Bireme

The timbers of the hull drew their strength from the oak forests of the mainland; the precision of its curves was the product of a masterly expertise. The means to arrive at such a thing came only through total domination and through wealth: the wealth of the merchants allied to the power of the Gehans.

— Richard Herley, The Earth Goddess (Pt I, cap 5)

In game

Bireme — Vital statistics
	Medium ship replacement for Galley. Has powerful attack and range, strong against warships and warriors alike, but worthless against buildings. Strong versus light missile weapons, light ships Weak versus siege weapons, fireships, buildings
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrade of	Upgrades to
	18.1s (280t)	345	11	22 x 3	1.6s (25t)	31	|
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 180  : 180	: 3	2		9	0–10	Moderate attack bonus versus buildings. Poor turn speed.

Overall strategy

In Age of Chariots (and Rise of the Ancients) the Bireme is the very first heavy ship unit that can be created in the Axial Age. Unlike the weaker Roundship, Biremes are more heavily armed, and are meant to be used offensively, being capable of dominating most naval encounters as long as they are not swarmed by weaker ships or targeted by fireships. AS a result, the best way to use these units is to screen more valuable assets from fireship attack, as well as for coastal defence where needed. They are substantially cheaper (Food is quote plentiful in the mid- to late-game in Rise of Nations) and thus they are fairly expendble.

Unit summary

• 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

• Polyreme

Notes

Bireme should be?

010101000100000010100000 = Bireme, Nanyue, Carthage, Bach Viet, China (not for long) Egypt and Greece

• 
• 

  Alternate cameo.

Trivia

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

Longships were a common sight in Northern European waters, and were not merely confined to the Viking raiders, but were adopted by other peoples as well, such as the Saxon invaders who eventually founded England. As it can be expected, there was no one "perfect" longship, but there existed a variety of longships built in the Scandinavian style for all manner of use and environments: for instance, Norwegian "esneccas" had a deeper draught suited for use in Scandinavian fjords as opposed to Danish galleys meant for shallow harbours. Muslim sources in Spain attest to this difrerentiation with an account of a Viking invasion in 844 CE which involved large markib and smaller qarib (these were names the Moors gave to the Norse ships). Longships were so popular duing the early Mediaeval era that they were used well into the 12th century, culminating in even larger vessels, such as the legendary Ormen Lange, built by the Norwegian ruler Olaf Trygvasson in the 10th century. The Normans who assaulted England, Palestine and Southern Italy also used longships to transport troops, mounts and supplies to the field. Longships were eventually eclipsed by cogs, which could support more weight and freeboard, which led to easier boarding and eventually easier mounting of firearms, although variants of these ships were used by the Russians well into the Early Modern Era.