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HomeHome / Total War: Rome II / Cimmeria / Units / Fire Pot Dieres - Young Axes
Fire Pot Dieres - Young Axes CimmeriaCimmeria Melee Ship

Fire Pot Dieres - Young Axes

Fire pots, hurled onto enemy decks, are a terrible threat to wooden ships.

Youthful courage and desire for glory make up for any shortcomings in axe-skill.

The waterline ram was first mounted on a vessel in around 850BC. Warships and naval tactics were transformed. Ships were no longer platforms for infantry battles on the water; the ship itself became the weapon. Galleys changed as the new reality sank in. Ramming at speed would hole and sink an enemy, therefore slimmer, faster, handier ships were required. More speed on demand obviously required more oars a fast ship with a single row of oars ended up being stupidly, impractically long. The solution, then, was to put in a second set of oars above the first, but slightly offset to allow for rowers' benches. These biremes, a Latin word meaning 'two oars', or dieres, the Greek equivalent, were no longer than previous designs but had twice the number of rowers. They were fast, manoeuvrable, and could carry a fighting contingent. Some nations also gave their bireme crews fire pots; these clay pots filled with oil and pitch were hurled at enemy ships in the entirely reasonable hope of setting them ablaze.

(Young Axes)
Far from being simple, ignorant barbarians, the various steppe tribes had a great cultural wealth. Living in an area stretching from the Caspian Sea to the northern shores of the Black Sea; the Greeks called them 'Scythians' and the Persians 'Saka', while a western group became known as the Sarmatians. Wearing trousers marked them as barbarians as far as the Greeks were concerned, before their tall, pointed caps and swarthy appearances were even considered. Looks apart, they were, however, exceptional horsemen, highly-skilled with composite-recurve bows and deadly hand-to-hand fighters. Grave goods suggest that Scythian women were as warlike as their men, and probably fought alongside them in battle. This may well be the origin of the Greek myths of Amazon warrior women.

Fire Pot Dieres - Young Axes

Unit Name

Fire Pot Dieres - Young Axes

Main Unit Key

Ste_Axes_Two_Fire_Pots

Land Unit Key

Ste_Young_Axes

Naval Unit Key

greek_fire_pot_two

Soldiers

60

Category

Light Ship

Class

Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost

320

Recruitment Cost

320

Upkeep Cost

60

Ship Health

501

└ Ship

greek_two

Ship Speed

6

Melee Attack

28

Weapon Damage

26

├ Melee Weapon

rome_celtic_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

14

Melee Defence

51

├ Base Defence

11

├ Shield

caetra

└ Shield Defence

40

Armour

15

├ Armour

cloth

├ Armour Defence

10

└ Shield Armour

5

Health

45

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_medium

├ Man Health

40

└ Bonus Hit Points

5

Base Morale

25

Abilities

Fire Pot Dieres
  • Row Hard 10
    Increases speed for 10 strokes.
    Ship speed

Attributes

  • Hide (forest)
    This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
  • Resistant to Cold
    This unit tires less quickly in snow.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Fire Pot Dieres
  • Very poor hull strength
  • Very light crew
  • Fast speed
  • Very strong initial ramming
  • Good boarding
Young Axes
  • Average attack
  • Poor defence
  • Low damage but good armour penetration
  • Poor morale
Requires Buildings
Fire Pot Dieres - Young Axes Lv. 0 Shipwright
Shipwright
(greek_port_harbour_2)
Level 1
Docks
Docks
(greek_port_harbour_3)
Level 2
Neosokoi
Neosokoi
(greek_port_harbour_4)
Level 3
Faction Availability
Grand Campaign