry (2)
6.Sabean Cavalry
7.Sabean Cavalry
Fixed Artillery (3)
8.African Giant Ballista
9.African Scorpion (Fixed)
10.African Bastion Scorpion
Field Artillery (6)
11.African Ballista
12.African Bastion Ballista
13.African Scorpion
14.African Heavy Onager
15.African Onager
16.African Bastion Onager
Admiral (1)
17.Assault Tetreres - Sabean Armoured Spearmen
Melee Ship (3)
18.Assault Dieres - Sabean Spearmen
19.Assault Tetreres - Sabean Armoured Spearmen
20.Assault Tetreres - Sabean Armoured Spearmen
Missile Ship (2)
21.Raiding Hemiolia - Sabean Javelinmen
22.Missile Trieres - Sabean Archers