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Tower Hexareme - Roman Legionaries Rome (Empire Divided)Rome (Empire Divided) Melee Ship

Tower Hexareme - Roman Legionaries

From a shipboard tower, all enemies become little targets to be potted at will.

The classic heavy infantry, with good armour and exceptional morale.

As centuries passed, naval tactics and needs changed across the Mediterranean. There was a move towards larger ships, partly as an expression of national or dynastic power: the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt were particularly fond of large ships to show their wealth and influence in a physical way. These 'polyremes', a term meaning many oared, were not suitable for ramming work in battle. In practice many of them had no more oars than smaller ships; what they had were more rowers per oar than smaller ships. A Roman hexareme or Greek hexeres would have a couple of banks of oars with three men per oar, and appear to be an over-sized version of a smaller ship. Even so, thanks to being tremendously heavy and strongly constructed, they were slow moving, and hardly capable of the quick turns needed to take advantage of enemy mistakes. Instead the large ships made use of their wide decks and plentiful carrying capacities and became fighting platforms for infantry and artillery. Boarding or long-range bombardment were the methods to be used to defeat the enemy; naval warfare had come full circle in terms of fighting methods, even if ships had grown significantly.

(Roman Legionaries)
The military reforms of Gaius Marius in 104BC transformed the Roman army into a professional fighting force. Recruits were no longer required to own land in order to be soldiers: Roman citizenship was enough. Without farms to return to, men were willing to make the army their career, fighting lengthy campaigns in return for the pay, glory and retirement benefits. The Legions were equipped at the expense of the state, and each man carried a pilum, a gladius and a large 'scutum' shield, emblazoned with their Legion’s insignia. Under Marius men were expected to carry their own equipment, removing the need for large baggage trains manned by non-combatants. Unfortunately for the men this meant that they were carrying kit that weighed around 45 kilos, earning them the nickname 'Marius' mules'.

Tower Hexareme - Roman Legionaries

Unit Name

Tower Hexareme - Roman Legionaries

Main Unit Key

3c_Rom_Tower_Hexareme_commander

Land Unit Key

3c_Rom_Roman_Legionaries

Naval Unit Key

3c_roman_lft_six

Soldiers

160

Category

Heavy Ship

Class

Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost

1500

Recruitment Cost

1500

Upkeep Cost

300

Missile Damage

30

├ Missile Weapon

rome_pilum_heavy

├ Projectile

pilum_heavy

├ Missile Damage

20

├ Missile Ap Damage

10

└ Base Reload Time

15

Accuracy

5

Range

40

Reload

0

Shots Per Minute

4

Ammunition

2

Ship Health

1206

└ Ship

roman_six

Ship Speed

5

Melee Attack

59

Weapon Damage

34

├ Melee Weapon

rome_spatha

├ Melee Damage Base

30

├ Melee Damage Ap

4

├ Armour Piercing

No

├ Bonus vs. Large

0

├ Bonus vs Elephants

0

└ Bonus vs Infantry

0

Charge Bonus

15

Melee Defence

48

├ Base Defence

23

├ Shield

oval

└ Shield Defence

25

Armour

80

├ Armour

mail_improved

├ Armour Defence

45

└ Shield Armour

35

Health

60

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_very_heavy

├ Man Health

45

└ Bonus Hit Points

15

Base Morale

60

Abilities

Tower Hexareme
  • Row Hard 30
    Increases speed for 30 strokes.
    Ship speed
Roman Legionaries
  • Attacking Testudo
    The troops of this unit raise their shields above their heads in a defensive formation.
    Protection against missiles
    Limited speed

Attributes

  • Disciplined
    This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often.
  • Formation Attack
    The unit will try to stay in formation when in melee.
  • Hide (forest)
    This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Tower Hexareme
  • Very good hull strength
  • Heavy crew
  • Slow speed
  • Strong ramming
  • Very good boarding
  • Poor missile combat
Roman Legionaries
  • Very good attack
  • Average defence
  • Average damage but low armour penetration
  • Good morale