


Missile Trireme - Auxiliary Sabaean Archers
A large contingent of archers can make short work of enemy crews.An archer at home in desert sands is always useful.
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.
(Auxiliary Sabaean Archers)
The warriors of the Sabaean region were light infantry, cavalry and archers as mercenaries and auxiliaries for the Roman Empire. Dressed desert-fashion, they were entirely familiar with and comfortable in arid places. This was secondary however, to their reputation as mostly reliable fighters, of far more worth than ordinary citizens or levies. This was due to the independence that the Sabaean kingdom maintained from the 8th century BC to AD275. This record was based on military might as well as diplomacy and the spice trade including frankincense and myrrh. Never conquered by Rome, Sabaean warriors still found work as mercenaries and auxiliaries in Roman service.
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Unit Name Missile Trireme - Auxiliary Sabaean Archers |
Main Unit Key Aux_Afr_Archers_Three |
Land Unit Key Aux_Afr_Archers |
Naval Unit Key roman_three |
Soldiers 80 |
Category Medium Ship |
Class Missile Ship |
Custom Battle Cost 440 |
Recruitment Cost 440 |
Upkeep Cost 88 |
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 693 |
└ Ship roman_three |
Ship Speed 6 |
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
Missile Trireme- 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 Trireme- Poor hull strength
- Light crew
- Fast speed
- Weak ramming
- Poor boarding
- Average missile combat
- Long range
- Average rate of fire
- Good damage but low armour penetration
- Very weak in melee
- Very poor morale
Recuitment Requirement | ||||||||||
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Unit Resouces | Auxilia_Sabaean | |||||||||
Imperator Augustus Regions
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Requires Buildings | ||||||||||
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Docks
(rome_port_patrol_3) Level 2 ![]()
Coastal Patrol
(rome_port_patrol_4) Level 3 |
Faction Availability | |
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Grand Campaign | |
Samnite Wars | |
Hannibal at the Gates | |
Imperator Augustus |


























































































































































































