Raiding Hemiolia - Slave Slingers
These swift, manoeuvrable ships are a useful scouting force for any admiral.Fighting from range increases a slave's life expectancy considerably.
The 'one-and-a-half' or 'hemiolia' was a light galley which was much favoured by pirates in the ancient world. It developed from the bireme, a ship that had two full decks of oars along its entire length. The hemiola reduced the number of oars on the upper level, leaving roughly half the number of oars and rowers in the midship section. The smaller number of rowers had little effect on overall speed because the laden weight of the vessel also dropped. Because it used both oars and sails, and the crew could rapidly change propulsion method, it was an ideal vessel for chasing down fat, wealthy merchant ships. Boarding attacks were mounted from hemiolas; ramming was not a useful tactic as loot ended up with the fish rather than enriching the pirates! The speed and handiness of hemiolas made them useful as scouts, supply boats and vessels used to pick off damaged enemies at the edge of battles.
(Slave Slingers)
Slavery was widespread in the ancient world. References can be traced back to the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. The ambitious construction projects of the day, as well as the custom of enslaving war captives, were some of the reasons for the large slave population many states kept at the time. The Greek city-states, for instance, depended heavily on slave labour. Having had all their rights confiscated, slaves were considered the property of their owners and could be sold as such. In Egypt, slaves who worked within the royal households could be executed and laid next to their mummified masters in the burial chamber, to serve them in the afterlife. Slaves were widely-used by the Romans as well. As the Roman Empire expanded, slaves from all over the known world poured into the Apennine Peninsula. The more educated ones became tutors, some were sold into prostitution and some became trained gladiators. Spartacus, one such gladiator of Thracian descent, famously led a bloody revolt in 73BC, threatening Rome itself at one point, before being killed in battle.
Unit Name Raiding Hemiolia - Slave Slingers |
Main Unit Key dk_kush_slave_slingers_one |
Land Unit Key dk_kush_slave_slingers |
Naval Unit Key greek_one_halfer |
Soldiers 80 |
Category Light Ship |
Class Missile Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 320 |
Recruitment Cost 350 |
Upkeep Cost 70 |
20 |
├ Missile Weapon rome_sling |
├ Projectile sling_stone |
├ Missile Damage 16 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 4 |
└ Base Reload Time 10 |
Accuracy 5 |
Range 150 |
Reload 13 |
Shots Per Minute 7 |
Ammunition 25 |
402 |
└ Ship greek_one_halfer |
Ship Speed 6 |
Melee Attack 8 |
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 |
20 |
├ Base Defence 10 |
├ Shield small_bronze |
└ Shield Defence 10 |
10 |
├ Armour none |
├ Armour Defence 0 |
└ Shield Armour 10 |
45 |
├ Man Entity rome_infantry_very_light |
├ Man Health 40 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 5 |
Base Morale 25 |
Abilities
Raiding Hemiolia- 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
Raiding Hemiolia- Very poor hull strength
- Light crew
- Very fast speed
- Weak ramming
- Very poor boarding
- Poor missile combat
- Very long range
- Average rate of fire
- Low damage but average armour penetration
- Very weak in melee
- Very poor morale
Faction Availability | |
---|---|
Grand Campaign |