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HomeHome / Total War: Rome II / Syracuse (Rise of the Republic) / Units / Greek Ballista
Greek Ballista Syracuse (Rise of the Republic)Syracuse (Rise of the Republic) Field Artillery

Greek Ballista

Only a slack-jawed barbarian would not use such an efficient engine of death!

According to Diodorus, the 'katapeltikon' or catapult was invented under the patronage of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, in 399BC. The weapon was not the result of a stroke of inventive genius, instead being inspired by an earlier mechanical weapon called the 'gastraphetes'. In its original form, the gastraphetes consisted of a powerful composite bow mounted transversely on a stock and resembling the later crossbow. Its stock had two crucial parts: the syrinx, to which the bow of the weapon was fixed, and the diostra, a shorter board that could slide back and forth. The end of the diostra was in turn attached to a claw for pulling back the bowstring, with a trigger to release it again. Machines such as this were known to the Greeks before the invention of the katapeltikon, but didn't replace the composite bow with a pair of torsion springs, considered to be a major design improvement. Dionysius is said to have fielded "catapults of all kinds", using them to great effect in his siege of Motya in 397BC. By the time of Alexander, in the latter part of the 4th century BC, catapults were a regular feature of Hellenistic armies.

Greek Ballista

Unit Name

Greek Ballista

Main Unit Key

inv_gre_ballista_syracuse

Land Unit Key

inv_gre_ballista

Naval Unit Key

pel_transport

Soldiers

40

Category

Siege Engine

Class

Field Artillery

Custom Battle Cost

1560

Recruitment Cost

960

Upkeep Cost

200

Missile Damage

180

├ Engine

ballista_medium

├ Missile Weapon

rome_ballista_medium

├ Projectile

stone

├ Missile Damage

90

├ Missile Ap Damage

90

└ Base Reload Time

23

Accuracy

5

Range

420

Reload

4

Shots Per Minute

3

Ammunition

15

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

Transport
  • Very poor hull strength
  • Very slow speed
  • Weak ramming
Greek Ballista
  • Very accurate
  • Very long range
  • Average rate of fire
  • Lower damage than other artillery
  • Easily destroyed
Recuitment Requirement
Required Technology Master & Inventor
Requires Buildings
Greek Ballista Lv. 0 Hoplite Barracks
Hoplite Barracks
(inv_gre_military_3)
Level 2
Royal Barracks
Royal Barracks
(inv_gre_military_4)
Level 3