Samurai Medium Ship

Genpei_Naval_Inf_Medium_Ship_Samurai Image

Basic Unit Statistics (can be modified by difficulty level, arts, skills, traits and retainers)

Recruitment Cost 1800
Upkeep Cost 85
Marines 60 50%
Seamen 10 5%
Hull Strength 200 2%
Morale 17 34%

Strengths & Weaknesses

  • Medium-sized, average speed vessel.
  • Crew armed with bows and swords.
  • Very high morale.
  • Excellent in ranged combat.
  • Very strong in boarding battles.

Abilities

  • Battle Speed - This increases a ship's rowing speed for a short period of time.
  • Flaming Arrows - This unit can fire flaming arrows for a short period of time. Flaming arrows have a greater damage effect and can set fire to flammable objects. Flaming arrows don't function in wet weather.
  • Warcry - Warcry heavily demoralises up to seven nearby enemy units, slowing them down and affecting their defence ability for a short time.
  • Whistling Arrows - Whistling arrows have an unsettling effect on both enemy and friendly crews, reducing their morale and combat ability for a short period when they fly over them.
(Click here to learn more about unit abilities)

Description

Samurai medium ships are useful for any sea-going general being both fairly swift sailors and fairly strong combatants.

These medium ships are well-suited to most naval tasks, and have no real weaknesses. Their samurai crews are all excellent warriors, if not particularly good sailors, and are armed with swords and bows. A samurai medium ship can stand away from a target and pepper it with arrows, or close and board; the samurai warriors make it a formidable force in any boarding action. This dual use gives a commander many options when it comes to battle, although the primary use of these ships is in boarding actions. This ship type is ideally suited to the tactics of the Gempei period. Naval battles nearly always became large scale boarding actions as ships were lashed together and their crews fought savage hand-to-hand battles. Even more so than land battles, no quarter was asked or given, and the losers could expect nothing better than a watery grave. As far and as often as possible, a sea-general would try to engineer mass boarding battles so that his warriors' fighting spirit could be used to full effect.