roman seas catalog

8/10/2019 Roman Seas Catalog

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oman Seas is a series of historically

accurate 1/300th (6mm) scale PDFancient Roman period ship and buildingmodels. Roman Seas is designed for thegamer who always wanted to have largescale ancient Roman models, but couldnever afford them nor had the time to paintthem. All Roman Seas models are quick,easy and cheap to make. Print and build asmany as you need!

The Roman Navy Set

There are six ship classes within the RomanNaval Set and these include the main

Roman fleet flagship: the Hexeres, the mainRoman warship: the Quinquireme, theQuadreme, the Trireme, the Liburnian and theHemoila. Historically, the Romans modeled

their Quinquireme after captured CarthaginianQuinquireme warships, which explains why thetwo navies look so similar. We have taken a lotof time incorporating historically accurate fea-tures into our Roman Seas models. Much of thishas come from Roman coins, wall and tombrelief art.

ThE

Hemoila

The Hemoila shipdesign is thought to have been copied from

the typical Mediterranean Sea pirate ship. As aRoman warship, the Hemoila was used as a

light attack ship for hit-and-run and harassmenttactics. This ship class disappears from majorfleet rosters around 100 BC, but may have beenretained as a light patrol boat in minor fleets.The Hemoila had up to 50 rowers and wouldhave been very fast for its day, perhaps movingas fast as 8 knots per hour. It has recently beensuggested that the middle oars may have beenworked by two men per oar. There would have been fewer than 10 marines on this class of ship.

Seagoing Liburnian (Bireme)

Roman Liburnians (also called Biremes) andhad two rows of rowers totaling between 50

and 100 men. The Liburnian was smaller than aTrireme and was primarily used as a scoutingship, and as a light, fast, patrol boat that couldmaneuver well in tight confined waters.

SHIP MODELS BUILDING MODELS

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Hemolia

SeagoingLiburnian

EDITION: MAY-17-2006



The Trireme

The Trireme was the workhorse of the Romannavy and was given tasks similar to that of

the Napoleonic Sloop. It was used as a

convoy escort, a scout, a raid-ing vessel, etc, butwas not

considered a ship of the line. The Trieme madean ideal fleet scout because of it’s speed and theheight of it’s mast. In large naval battles, it wasusually sent to the rear or flanks, as it was notexpected to stand up to the larger fleet ships.The Trireme was equipped with some artillery, but was too light to use ship towers.

The Quadreme

The Quadreme is often associated with riveror minor fleets, where it was often

employed as a primary fleet ship. In the largerfleets, the Quadreme played only a minor roll asit was thought inferior to larger ships. It is simi-lar in length and width to the Trireme, andalthough fast, it was considered to be slightlyslower than the Trireme (the Quadreme hadmore rowers that a Trireme, but fewer oars).The Quadreme normally carried a contingent of around 30 marines, which was more than aTrireme, and could be doubled or maybe eventripled for short durations.

The Quinquireme

The Roman Quinquireme was the mainRoman warship and fully capable of carry-

ing towers and artillery. This ship had a perma-

nent contingent of around 40 marines, but thisnumber could be increased temporarily to 120.At the start of the First Punic War, the

Quinquireme was equipped with aCorvus (shown on bow of the model below).

The Hexeres

The Hexeres was the main Roman fleet flagshipand the largest ship class in the Roman navy.

Only one or two of these ships would have beenpresent within the same Roman Fleet, and would

have been an admiral’s personal flag-

ship. The Hexeres was fullycapable of carrying tow-

ers andartillery.

The Hexeres had a permanent contingent of around 60 marines, which could be increased to asmany as 150 in emergencies. Julius Caesar’s fleetcommander, Decimus Brutus’ personal ship was aHexeres. In one battle, Brutus brought his flagshipinto a battle that was going poorly, and, withoutsupport of any other ship in his fleet, personallyturned the tide of battle. The Hexeres was a ship to be feared.

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Quadreme

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Quinqereme

Trireme

Hexeres



The Roman Seas Roman Navy Set includes anumber of extra PDF files and bonuses:

• Sails: All ship models come with sails givingyou the option of building your ship modelswith or without sails and masts. Historically,Roman ships did not enter combat with sailsand masts, as the sails and mast would makethe vessel top heavy during tricky, tight maneu-vering. Sails and masts were usually left ashoreif possible, but if the ship were on convoy duty,masts and sails were usually stored away on thedeck, quite possibly on special storage a rack.

• Theme Colors: The Roman Navy set comes in

two base color themes: Red and Blue. These twocolour themes are offered to those who want todistinguish between two fleets of opposingRoman ships, perhaps refighting one of thenumerous Roman Civil Wars at sea.

• Ship Towers: Shiptowers may beadded to ship mod-els larger than aTrireme as perma-nently, or as aremovable add-on.

• Corvus (Raven):A Corvus model can be added to RomanQuinquireme war-ships to reenact thenaval battles fought

against Carthageduring the FirstPunic War.

• Officer Quarters:Officer quarters may be placed at the rearof a ship model,although they were

usually removedprior to entering intocombat.

• Fighting Deck Option: (for the First Punic War264-241 BC, and the Second Punic War 218-202BC). Optional fighting decks: semi-cataphractand full cataphract decks are given for all appli-cable warships. This feature can be alternatedeasily and quickly between games.

