Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers
A large contingent of archers can make short work of enemy crews.Even giants can be humbled by nimble 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.
(Eastern 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 Missile Trieres - Eastern Slingers |
Main Unit Key Eas_Slingers_Three |
Land Unit Key Eas_Slingers |
Naval Unit Key greek_three |
Soldiers 80 |
Category Medium Ship |
Class Missile Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 530 |
Recruitment Cost 530 |
Upkeep Cost 106 |
23 |
├ Missile Weapon rome_sling_improved |
├ Projectile sling_stone_improved |
├ Missile Damage 17 |
├ Missile Ap Damage 6 |
└ Base Reload Time 10 |
Accuracy 5 |
Range 150 |
Reload 13 |
Shots Per Minute 7 |
Ammunition 25 |
693 |
└ Ship greek_three |
Ship Speed 6 |
Melee Attack 8 |
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 |
37 |
├ Base Defence 12 |
├ Shield pelta |
└ Shield Defence 25 |
15 |
├ Armour cloth |
├ Armour Defence 10 |
└ Shield Armour 5 |
45 |
├ Man Entity rome_infantry_very_light_fast |
├ Man Health 40 |
└ Bonus Hit Points 5 |
Base Morale 20 |
Abilities
Missile Trieres- 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. - Resistant to Heat
This unit tires less quickly in the desert.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Missile Trieres- Poor hull strength
- Light crew
- Fast speed
- Weak ramming
- Poor boarding
- Average missile combat
- Very long range
- Average rate of fire
- Low damage but average armour penetration
- Very weak in melee
- Very poor morale
Faction Availability | |
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Grand Campaign | |
Imperator Augustus |