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HomeHome / Total War: Rome II / Spartan Gerousia / Units / Tower Penteres - Helot Archers
Tower Penteres - Helot Archers Spartan GerousiaSpartan Gerousia Missile Ship

Tower Penteres - Helot Archers

From a shipboard tower, all enemies become little targets to be potted at will.

A slave can pull a bowstring as well as any free man.

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.

(Helot Archers)
An unfree class of non-citizens within Sparta's zone of control, the helots were slaves in most respects. Agricultural labourers, they worked the rich valleys of Eurotas and Pamisos, on which Laconia and Messenia were situated, and were forced to give up half of their produce to the Spartan elite. In addition, helots would also be assigned to Spartan citizens as household servants. Sometimes pressed into military service, helots would be employed as peltasts, and in some cases gained their freedom through such service. Following an earthquake in 464BC which devastated Sparta and possibly claimed as many as 20,000 lives the helots, mainly from Messenia, revolted alongside the perioikoi of Aithaia and Thouria. Cruel and bitter treatment of the helots by their Spartan overlords intensified after this event, and may have led to the tradition of the autumnal krypteia. A declaration of war against the helots made by the ephors, during the krypteia members of the Spartan agoge could prove their skill as warriors. Armed only with a knife, they were expected to live off the land whilst sanctioned to spy on, steal from, and kill the helots. However, this worked both ways, as any young Spartan caught by the helots could be beaten to death for allowing his capture.

Tower Penteres - Helot Archers Tower Penteres - Helot Archers
Tower Penteres - Helot Archers

Unit Name

Tower Penteres - Helot Archers

Main Unit Key

Gre_Hel_Archers_Lft_Bow

Land Unit Key

Gre_Helot_Archers

Naval Unit Key

greek_lft_five

Soldiers

140

Category

Medium Ship

Class

Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost

950

Recruitment Cost

950

Upkeep Cost

190

Missile Damage

35

├ Missile Weapon

rome_bow

├ Projectile

arrow_normal

├ Missile Damage

31

├ Missile Ap Damage

4

└ Base Reload Time

12

Accuracy

5

Range

125

Reload

13

Shots Per Minute

6

Ammunition

15

Ship Health

1020

└ Ship

greek_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

12

├ Base Defence

12

├ Shield

none

└ Shield Defence

0

Armour

10

├ Armour

cloth

├ Armour Defence

10

└ Shield Armour

0

Health

45

├ Man Entity

rome_infantry_very_light

├ Man Health

40

└ Bonus Hit Points

5

Base Morale

25

Abilities

Tower Penteres
  • 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

Tower Penteres
  • Good hull strength
  • Medium crew
  • Average speed
  • Average ramming
  • Average boarding
  • Very good missile combat
Helot Archers
  • Long range
  • Average rate of fire
  • Good damage but low armour penetration
  • Very weak in melee
  • Very poor morale
Requires Buildings
Tower Penteres - Helot Archers Lv. 0 Military Wharf
Military Wharf
(greek_port_military_2)
Level 1
Drydock
Drydock
(greek_port_military_3)
Level 2
Military Port
Military Port
(greek_port_military_4)
Level 3