Mercenary Kretan Archers
| Recruitment Cost | 410 | |
| Upkeep Cost | 300 | |
| Missile Damage | 40 | |
| Range | 150 | |
| Shots Per Minute | 7 | |
| Ammunition | 15 | |
| Melee Attack | 12 | |
| Weapon Damage | 24 | |
| Charge Bonus | 6 | |
| Melee Defence | 14 | |
| Armour | 10 | |
| Health | 55 | |
| Base Morale | 55 |
Abilities
- Resistant to Fatigue
- Hide (scrub & forest)
- Heavy Shot
- Flaming Shot
- Whistling Shot
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Long range
- Fast rate of fire
- Good damage but low armour penetration
- Very weak in melee
- Poor morale
Description
Although archery was not highly thought of as a military skill in Greece, Crete produced truly excellent archers who were able to sell their services to the highest bidder as mercenaries. Firing bronze-tipped arrows from their heavy self bows, Cretan archers tended to carry shields, indicative of some additional prowess in melee, which must’ve made them an even more enticing proposition for a general hiring mercenaries for campaign. Their finest hours came when Alexander the Great hired Cretans directly into his army to support its unbeatable phalanx. Commanded by Clearchus, 500 Cretans accompanied the Macedonian phalanx into battle at Granicus, off-setting the Persians' numerical superiority on the day and enabling Alexander’s subsequent victory. Whereas the Romans didn’t traditionally use archers in their forces, once they conquered Greece Cretan archers began to appear as auxiliary troops in their armies. Notably, they fought in Caesar’s campaign in Gaul against Vercingetorix, causing him to rally the best archers the tribes could provide to range against them.
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Regions Mytilene Ambrakia Messenia Aigai Kolossai Xanthos Lindos Sestos Kos Ephesos Delphi Phaselis Lamia Karpathos Zakynthos Mantinea Kypsela Pergamon Argos Orestiko Torone Arnisa Korinthos Thasos Oreos Korkyra Mende Rodos Laurion Naupaktos Antigonia Ainos Opos Kythera Ilion Larisa Pherae Kydonia Dodona Abdera Smyrna Khios Anaktorio Myrina Miletos Knidos Athenai Pharsalos Kyzikos Paros Oinoi Knossos Olinthos Krinides Kibyra Kalkis Amphipolis Argos Patrai Perinthos Dion Sardeis Andros Sparta Karystos Elis Melos Gortyna Halikarnassos Naxos Maroneia Olympia Byzantion Pylos Samos Pronnoi Thermon Thebai Elaea |