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Missile Quinquereme - Velites RomeRome Missile Ship

Missile Quinquereme - Velites

Archers can shoot down upon many enemies from the deck, doing terrible work in the process.

These javelin-armed skirmishers are fast moving and lightly armoured.

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.

(Velites)
Recruited from amongst Rome's poor and those too young to fight as hastati, the velites were the Roman army’s light infantry. They wore wolf skin head-dresses which are thought to have some totemic significance, although they were also worn to induce fear in their enemies. At the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, when Scipio Africanus confronted the Carthaginian general, Hannibal, it was the velites who helped fend off his initial elephant charge, utilising their light armour and weapons to move quickly around them. They harassed the elephants to a frenzy while the cavalry blew horns to disorientate the beasts. Hannibal had hoped to break the Roman lines with his elephants; instead, many of the frightened beasts turned on the Carthaginians. Those elephants who didn’t crash through their own lines were caught in a cleverly orchestrated manoeuvre, whereby the Romans carefully channelled them through gaps made in the cohorts' formation.

Missile Quinquereme - Velites Missile Quinquereme - Velites Missile Quinquereme - Velites Missile Quinquereme - Velites Missile Quinquereme - Velites
Missile Quinquereme - Velites

Unit Name

Missile Quinquereme - Velites

Main Unit Key

Rom_Velites_Five

Land Unit Key

Rom_Velites

Naval Unit Key

roman_five

Soldiers

140

Category

Medium Ship

Class

Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost

710

Recruitment Cost

710

Upkeep Cost

142

Missile Damage

32

├ Missile Weapon

rome_javelin

├ Projectile

javelin_normal

├ Missile Damage

20

├ Missile Ap Damage

12

└ Base Reload Time

10

Accuracy

5

Range

80

Reload

13

Shots Per Minute

7

Ammunition

7

Ship Health

1020

└ Ship

roman_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

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

├ Man Health

40

└ Bonus Hit Points

5

Base Morale

25

Abilities

Missile Quinquereme
  • 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.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Missile Quinquereme
  • Good hull strength
  • Medium crew
  • Average speed
  • Average ramming
  • Poor boarding
  • Good missile combat
Velites
  • Short range
  • Fast rate of fire
  • Very good damage and armour penetration
  • Very weak in melee
  • Very poor morale
Requires Buildings
Missile Quinquereme - Velites Lv. 0 Military Wharf
Military Wharf
(rome_port_military_2)
Level 1
Drydock
Drydock
(rome_port_military_3)
Level 2
Portus Classis
Portus Classis
(rome_port_military_4)
Level 3
Garrison Buildings
Missile Quinquereme - Velites x 2 Military Wharf
Military Wharf
(rome_port_military_2)
Level 1