Media (Empire Divided) Melee Ship

Assault Dieres - Persian Spearmen

The waterline ram was first mounted on a vessel in around 850BC. Warships and naval tactics were transformed. Ships were no longer platforms for infantry battles on the water; the ship itself became the weapon. Galleys changed as the new reality sank in. Ramming at speed would hole and sink an enemy, therefore slimmer, faster, handier ships were required. More speed on demand obviously required more oars a fast ship with a single row of oars ended up being stupidly, impractically long. The solution, then, was to put in a second set of oars above the first, but slightly offset to allow for rowers' benches. These biremes, a Latin word meaning 'two oars', or dieres, the Greek equivalent, were no longer than previous designs but had twice the number of rowers. They were fast, manoeuvrable, and could carry a fighting contingent. Some nations also gave their bireme crews fire pots; these clay pots filled with oil and pitch were hurled at enemy ships in the entirely reasonable hope of setting them ablaze.

(Persian Spearmen)
The Persian war machine differed greatly from that of the west. Gone was the reliance on a backbone of columns and infantry; instead, the eastern empires fielded heavy cataphracts, drawn from the nobility, as their main strength. These powerful shock troops were complimented by horse or camel archers, to harry the enemy and keep them under pressure. On foot, the Persians fielded light spearmen levies supported by an elite division of archers to back the cavalry and rain death upon the enemy. Also, the cataphracts were often aided by the hammer-blow of the terrifying elephant corps, upon which great importance was placed due to its magnificent power.

Unit Name Assault Dieres - Persian Spearmen

Main Unit Key 3c_Per_Assault_Dieres

Land Unit Key 3c_Per_Persian_Spearmen

Naval Unit Key 3c_persian_two

Soldiers 60

Category Light Ship

Class Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost 420

Recruitment Cost 420

Upkeep Cost 85

Ship Health 566

└ Ship persian_two

Ship Speed 6

Melee Attack 13

Weapon Damage 25

├ Melee Weapon rome_spear

├ Melee Damage Base 20

├ Melee Damage Ap 5

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 20

├ Bonus vs Elephants 20

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 11

Melee Defence 34

├ Base Defence 24

├ Shield tower

└ Shield Defence 10

Armour 55

├ Armour padded

├ Armour Defence 20

└ Shield Armour 35

Health 45

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_medium

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 35

Abilities

• Row Hard 10
  Increases speed for 10 strokes.
  Ship speed

Attributes

• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
• Resistant to Heat
  This unit tires less quickly in the desert.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Very light crew
• Fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Good boarding

• Good defensive unit
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Average attack
• Normal morale

Faction Availability
Empire Divided	Margiana (Empire Divided) Media (Empire Divided) Sakastan (Empire Divided)