Dacia (Imperator Augustus) Field Artillery

Dacian Scorpion

An ancestor of the medieval crossbow, this dart-firing ballista still required a sizable wooden stand and could not easily be moved by its single crewman. It was accurate at short ranges for sniping individuals, but could also be fired indirectly, with groups of several scorpions often deployed to form a battery in the field. Like the ballista, it was an improvement on the earlier gastraphetes, or belly-bow, and utilised either a composite bow or torsion springs to launch both flighted and flightless bolts. Incredibly powerful for its size, the scorpion required the crewman to ratchet back the drawstring with a windlass and lever. Even so, the rate of fire was high, and a skilled operator could loose three to four bolts a minute while firing indirectly. Easy to construct with the right raw materials, the required metal parts could be transported in the baggage so scorpions could be quickly assembled.

Unit Name Dacian Scorpion

Main Unit Key Dac_Cheiroballistra

Land Unit Key Dac_Cheiroballistra

Naval Unit Key barbarian_transport_small

Soldiers 40

Category Siege Engine

Class Field Artillery

Custom Battle Cost 520

Recruitment Cost 520

Upkeep Cost 100

Missile Damage 120

├ Engine cheiroballistra

├ Missile Weapon rome_cheiroballistra

├ Projectile bolt

├ Missile Damage 50

├ Missile Ap Damage 70

└ Base Reload Time 10

Accuracy 5

Range 350

Reload 4

Shots Per Minute 6

Ammunition 40

Melee Attack 9

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 6

Melee Defence 14

├ Base Defence 14

├ Shield none

└ Shield Defence 0

Armour 10

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 10

└ Shield Armour 0

Health 45

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 40

Abilities

No Ability

Attributes

• Cannot Run
  This unit cannot run and will only move at walking pace.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Very slow speed
• Weak ramming

• High damage
• Mobile
• Very accurate
• Short range
• Average rate of fire

Requires Buildings
Lv. 0	Carpenter (barb_craftsmen_wood_3) Level 2 Builder's Hall (barb_craftsmen_wood_4) Level 3

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Apulii Getae Getae tribal council Getae Secessionists Dacian Rebels Odrysian Kingdom Odrysian tribal council Odrysian Secessionists Thracian Rebels
Imperator Augustus	Bastarnae (Imperator Augustus) Dacia (Imperator Augustus) Dacian Nobles (Imperator Augustus) Dacian Secessionists (Imperator Augustus) Dacian Rebels (Imperator Augustus) Thrace (Imperator Augustus) Thracian Rebels (Imperator Augustus)