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HomeHome / Total War: Rome II / Sagartia / Units / Pursuit Trihemiolia - Light Peltasts
Pursuit Trihemiolia - Light Peltasts SagartiaSagartia Missile Ship

Pursuit Trihemiolia - Light Peltasts

Fast, relatively powerful pursuit ships, well able to hunt down pirates and other seagoing scum.

These skirmishers harass the enemy with their javelins before sensibly withdrawing out of range.

It is thought that the Rhodians, a significant naval power in the eastern Mediterranean, developed the 'trihemiolia' or 'two-and-a-half' as a vessel for pirate hunting. Given that Rhodes is an island entirely reliant on the sea and shipping this is a believable theory. Pirates used the hemiola, a handy little vessel developed from the dieres or bireme, a ship with two rows of oars; it makes sense that pirate hunters would think of taking a trieres, or trireme, with three rows of oars and modifying it in a similar fashion. A trihemiolia still had three rows of oars on each side, but the top row was reduced to only half the number of oars, positioned midships. The result was a faster, handier vessel that provided a height advantage over a hemiola for any archers on board. There was also a strategic benefit to the Rhodians, who could only draw on the manpower of one island: they could have six trieres warships with full complements of rowers, or seven trihemiolias for the same number of men. The useful design was soon adopted by other maritime powers around the Mediterranean.

(Light Peltasts)
These skirmishers were named for their small crescent-shaped leather or wicker shields or 'peltai'. It was a common habit to name troops for their shield style in the Greek world. They wore little or no armour and carried three javelins. After harassing the enemy by flinging javelins, they would hastily retreat before any counter-charge or flanking move could be carried out. As armies developed and tactics became more complex, peltasts were expected to take part in hand-to-hand combat: with such expectation they were given stiffened linen cuirasses and short swords. They were still expected to use javelins, but could then join in the close fighting. Eventually, peltasts even exchanged their characteristic shield for the heavier thureos. Their name and battlefield function remained unchanged.

Pursuit Trihemiolia - Light Peltasts

Unit Name

Pursuit Trihemiolia - Light Peltasts

Main Unit Key

Gre_Light_Peltasts_Two_Halfer

Land Unit Key

Gre_Light_Peltasts

Naval Unit Key

greek_two_halfer

Soldiers

100

Category

Light Ship

Class

Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost

640

Recruitment Cost

640

Upkeep Cost

128

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

23

Shots Per Minute

8

Ammunition

10

Ship Health

585

└ Ship

greek_two_halfer

Ship Speed

7

Melee Attack

18

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

10

Melee Defence

40

├ Base Defence

15

├ Shield

peltast_thureos

└ Shield Defence

25

Armour

40

├ Armour

cloth

├ Armour Defence

10

└ Shield Armour

30

Health

50

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_very_light_fast

├ Man Health

40

└ Bonus Hit Points

10

Base Morale

45

Abilities

Pursuit Trihemiolia
  • Row Hard 10
    Increases speed for 10 strokes.
    Ship speed
Light Peltasts
  • Quick Reload
    Improved reloading for an extended time.
    Shots per minute
    Exertion: fatigue

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

Pursuit Trihemiolia
  • Poor hull strength
  • Medium crew
  • Uncatchable
  • Weak ramming
  • Poor boarding
  • Average missile combat
Light Peltasts
  • Short range
  • Fast rate of fire
  • Very good damage and armour penetration
  • Large shield
  • Very weak in melee
  • Poor morale
Recuitment Requirement
Required Technology Mercenaries Cost 150 Upgrade From Pursuit Trihemiolia - Peltasts