Missile Trieres - Mercenary Peltasts

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.

(Mercenary Peltasts)
These skirmishers were named for their small crescent-shaped leather or wicker shields or 'peltai'. It was a common habit to name troops for their shield style in the Greek world. They wore little or no armour and carried three javelins. After harassing the enemy by flinging javelins, they would hastily retreat before any counter-charge or flanking move could be carried out. As armies developed and tactics became more complex, peltasts were expected to take part in hand-to-hand combat: with such expectation they were given stiffened linen cuirasses and short swords. They were still expected to use javelins, but could then join in the close fighting. Eventually, peltasts even exchanged their characteristic shield for the heavier thureos. Their name and battlefield function remained unchanged.

Unit Name Missile Trieres - Mercenary Peltasts

Main Unit Key Mer_Cil_Galley

Land Unit Key Mer_Gre_Peltasts

Naval Unit Key greek_three

Soldiers 80

Category Medium Ship

Class Missile Ship

Custom Battle Cost 610

Recruitment Cost 610

Upkeep Cost 450

Missile Damage 32

├ Missile Weapon rome_javelin

├ Projectile javelin_normal

├ Missile Damage 20

├ Missile Ap Damage 12

└ Base Reload Time 10

Accuracy 5

Range 80

Reload 18

Shots Per Minute 7

Ammunition 7

Ship Health 693

└ Ship greek_three

Ship Speed 6

Melee Attack 18

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 10

Melee Defence 40

├ Base Defence 15

├ Shield peltast_thureos

└ Shield Defence 25

Armour 65

├ Armour spolas

├ Armour Defence 35

└ Shield Armour 30

Health 50

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_light

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 10

Base Morale 40

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.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Poor hull strength
• Light crew
• Fast speed
• Weak ramming
• Poor boarding
• Average missile combat

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

Empire Divided Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No.	Pool	Province	Region	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
1	rom_province_pool_naval_cilicia	Syria	Antioch Samosata Tarsus Thapsacus	1	0.15	1	1

Grand Campaign Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No.	Pool	Province	Region	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
2	rom_province_pool_naval_cilicia	Cilicia	Tarsus Salamis Side	1	0.15	1	1