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HomeHome / Total War: Rome II / Ma'in / Units / Tower Penteres - Slingers
Tower Penteres - Slingers Ma'inMa'in Missile Ship

Tower Penteres - Slingers

From a shipboard tower, all enemies become little targets to be potted at will.

Even the humblest nomad may hurl a stone at his enemies.

The 'five', called a quinquereme in Latin and a penteres in Greek, was a ship first used by the Syracusans against the Carthaginians sometime around 398BC. Like other polyremes, a term meaning many-oared, the chances were that it did not have five banks of oars but that the word 'oar' was used to mean 'rower'. In such a case, the arrangement of rowers would be two-two-one going up from the waterline. It makes sense to keep as much weight as possible low in the vessel to help its stability; a high centre of gravity makes any ship liable to capsize if struck from the side. The quinquereme, then, would be a formidable vessel both in terms of appearance and combat value. With a large fighting contingent aboard and plenty of deck space, this heavy vessel could cope with most enemies and threats.

(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.

Tower Penteres - Slingers

Unit Name

Tower Penteres - Slingers

Main Unit Key

Ara_Slingers_Five_Lft_Bow

Land Unit Key

Ara_Slingers

Naval Unit Key

persian_lft_five

Soldiers

140

Category

Medium Ship

Class

Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost

1040

Recruitment Cost

1040

Upkeep Cost

208

Missile Damage

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

Ship Health

1090

└ Ship

persian_five

Ship Speed

5

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

52

├ Base Defence

12

├ Shield

caetra

└ Shield Defence

40

Armour

15

├ Armour

cloth

├ Armour Defence

10

└ Shield Armour

5

Health

45

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_very_light

├ Man Health

40

└ Bonus Hit Points

5

Base Morale

25

Abilities

Tower Penteres
  • Row Hard 20
    Increases speed for 20 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

Tower Penteres
  • Good hull strength
  • Medium crew
  • Average speed
  • Average ramming
  • Average boarding
  • Very good missile combat
Slingers
  • Very long range
  • Average rate of fire
  • Low damage but average armour penetration
  • Very weak in melee
  • Very poor morale
Requires Buildings
Tower Penteres - Slingers Lv. 0 Naval Yard
Naval Yard
(east_port_military_3)
Level 2
Drydock
Drydock
(east_port_military_4)
Level 3
Faction Availability
Grand Campaign
Imperator Augustus