Lusitania (Empire Divided) Missile Ship

Missile Trireme - Balearic Slingers

Of all the warships found in the ancient world, it is the trireme, or trieres, that remains the most famous and recognisable. Nearly all Hollywood 'sword and sandal' movies will include a trireme somewhere. The vessel was entirely designed for war. Its name came from the three rows of oars carried on each side, stacked above each other in staggered columns to give the rowers some room to work. The top row of oars pivoted on a rowlock, or oarlock, mounted on an outrigger projecting from the hull. This allowed the top oars to pitch down at a sharper angle to reach the sea without getting tangled in the lower ones. The trireme was a greyhound of a ship, capable of high-speed dashes with a well-trained crew and, contrary to popular belief, not all rowers were slaves. Aboard Greek vessels they were citizens, and were given respect, not the lash. They were also largely fair-weather ships, and unsuited to rough seas such as the Atlantic; the lowest level of oars were, at most, less than half a metre above the waterline. That, however, did not stop the trireme being a superb weapon against other ships: a high-speed ramming attack could rip a hole in the side of almost any target. The type was also large enough to be used in other ways, which lead to it carrying archers and assorted light artillery pieces.

(Balearic Slingers)
Raised from infancy to perfect their use of the sling, these famed warriors came from the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean. It is said that Balearic mothers did not allow their sons to eat until they had knocked their bread off a wall from a fair distance away. The slings they used were made from hair and animal sinew and, as adult warriors, each slinger carried three types for use at different ranges. Many slingers standing together produced a wave of shot that pierced armour and shattered bone, making them deadlier than even the very best archers. In fact, the Roman general Lucius Aemilius Paullus took a mortal wound to the head from slingshot during the opening minutes of the catastrophic Battle of Cannae. Not surprisingly, due to their geographical location, Balearic slingers were much sought after as mercenaries to fight both for and against Rome, and were reportedly paid in women rather than silver or gold!

Unit Name Missile Trireme - Balearic Slingers

Main Unit Key 3c_Gal_Missile_Trireme

Land Unit Key 3c_Rom_Balearic_Slingers

Naval Unit Key 3c_roman_three

Soldiers 80

Category Medium Ship

Class Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost 550

Recruitment Cost 550

Upkeep Cost 110

Missile Damage 29

├ Missile Weapon rome_sling_lead

├ Projectile sling_stone_lead

├ Missile Damage 21

├ Missile Ap Damage 8

└ Base Reload Time 10

Accuracy 5

Range 150

Reload 23

Shots Per Minute 8

Ammunition 25

Ship Health 693

└ Ship roman_three

Ship Speed 6

Melee Attack 10

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 4

Melee Defence 38

├ Base Defence 13

├ Shield celtic_round

└ Shield Defence 25

Armour 25

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 10

└ Shield Armour 15

Health 50

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_very_light

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 10

Base Morale 45

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.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Poor hull strength
• Light crew
• Fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Poor boarding
• Average missile combat

• Very long range
• Average rate of fire
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Very weak in melee
• Very poor morale

Requires Buildings
Lv. 0	Drydock (3c_rome_port_military_3) Level 2 Portus Classis (3c_rome_port_military_4) Level 3

Faction Availability
Empire Divided	Gallic Rome (Empire Divided) Gallic Roman Pretenders (Empire Divided) Gallic Roman Secessionists (Empire Divided) Britannia (Empire Divided) Hispania Citerior (Empire Divided) Lusitania (Empire Divided)