Greek trireme games

Coates took the research data Morrison had so painstakingly collected and combined it with his own expertise in naval design. Once funding was secure—British bankers and the Greek navy provided valuable assistance—the trireme reconstruction project became a reality. The result was Olympias , the first trireme to ply Mediterranean waters since classical times. Excavations of neosoikoi ship sheds or hangars at Piraeus have helped give investigators clues as to trireme dimensions.

The length was about to feet 38 to 41 meters , beam about 10 to 13 feet three to four meters , and draught three to four feet. The Olympias falls within these rough general dimensions, being The Athenian navy of the fourth and fifth centuries bc was the best in Greece.

On Athenian triremes the oarsmen of each bank or tier had a distinctive name. A Thranite Greek Thranites , plural Thranitai was an oarsman on the highest, uppermost bank of oars.

Since he wielded the longest oar, sometimes he was given extra pay, as happened during the Athenian expedition to Syracuse in bc A Zygian Greek Zygios, plural Zygitai manned an oar on the middle tier, while a Thalamian Greek Thalamios sat at the lowest bank of oars. Sometimes the wind was allowed to do the work of oars, though not in battle. Sails were raised on a mainmast and a smaller boat mast forward.

Like virtually all sails set near the bow of a ship, its most useful application comes when the ship is attempting to move to windward. The Trireme Trust was founded in by Frank Welsh, John Morrison, and John Coates to promote further trireme study, settle the controversies if possible, and engender an appreciation of the maritime skills of the ancient Athenians.

The Trust, which is closely associated with the Olympias , has a wonderfully informative Web page. Pass all of these to reach the rank of Captain.

Then, with a single squadron, there are conflicts against an enemy squadron of lesser, equal, and greater size. The last of these is a tough challenge to pass, but when it is completed the player reaches the rank of Commander. At this level there are two battles, each side with three or four squadrons. Finally, with these two completed, the player can re-enact the Battle of Salamis an epic battle from ancient history , the Battle of Artemisium where the Athenians used the famous Kyklos - a defensive circle , and two possible but fictional encounters - a battle out in the open sea so greatly to the Persian advantage and another in the straits of Megara between Coryinthians Athenian allies and Egyptians Persian allies.

All of these scenarios are included in the package, many with audio and diagrams as educational introductions to the scenario, and the history behind them.

The battles are all fought around the island of Salamis. The ships all have names, the Athenian triremes have names from a list left behind and rediscovered.

The physical performance of the Athenian trireme is reliably recreated, as a replica trireme - Olympias - was built and had full sea trials in The performance of a Persian trireme involved a little guesswork - they were reported to be slightly smaller and lighter than the Athenian vessels, but were no doubt very seaworthy given their voyages across the Mediterranean. In many of the larger scenarios, a player can select which ancient leader they wish to play including the Athenian mastermind Themistocles, Adeimantos - the Corinthian admiral, or, on the Persian side, Ariabignes -brother of Xerxes the Persian King , or perhaps Queen Artemisia - one of naval history's very few female commanders.

By the time a player has reached the rank of Captain, Commander or Admiral, they will have a very good understanding of what trireme warfare was really like. Recommended: OS: Windows 7 Processor: 2. See all. Customer reviews.

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Show graph. Brought to you by Steam Labs. This is the number of dice that ship rolls in a ram attack. Bow Attack: Each ship has a bow attack number. This is the number of dice that a ship rolls in a bow attack. Hand to Hand Attack: Each ship has a hand to hand attack number. This is the number of dice that a ship rolls in hand to hand combat. Bow Range: This is the number of inches that a bow can shoot.

Ramming Speed Probability: This is the roll needed to get the ramming speed attack bonus. Hits may come from bow, hand to hand, ramming, etc. All damage is abstracted into this one area. Marine Boarding Skill: This is the roll needed to get your troops into hand to hand combat when rammed.

Turn Sequence… Player 1 moves while… Player 2 conducts bow attacks… Player 1 resolves ram attacks while… Player 2 attempts to board… Players 1 and 2 resolve any resulting hand to hand combat.

Player 2 moves while… Player 1 conducts bow attacks… Player 2 resolves ram attacks while… Player 1 attempts to board… Players 1 and 2 resolve any resulting hand to hand combat. The two stats that are important here are the movement number and the maneuverability number.

The movement number is the number of inches that the ship can move. The maneuverability number is the number of degrees the ship can turn in one direction only that turn. Therefore, a movement 6 maneuverability 45 ship can move 6 inches and turn 45 degrees somewhere in that movement turn, if so desired. Even if you have extra movement, in the movement phase do not move your ship into contact with enemy ships.

That is for the ram attack phase. Simply roll the Ramming Speed Probability number or less and, if succeeded, place your ship an inch away from the enemy ship in question and exactly parallel to the enemy ship.