Drangiana Melee Ship

Assault Dieres - Hillmen

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.

(Hillmen)
Eastern hillmen tended to be light infantry skirmishers that excelled in mountainous and difficult terrain, as a result of defending their homelands against outsiders. Many hill tribes, including the Bithyni - after whom Bithynia was named - were descended Thracian migrants who crossed the Bosporus into Asia Minor; each had a fierce attachment to their own lands and a suspicion of plains folk and outlanders. Equipped in much the same manner as peltasts, they carried spears, javelins and daggers and their only protection was a shield, made from wicker, wood or hide. As a fighting force, they were fast moving and extremely manoeuvrable and not above trickery and deceit.

Unit Name Assault Dieres - Hillmen

Main Unit Key Eas_Hillmen_Two

Land Unit Key Eas_Hillmen

Naval Unit Key greek_two

Soldiers 60

Category Light Ship

Class Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost 290

Recruitment Cost 290

Upkeep Cost 58

Missile Damage 32

├ Missile Weapon rome_javelin_precursor

├ Projectile javelin_prec

├ Missile Damage 20

├ Missile Ap Damage 12

└ Base Reload Time 15

Accuracy 5

Range 40

Reload 0

Shots Per Minute 4

Ammunition 2

Ship Health 501

└ Ship greek_two

Ship Speed 6

Melee Attack 25

Weapon Damage 26

├ Melee Weapon rome_eastern_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 12

Melee Defence 36

├ Base Defence 11

├ Shield pelta

└ Shield Defence 25

Armour 15

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 10

└ Shield Armour 5

Health 45

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium_fast

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 35

Abilities

• 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 Heat
  This unit tires less quickly in the desert.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Very light crew
• Fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Good boarding

• Average attack
• Poor defence
• Low damage but good armour penetration
• Poor morale

Requires Buildings
Lv. 0	Military Pier (east_port_military_2) Level 1 Naval Yard (east_port_military_3) Level 2 Drydock (east_port_military_4) Level 3

Garrison Buildings
x 2	Military Pier (east_port_military_2) Level 1 Drydock (east_port_military_4) Level 3

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Seleucid Seleucid Nobles Seleucid Secessionists Arachosia Aria Drangiana Media Parthava Persia Sagartia