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HomeHome / Total War: Rome II / Egypt (Imperator Augustus) / Units / Scorpion Trieres - Egyptian Slingers
Scorpion Trieres - Egyptian Slingers Egypt (Imperator Augustus)Egypt (Imperator Augustus) Missile Ship

Scorpion Trieres - Egyptian Slingers

Deadly accurate dart-throwers give enemies pause.

The sling is an ancient weapon; age has not made it less deadly.

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.

(Egyptian Slingers)
Slingers were common in ancient armies. Slings are ancient weapons, dating back to Palaeolithic times. In comparison to bows, they were easy to make and had a greater effective range. Constructed from braided flax, hemp or rushes, a sling has a cradle where the shot is placed. One end has a finger-loop, while the other has a knot or strip giving a firm handhold. The slinger puts his middle finger through the loop and holds the knotted end with his thumb and forefinger. After whirling the shot in the sling it is released with a flick of the wrist. Quick to fire and reload, the sling was widely hated by those on the receiving end. Shot varied from stones collected in rivers to shaped lumps of clay and lead; lead shot could fly over 400 metres. Such missiles were sometimes inscribed with comments such as “Catch!” or “Take that!” Shot was difficult to see in flight, and although it lacked the penetrating power of an arrow it could easily break bone or stave-in armour at short ranges. Famously, the Roman Consul Paulus was killed by a slinger early in the disastrous Battle of Cannae.

Scorpion Trieres - Egyptian Slingers
Scorpion Trieres - Egyptian Slingers

Unit Name

Scorpion Trieres - Egyptian Slingers

Main Unit Key

Egy_Slingers_Three_Scorpio

Land Unit Key

Egy_Slingers

Naval Unit Key

egyptian_scorpio_three

Soldiers

80

Category

Medium Ship

Class

Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost

640

Recruitment Cost

640

Upkeep Cost

128

Missile Damage

20

├ Missile Weapon

rome_sling

├ Projectile

sling_stone

├ Missile Damage

16

├ Missile Ap Damage

4

└ Base Reload Time

10

Accuracy

5

Range

150

Reload

13

Shots Per Minute

7

Ammunition

25

Ship Health

693

└ Ship

egyptian_three

Ship Speed

7

Melee Attack

8

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

3

Melee Defence

22

├ Base Defence

12

├ Shield

small_bronze

└ Shield Defence

10

Armour

20

├ Armour

cloth

├ Armour Defence

10

└ Shield Armour

10

Health

45

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_very_light

├ Man Health

40

└ Bonus Hit Points

5

Base Morale

25

Abilities

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

Strengths & Weaknesses

Scorpion Trieres
  • Poor hull strength
  • Light crew
  • Fast speed
  • Weak ramming
  • Average boarding
  • Good missile combat
Egyptian Slingers
  • Very long range
  • Average rate of fire
  • Low damage but average armour penetration
  • Very weak in melee
  • Very poor morale
Requires Buildings
Scorpion Trieres - Egyptian Slingers Lv. 0 Docks
Docks
(greek_port_harbour_3)
Level 2
Neosokoi
Neosokoi
(greek_port_harbour_4)
Level 3