Trireme

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"[H]e saw the Xanthos appear, its great black horse sail furled, its two banks of oars beating slowly as it edged toward the beach."

David Gemmell, Shield of Thunder (cap 10)

In game[edit | edit source]

Trireme icon.png
Trireme — Vital statistics
Trireme

Medium ship replacement for Galley. Has powerful attack and range, strong against warships and warriors alike, but worthless against buildings.

Prereq: Build time HP LOS Attack Attack speed Movement
speed
Upgrade of
Ironworking Metallurgy
2.1s
(325t)
380 10 25 x 3 2.6s
(40t)
36

Pbire icon.png

Cost Created from Armour Weapon range Specialty
Base Ramp Pop
Timber: 240;
Metal.png: 240
Metal.png: 2
2 Estaleiro.png 13 0–13
  • Moderate attack bonus versus buildings.
  • Poor turn speed.

Roundel knaan.png

Overall strategy[edit | edit source]

The ultimate warship. With its covered decks, and innovative rowing system, the Trireme is very much a force to reckon with, and is thus the perfect unit for use in projecting power on water maps. Just make sure you avoid running foul of Fire Rafts or Stomach Strikers, since these units are dedicated anti-ship weapons and can easily destroy your Triremes, especially in large packs since they are relatively cheaper to recruit. It is sometimes best to send your Trireme fleet on expeditions, escorted by cheaper units, such as Triakonteres or Longships as a scouting force, and to clear the way for your awesome Trireme fleets to cross safely to where they are needed.

Unit summary[edit | edit source]

  • Fire Hazard — Fire ships are most powerful against any form of heavy ship, so keep these as far away from your longships at all costs. On the other hand, save a few of your own for attacks against China and Japan, which have the Tower Ship which is far stronger than your own Longships.
  • Keeping Up With The Johanssons — Although weaker than a common Roundship, or even the Oriental War Junk, Longships are cheaper and faster, allowing you to create more of them to surround and flank enemy fleets. Their only flaw is that they are incapable of bombarding fortresses.
  • Technological Race — It would be better to upgrade this unit to a roundship once it is available, although the Scots, Norse and Russians must wait for the Cog to be available instead.

See also[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

If you are playing the Western factions, this unit will undergo 3 different changes, depending on the Age you are in:

Trivia[edit | edit source]

Longships are also used by the Spanish, and are the very ships that spawn from Dockyards, although they are soon upgraded to Roundships. This is actually somewhat historically accurate, as there is evidence that some Vikings did raid and settle in Spain (after being defeated by Muslim forces, and converting to Islam). Some may have introduced shipbuilding techniques to the locals (in the form of the Portuguese poveiro). The only way for Spain to obtain Longships, however, is through its heavy ship bonus which spawns units at the dock.

History[edit | edit source]

The trireme differed from previous galleys by having installed three banks of oars per side with the oarsmen arranged one above the other; thus creating a vessel larger and speedier than previously possible. The provenance of the trireme is still in dispute. Most scholars credit the Phoenicians with first inventing the trireme which was itself an adaptation of the earlier bireme using Thucydides' account that it was the Corinthians who first adopted triremes on the Greek mainland as early as 700 BCE. However, later historians Pliny and Diodorus argue that the Corinthians themselves were the first to invent it. Whichever account was true, it was the Athenians, with their newly found wealth from local silver mines, who constructed a fleet of triremes large enough to hold sway over the Aegean.

For longer voyages, auxiliary sails were available; a mainsail amidships and a smaller sail near the prow (front). Like most warships of the day and previous centuries, steering was by large steering oars near the stern, one on each side of the vessel. The prow and fore part of the ship were strengthened to allow a large bronze- or iron-clad ram which was used to either slice into an enemy ship from the side, or snap its oars by running alongside.

References[edit | edit source]