Pergamon Missile Ship

Scorpion Trieres - 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.

(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.

Unit Name Scorpion Trieres - Slingers

Main Unit Key Gre_Slingers_Three_Scorpio

Land Unit Key Gre_Slingers

Naval Unit Key greek_scorpio_three

Soldiers 80

Category Medium Ship

Class Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost 620

Recruitment Cost 620

Upkeep Cost 124

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 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 22

├ Base Defence 12

├ Shield small_bronze

└ Shield Defence 10

Armour 20

├ Armour cloth

├ Armour Defence 10

└ Shield Armour 10

Health 45

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_very_light

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 25

Abilities

• 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.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Poor hull strength
• Light crew
• Fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Average boarding
• Good missile combat

• Very long range
• Average rate of fire
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Very weak in melee
• Very poor morale

Requires Buildings
Lv. 0	Docks (greek_port_harbour_3) Level 2 Neosokoi (greek_port_harbour_4) Level 3

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Athens Athenian Boule Athenian Secessionists Syracuse Syracusan Nobles Syracusan Secessionists Cimmeria Cimmerian Nobles Cimmerian Secessionists Epirus Epirean Nobles Epirean Secessionists Knossos Rhodos Trapezos Macedon Macedonian Nobles Macedonian Secessionists Pergamon Pergamenes Nobles Pergamenes Secessionists Hellenic Rebels Cyprus Sardes
Samnite Wars	Greek Cities (Samnite Wars)
Hannibal at the Gates	Syracuse (Hannibal at the Gates) Syracusan Nobles (Hannibal at the Gates) Syracusan Secessionists (Hannibal at the Gates) Emporion (Hannibal at the Gates) Hellenic Rebels (Hannibal at the Gates)
Imperator Augustus	Judea (Imperator Augustus) Hellenic Rebels (Imperator Augustus)