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HomeHome / Total War: Rome II / Drangiana / Units / Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers
Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers DrangianaDrangiana Missile Ship

Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers

A large contingent of archers can make short work of enemy crews.

Even giants can be humbled by nimble slingers.

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.

(Eastern Slingers)
Slingers were common in ancient armies. Slings are ancient weapons, dating back to Palaeolithic times. In comparison to bows, they were easy to make and had a greater effective range. Constructed from braided flax, hemp or rushes, a sling has a cradle where the shot is placed. One end has a finger-loop, while the other has a knot or strip giving a firm handhold. The slinger puts his middle finger through the loop and holds the knotted end with his thumb and forefinger. After whirling the shot in the sling it is released with a flick of the wrist. Quick to fire and reload, the sling was widely hated by those on the receiving end. Shot varied from stones collected in rivers to shaped lumps of clay and lead; lead shot could fly over 400 metres. Such missiles were sometimes inscribed with comments such as “Catch!” or “Take that!” Shot was difficult to see in flight, and although it lacked the penetrating power of an arrow it could easily break bone or stave-in armour at short ranges. Famously, the Roman Consul Paulus was killed by a slinger early in the disastrous Battle of Cannae.

Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers
Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers

Unit Name

Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers

Main Unit Key

Eas_Slingers_Three

Land Unit Key

Eas_Slingers

Naval Unit Key

greek_three

Soldiers

80

Category

Medium Ship

Class

Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost

530

Recruitment Cost

530

Upkeep Cost

106

Missile Damage

23

├ Missile Weapon

rome_sling_improved

├ Projectile

sling_stone_improved

├ Missile Damage

17

├ Missile Ap Damage

6

└ Base Reload Time

10

Accuracy

5

Range

150

Reload

13

Shots Per Minute

7

Ammunition

25

Ship Health

693

└ Ship

greek_three

Ship Speed

6

Melee Attack

8

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

3

Melee Defence

37

├ Base Defence

12

├ Shield

pelta

└ Shield Defence

25

Armour

15

├ Armour

cloth

├ Armour Defence

10

└ Shield Armour

5

Health

45

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_very_light_fast

├ Man Health

40

└ Bonus Hit Points

5

Base Morale

20

Abilities

Missile Trieres
  • Row Hard 10
    Increases speed for 10 strokes.
    Ship speed

Attributes

  • Resistant to Fatigue
    Fatigue has less of an effect on this unit.
  • Hide (scrub & forest)
    This unit can hide in scrub and forest until enemy units get too close.
  • Resistant to Heat
    This unit tires less quickly in the desert.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Missile Trieres
  • Poor hull strength
  • Light crew
  • Fast speed
  • Weak ramming
  • Poor boarding
  • Average missile combat
Eastern Slingers
  • Very long range
  • Average rate of fire
  • Low damage but average armour penetration
  • Very weak in melee
  • Very poor morale
Requires Buildings
Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers Lv. 0 Military Pier
Military Pier
(east_port_military_2)
Level 1
Naval Yard
Naval Yard
(east_port_military_3)
Level 2
Drydock
Drydock
(east_port_military_4)
Level 3