Colchis Missile Ship

Missile Trieres - Eastern Archers

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 Archers)
Eastern archers could inflict heavy casualties when used in large numbers, and their composite bows gave them a good range, accuracy and penetrating power. The composite bow was, as its name suggests, made from many materials, and its layers of wood, sinew and animal horn made it a very effective energy-storing spring. In the hands of a reasonable bowman, an arrow from a composite bow would go through chainmail at respectable ranges. It did not, however, take kindly to getting wet. The glues used in its construction soon broke down in damp conditions. In the deserts of the east this was hardly a problem, but it does explain why the composite bow was never adopted in Europe.

Unit Name Missile Trieres - Eastern Archers

Main Unit Key Eas_Archers_Three

Land Unit Key Eas_Archers

Naval Unit Key persian_three

Soldiers 80

Category Medium Ship

Class Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost 530

Recruitment Cost 530

Upkeep Cost 106

Missile Damage 35

├ Missile Weapon rome_recurve_bow

├ Projectile arrow_recurve

├ Missile Damage 31

├ Missile Ap Damage 4

└ Base Reload Time 12

Accuracy 5

Range 150

Reload 13

Shots Per Minute 6

Ammunition 15

Ship Health 758

└ Ship persian_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_fast

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 20

Abilities

• 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

• 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

Requires Buildings
Lv. 0	Docks (greek_port_harbour_3) Level 2 Neosokoi (greek_port_harbour_4) Level 3

Garrison Buildings
x 2	Docks (greek_port_harbour_3) Level 2

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Colchis Colchian Nobles Colchian Secessionists Pontus Pontic Nobles Pontic Secessionists
Imperator Augustus	Pontus (Imperator Augustus)