Assault Tetreres - Mercenary Hoplites

There is a good deal of debate as to how large ancient warships worked; the principles are understood, but the details are not always so clear. A Roman 'quadreme' or Greek 'tetreres' would seem to have four rows of oars if the name is translated literally. However, it is unclear how four sets of oars each with one rower apiece could be used without them getting in a terrible tangle even with a magnificently trained crew, or how the top set of rowers would be able to handle the extremely long oars pitched at a steep angle and still produce any power. The chances are that the term 'oar' had become synonymous with 'rower' and that the lowest bank had more than one man per oar. The other option was to go back to a double row of oars, with two men apiece. Two banks of oars would also have made for a cheaper construction task for each ship. Either way, the result was a ship that could rival the lighter trireme in speed, yet had more deck space for a large fighting contingent or artillery pieces.

(Mercenary Hoplites)
Hoplites date back to the wars between the Greek city-states in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. During the Greco-Persian Wars most hoplites wore a Corinthian-style bronze helm, and a cuirass of bronze or stiffened linen or canvas. They were armed with a short sword and an iron-tipped spear with a bronze counterbalance butt-spike. Hoplites were named, though, after the round hoplon shield they carried. The hoplon-and-spear combination required them to fight as a phalanx, a block of spearmen some eight ranks deep. When closed up, each man would find shelter behind the shield of his neighbour, creating a wall of bristling spear-points. While all hoplites were originally citizen-soldiers, full-time mercenaries took over and became the standard fighting unit of the Greek world. Later, under Phillip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great, the shield became smaller, while the spear developed into the five metre sarissa pike. Many armies adopted the phalanx of hoplites as a tactical unit because it was very successful in battle.

Unit Name Assault Tetreres - Mercenary Hoplites

Main Unit Key inv_greek_four_mercenary_hoplites

Land Unit Key inv_mercenary_hoplites

Naval Unit Key greek_four

Soldiers 120

Category Medium Ship

Class Melee Ship

Custom Battle Cost 600

Recruitment Cost 600

Upkeep Cost 450

Ship Health 825

└ Ship greek_four

Ship Speed 6

Melee Attack 35

Weapon Damage 26

├ Melee Weapon rome_hoplite_spear

├ Melee Damage Base 20

├ Melee Damage Ap 6

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 15

├ Bonus vs Elephants 15

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 15

Melee Defence 55

├ Base Defence 40

├ Shield hoplite

└ Shield Defence 15

Armour 80

├ Armour spolas

├ Armour Defence 35

└ Shield Armour 45

Health 60

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_hoplite

├ Man Health 45

└ Bonus Hit Points 15

Base Morale 50

Abilities

• Row Hard 20
  Increases speed for 20 strokes.
  Ship speed

• Hoplite Wall
  The unit moves into close wall formation.
  Bracing, melee defence, shield strength
  Acceleration, speed

Attributes

• Disciplined
  This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often.
• Formation Attack
  The unit will try to stay in formation when in melee.
• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Average hull strength
• Medium crew
• Average speed
• Average ramming
• Average boarding

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

Rise of the Republic Mercenaries Pool