Persian Empire (Wrath of Sparta) Melee Ship

Trieres - Phoenician Marines

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.

(Phoenician Marines)
Along a thin stretch of the eastern Mediterranean coast lay Phoenicia, an ancient Semitic civilization along the Fertile Crescent - an area of rich, arable land surrounded by arid desert climes. Phoenician civilisation reached its height around 800BC, when it was one of the first global economies, managing to maintain a vast trade network whilst being surrounded by voracious military empires. In 593BC, Cyrus the Great, leader of the vastly expanding Achaemenid Empire, conquered Phoenicia and divided it into four vassal kingdoms, providing Persia with a Mediterranean port for the first time. The decline of the Achaemenids, in turn, diminished Phoenicia's influence in the region, although its colony, Carthage, maintained a burgeoning trade empire for a few hundred years after.

Unit Name Trieres - Phoenician Marines

Main Unit Key Pel_Phoenician_Marines_Three

Land Unit Key Pel_Phoenician_Marines

Naval Unit Key pel_persian_three

Soldiers 80

Category Medium Ship

Class Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost 730

Recruitment Cost 500

Upkeep Cost 100

Ship Health

└ Ship pel_three

Ship Speed

Melee Attack 42

Weapon Damage 26

├ Melee Weapon rome_hoplite_spear

├ Melee Damage Base 20

├ Melee Damage Ap 6

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 15

├ Bonus vs Elephants 15

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 25

Melee Defence 61

├ Base Defence 46

├ Shield hoplite

└ Shield Defence 15

Armour 80

├ Armour spolas

├ Armour Defence 35

└ Shield Armour 45

Health 70

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_hoplite

├ Man Health 45

└ Bonus Hit Points 25

Base Morale 65

Abilities

No Ability

Attributes

• Disciplined
  This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often.
• Formation Attack
  The unit will try to stay in formation when in melee.
• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Poor hull strength
• Light crew
• Fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Poor boarding
• Average missile combat

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

Faction Availability
Wrath of Sparta	Persian Empire (Wrath of Sparta) Persian Rebels (Wrath of Sparta)