Meroe (Imperator Augustus) Melee Ship

Assault Hexeres - Large Shield Warriors

These magnificent ships are both intimidating and extremely dangerous.

Javelins to anger your enemies; spears to kill them.

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.

(Large Shield Warriors)
The thureos, a large oval-shaped shield, became common throughout the Hellenistic world from the 3rd century BC. Made from wood covered in hide, it differed from the earlier Greek hoplon in having a central handgrip, which was protected by a vertical spine running the length of the shield. This in turn could be further reinforced by the addition of a wide metal strip that protected the grip and the user’s hand. Inspired by the sub-rectangular and oval shields of the Celts, possibly through contact with the migrating Galatians, its usage seems to have spread through the Illyrian and Thracian tribes before it was adopted by the Greeks. Although large, the thureos was light in comparison to the traditional hoplon, and was adopted by heavily-armoured peltasts. Named after their shields, 'thureophoroi' could fight as common peltasts, skirmishing with javelins, but could also form up with their larger shields and longer spears in a similar fashion to a phalanx. The versatile and useful design of the thureos meant it was used by many armies, including the auxiliaries and cavalry of the later Roman Legions.

Abilities

Assault Hexeres

• Row Hard 30
  Increases speed for 30 strokes.
  Ship speed

Large Shield Warriors

• Square
  The unit moves into a close square formation.
  Bracing, morale, melee defence
  Can't move

Attributes

• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests 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

Large Shield Warriors

• Very good defensive unit
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Average attack
• Good morale

Meroe (Imperator Augustus) Units
General (2)
1.Aethiopian Cavalry
2.Swordsmen
Missile Infantry (4)
3.Archers
4.Javelinmen
5.Tribal Slingers
6.Tribesmen
Spear Infantry (2)
7.Large Shield Warriors
8.Levy Spearmen
Missile Cavalry (1)
9.Skirmisher Cavalry
Chariot (1)
10.Chariot Raiders
Fixed Artillery (3)
11.African Giant Ballista
12.African Bastion Scorpion
13.African Scorpion (Fixed)
Field Artillery (6)
14.African Bastion Ballista
15.African Ballista
16.African Scorpion
17.African Heavy Onager
18.African Bastion Onager
19.African Onager
Admiral (2)
20.Assault Hexeres - Swordsmen
21.Scorpion Trieres - Tribal Slingers
Melee Ship (3)
22.Fire Pot Dieres - Levy Spearmen
23.Assault Dieres - Levy Spearmen
24.Assault Hexeres - Large Shield Warriors
Missile Ship (6)
25.Tower Penteres - Archers
26.Missile Penteres - Archers
27.Raiding Hemiolia - Javelinmen
28.Pursuit Trihemiolia - Javelinmen
29.Scorpion Trieres - Tribal Slingers
30.Missile Trieres - Tribal Slingers
Artillery Ship (2)
31.Light Artillery Penteres - African Ballista (Ship)
32.Artillery Penteres - African Onager (Ship)