Nabataea Missile Ship

Pursuit Trihemiolia - Tribes People

Fast, relatively powerful pursuit ships, well able to hunt down pirates and other seagoing scum.

A wise man fights the desert before his fellow man.

It is thought that the Rhodians, a significant naval power in the eastern Mediterranean, developed the 'trihemiolia' or 'two-and-a-half' as a vessel for pirate hunting. Given that Rhodes is an island entirely reliant on the sea and shipping this is a believable theory. Pirates used the hemiola, a handy little vessel developed from the dieres or bireme, a ship with two rows of oars; it makes sense that pirate hunters would think of taking a trieres, or trireme, with three rows of oars and modifying it in a similar fashion. A trihemiolia still had three rows of oars on each side, but the top row was reduced to only half the number of oars, positioned midships. The result was a faster, handier vessel that provided a height advantage over a hemiola for any archers on board. There was also a strategic benefit to the Rhodians, who could only draw on the manpower of one island: they could have six trieres warships with full complements of rowers, or seven trihemiolias for the same number of men. The useful design was soon adopted by other maritime powers around the Mediterranean.

(Tribes People)
The Arabian Peninsula was not a state, but a land occupied by inter-related tribes and powerful families. The nomadic Bedouin raised sheep and traded goods across the desert, while farmers were settled around the oases. The camel helped the nomadic tribes to grow in power, and the variety among the tribes produced many different fighting styles, but infantry nevertheless remained important in Arab armies. Although unarmoured slingers were fast and effective skirmishers, and Arabs also prided themselves on their close-combat skills. Traditionally, they fought as raiders looking for loot rather than conquest. Raids or 'razzias' brought honour to the victors, as well as the spoils of livestock and goods for their tribes. Conflicts were usually small in scale and casualties were largely avoided, as a fighting retreat in the face of great odds was not considered shameful. After the conquest of Egypt, Rome had to cross the Arabian Peninsula in order to secure the lucrative trade with India, but the Romans never fully conquered the desert or the desert peoples.

Abilities

Pursuit Trihemiolia

• 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

Pursuit Trihemiolia

• Poor hull strength
• Medium crew
• Uncatchable
• Weak ramming
• Poor boarding
• Average missile combat

Tribes People

• Short range
• Fast rate of fire
• Very good damage and armour penetration
• Very weak in melee
• Very poor morale

Nabataea Units
General (4)
1.Noble Swordsmen
2.Nabataean Noble Cavalry
3.Rekem Palace Guard
4.Scythed Chariots
Melee Infantry (4)
5.Noble Swordsmen
6.Desert Levy
7.Nabataean Axe Warriors
8.Nabataean Swordsmen
Missile Infantry (5)
9.Levy Skirmishers
10.Slingers
11.Tribes People
12.Nabataean Heavy Archers
13.Nabataean Light Peltasts
Pike Infantry (2)
14.Desert Pikemen
15.Nabataean Thorax Pikes
Spear Infantry (6)
16.Levy Spearmen
17.Caravan Guard
18.Armoured Desert Hoplites
19.Desert Hoplites
20.Heavy Desert Spearmen
21.Rekem Palace Guard
Melee Cavalry (6)
22.Camel Spearmen
23.Arabian Cavalry
24.Armoured Desert Cavalry
25.Desert Cavalry
26.Armoured Camel Spearmen
27.Nabataean Noble Cavalry
Missile Cavalry (1)
28.Camel Archers
Shock Cavalry (2)
29.Desert Heavy Lancers
30.Hellenic Desert Cataphracts
Chariot (2)
31.Desert Chariots
32.Scythed Chariots
Fixed Artillery (3)
33.Eastern Giant Ballista
34.Eastern Bastion Scorpion
35.Eastern Scorpion (Fixed)
Field Artillery (6)
36.Eastern Bastion Ballista
37.Eastern Ballista
38.Eastern Scorpion
39.Eastern Large Onager
40.Eastern Bastion Onager
41.Eastern Onager
Admiral (3)
42.Scorpion Trieres - Levy Skirmishers
43.Tower Penteres - Nabataean Heavy Archers
44.Assault Hexeres - Noble Swordsmen
Melee Ship (3)
45.Fire Pot Dieres - Levy Spearmen
46.Assault Dieres - Levy Spearmen
47.Assault Hexeres - Noble Swordsmen
Missile Ship (7)
48.Missile Trieres - Levy Skirmishers
49.Scorpion Trieres - Levy Skirmishers
50.Raiding Hemiolia - Tribes People
51.Pursuit Trihemiolia - Tribes People
52.Scorpion Penteres - Nabataean Heavy Archers
53.Tower Penteres - Nabataean Heavy Archers
54.Missile Penteres - Nabataean Light Peltasts
Artillery Ship (2)
55.Light Artillery Penteres - Eastern Ballista (Ship)
56.Artillery Penteres - Eastern Onager (Ship)