menu
HomeHome / Total War: Rome II / Pergamon / Units / Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen
Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen PergamonPergamon Melee Ship

Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen

These magnificent ships are both intimidating and extremely dangerous.

These well-protected warriors are a danger, both in melee and with their javelins.

As centuries passed, naval tactics and needs changed across the Mediterranean. There was a move towards larger ships, partly as an expression of national or dynastic power: the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt were particularly fond of large ships to show their wealth and influence in a physical way. These 'polyremes', a term meaning many oared, were not suitable for ramming work in battle. In practice many of them had no more oars than smaller ships; what they had were more rowers per oar than smaller ships. A Roman hexareme or Greek hexeres would have a couple of banks of oars with three men per oar, and appear to be an over-sized version of a smaller ship. Even so, thanks to being tremendously heavy and strongly constructed, they were slow moving, and hardly capable of the quick turns needed to take advantage of enemy mistakes. Instead the large ships made use of their wide decks and plentiful carrying capacities and became fighting platforms for infantry and artillery. Boarding or long-range bombardment were the methods to be used to defeat the enemy; naval warfare had come full circle in terms of fighting methods, even if ships had grown significantly.

(Thorax Swordsmen)
The thureos, a large oval-shaped shield, became common throughout the Hellenistic world from the 3rd century BC. Made from wood covered in hide, it differed from the earlier Greek hoplon in having a central handgrip, which was protected by a vertical spine running the length of the shield. This in turn could be further reinforced by the addition of a wide metal strip that protected the grip and the user’s hand. Inspired by the sub-rectangular and oval shields of the Celts, possibly through contact with the migrating Galatians, its usage seems to have spread through the Illyrian and Thracian tribes before it was adopted by the Greeks. Although large, the thureos was light in comparison to the traditional hoplon, and was adopted by heavily-armoured peltasts. Named after their shields, 'thureophoroi' could fight as common peltasts, skirmishing with javelins, but could also form up with their larger shields and longer spears in a similar fashion to a phalanx. The versatile and useful design of the thureos meant it was used by many armies, including the auxiliaries and cavalry of the later Roman Legions.

Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen
Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen

Unit Name

Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen

Main Unit Key

Gre_Thorax_Six

Land Unit Key

Gre_Thorax_Sword

Naval Unit Key

greek_six

Soldiers

160

Category

Heavy Ship

Class

Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost

1130

Recruitment Cost

1130

Upkeep Cost

226

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

1046

└ Ship

greek_six

Ship Speed

5

Melee Attack

38

Weapon Damage

34

├ Melee Weapon

rome_celtic_hellenic_sword

├ Melee Damage Base

30

├ Melee Damage Ap

4

├ Armour Piercing

No

├ Bonus vs. Large

0

├ Bonus vs Elephants

0

└ Bonus vs Infantry

0

Charge Bonus

18

Melee Defence

57

├ Base Defence

32

├ Shield

thureos

└ Shield Defence

25

Armour

75

├ Armour

mail

├ Armour Defence

40

└ Shield Armour

35

Health

60

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_very_heavy

├ Man Health

45

└ Bonus Hit Points

15

Base Morale

55

Abilities

Assault Hexeres
  • Row Hard 30
    Increases speed for 30 strokes.
    Ship speed
Thorax Swordsmen
  • Shieldwall
    The unit moves into a close formation and raises shields.
    Armour strength, bracing, melee defence, shield strength
    Limited speed

Attributes

  • Disciplined
    This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often.
  • Formation Attack
    The unit will try to stay in formation when in melee.
  • Hide (forest)
    This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Assault Hexeres
  • Very good hull strength
  • Heavy crew
  • Slow speed
  • Strong ramming
  • Very good boarding
Thorax Swordsmen
  • Good attack
  • Average defence
  • Average damage but low armour penetration
  • Normal morale
Requires Buildings
Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen Lv. 0 Drydock
Drydock
(greek_port_military_3)
Level 2
Military Port
Military Port
(greek_port_military_4)
Level 3
Garrison Buildings
Assault Hexeres - Thorax Swordsmen x 2 Drydock
Drydock
(greek_port_military_3)
Level 2
Military Port
Military Port
(greek_port_military_4)
Level 3