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Assault Hexeres - Karian Axemen Egypt (Imperator Augustus)Egypt (Imperator Augustus) Melee Ship

Assault Hexeres - Karian Axemen

These magnificent ships are both intimidating and extremely dangerous.

These lightly-armoured axemen can hack their way into the flanks and rear of enemies.

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.

(Karian Axemen)
These Greek soldiers from Karia in western Anatolia were known for their use of deadly one-handed, single-headed axes. Axes had long been used throughout Egyptian and Greek culture, from the slashing, pole-mounted examples of the former to the double-edged labrys, associated with Labraunda and held sacred by the Karian people. Acting as shock troops in Ptolemaic armies, the Karians used their axes to hack their way through armour. Even heavy or chain armour was no defence, as the concussive force of a weighted axe head could still crush bones and organs even if it failed to penetrate. Although effective, fighting in this way was both tiring and clumsy, and the initial benefit from a charge would soon wear off. Lightly armoured, with little more than shields and helmets, Karian axemen were best employed attacking the flanks of more heavily armoured foes.

Assault Hexeres - Karian Axemen Assault Hexeres - Karian Axemen
Assault Hexeres - Karian Axemen

Unit Name

Assault Hexeres - Karian Axemen

Main Unit Key

Egy_Karian_Six

Land Unit Key

Egy_Karian_Axemen

Naval Unit Key

egyptian_six

Soldiers

160

Category

Heavy Ship

Class

Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost

1050

Recruitment Cost

1050

Upkeep Cost

210

Missile Damage

29

├ Missile Weapon

rome_javelin_light

├ Projectile

javelin_light

├ Missile Damage

20

├ Missile Ap Damage

9

└ Base Reload Time

10

Accuracy

5

Range

80

Reload

0

Shots Per Minute

6

Ammunition

5

Ship Health

1206

└ Ship

egyptian_six

Ship Speed

5

Melee Attack

28

Weapon Damage

26

├ Melee Weapon

rome_eastern_axe

├ Melee Damage Base

16

├ Melee Damage Ap

10

├ Armour Piercing

Yes

├ Bonus vs. Large

0

├ Bonus vs Elephants

0

└ Bonus vs Infantry

0

Charge Bonus

21

Melee Defence

37

├ Base Defence

12

├ Shield

thureos

└ Shield Defence

25

Armour

45

├ Armour

cloth

├ Armour Defence

10

└ Shield Armour

35

Health

55

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_medium

├ Man Health

40

└ Bonus Hit Points

15

Base Morale

40

Abilities

Assault Hexeres
  • Row Hard 30
    Increases speed for 30 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.
  • Resistant to Heat
    This unit tires less quickly in the desert.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Assault Hexeres
  • Very good hull strength
  • Heavy crew
  • Slow speed
  • Strong ramming
  • Very good boarding
Karian Axemen
  • Average attack
  • Poor defence
  • Low damage but good armour penetration
  • Poor morale
Requires Buildings
Assault Hexeres - Karian Axemen Lv. 0 Drydock
Drydock
(greek_port_military_3)
Level 2
Military Port
Military Port
(greek_port_military_4)
Level 3
Garrison Buildings
Assault Hexeres - Karian Axemen x 2 Drydock
Drydock
(greek_port_military_3)
Level 2
Military Port
Military Port
(greek_port_military_4)
Level 3