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Red and Blue Color Theme Option

Corvus

Officer Quarters

ShipTower

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Quinqeremewith Sails

Semi-Cataphract/Full Cataphract Deck Option



The Carthaginian

Navy Set

The Carthaginians and the Romans foughtmany naval engagements during the First

Punic War (264-241 BC) and Second Punic War

(218-202 BC). The Carthaginians relied heavilyon mercenary soldiers to fill the ranks of theirfleet marines and used traditional “Greek” stylefighting tactics, which places a heavy emphasison maneuvering and ramming, as well aslaunching missile attacks (hit-and-run stylefighting). Because hand-to-hand fighting wasusually avoided, Carthaginian marines were alllightly armored. This differed greatly from thefighting style of the Romans which was basedheavily on boarding, hand-to-hand actions.Now you can recreate the naval battles of theFirst and Second Punic Wars and decide foryourself, who’s system of fighting was superiorand who should rule the seas.

The Carthaginian Naval Set includes fiveship classes and these are: the mainCarthaginian warship, the Quinquireme, theQuadreme, the Trireme, the Bireme and theMonoreme. We have taken extra care research-ing Carthaginian ships to incorporate historical-

ly accurate features into our Carthaginian shipmodels.

All Carthaginian ships come with optionalsails , fighting decks , and Officer Quarters. You mayplace these onto your ship models as you see fit.


CarthaginianMonoreme

CarthaginianQuadreme

Carthaginian

Quinqereme

CarthaginianTrireme

Carthaginian

Bireme



River Liburnian

Roman River Liburnian was a semi-cat-aphract vessel, meaning the crew had par-

tial protection from an upper deck. This vessel

was lighter vessel than the seagoing Liburnian,and as a result could be better maneuvered inshallow, tight waters of river ways. The mainfunction of the Liburnian was to function as apatrol boat, and carry dispatches up and downmajor and minor rivers onand along the fron-tier.

Trireme FlagShip

A

s the Roman navy started to adopt smaller

ships, there was still a need for fleet flag-ships. This model represents a Roman Triremeflagship from the 1st and 2nd Century AD, or itcould also be used as a flagship withina minor Roman fleet from the1st Century BC.

Liburnian FlagShip

As the Roman navy started to adopt evensmaller ships from the 2nd Century AD

onward, the fleet admiral still demanded a ship

from which to command the action. This modelrepresents a Roman Liburnian flagship of the3rd and 4th Century AD. This is the sort of shipthe would have fought in the waters in andaround Roman Britain against thevarious raiding and invad-ing tribes.

The Veneti Warship

In 56 BC, Julius Caesar fought a large naval battle against a tribe of seafaring barbarians,

the Veneti. Because fighting the Veneti fromland would have proved difficult, due to veryrough terrain, it was decided to fight them atsea instead. Unlike Romans ships, Veneti shipswere sailing ships that were specificallydesigned to ply the waters in and around theNorth Sea and channel, which was often roughand dangerous. Veneti ships were imperviousto running aground because of their heavy tim- ber construction, which also made them imper-vious to being rammed. Their ships rode so

high in the water that they actually toweredover the much lower Roman ships. The result-ing battle was not an easy fight for the Romans.The Veneti were expert seamen who used verydifferent fighting tactics than those of theRomans. Can you defeat the Romans using thefighting men and ships of the Veneti?


Liburnian FlagshipRiverLiburnian

Trireme Flagship



The Saxon RaiderS

I

s it not strange that even though there were

several tribes attacking, raiding and invadingRoman Britain during the 3rd and 4th CenturyAD, that we only remember the Saxons and per-haps the Franks? Roman Britain was being besieged on all sides by numerous tribes, manyof whom attacked by sea. The most famous, of course, were the Saxons, who later became theAnglo-Saxons (the Angles were yet another tribeof invaders).

Although many people think of Saxon ships

as being a graceful and a pleasurable ship to sailon a raid, they were not quite as elegant as thelater Viking ships that followed 400 years later,although these were the ancestors of those sameships.

The Merchant Ship Set

Adding merchant ships to a wargame greatlyincreases your gaming possibilities. Battles

involving convoys were probably the most com-

mon scenarios fought out at sea during this period.There are five ship types in the merchant ship setand these are the: Cortiba, small merchant ship,coastal trader and small and large Actuaria (oaredmerchant ships).

The Cortiba

The Cortiba was the largest cargo ship of theRoman period some measuring as long as

270 feet. It was not a

fast vessel, taking aslong as a two or threemonths to travel from

Egypt to Rome, but they were

probably themost impor-

tant of all cargoships because they

brought corn

(wheat) to the Roman markets.

The Small Merchant Ship

The work horse of the Roman period werethe small merchant ships that plied the

waters wherever there was a need to movecargo across a body of water. In times of war,these ships were often comendeered and usedas military transports to move horses, men, foodstuffs etc.

Coastal TraderS

The coastal trader is a cargo ship that traveledup and down the river water ways and along

the relatively safe coastal routes. Often built with alow freeboard, these ship generally could not takethe rough seas of the open waters.


Large and Small Saxon Ships

The Cortibaand the SmallMerchant Ship

Large and SmallVeneti War Galleys



The Actuaria

The Actuaria was a relatively fast ship, beingpropelled by both sails and oars. It was a

merchant ship that did not rely entirely uponwind power alone, and therefore could movealmost anywhere at anytime fairly quickly. It’smain drawback was that it required a largercrew, and therefore profits were potentially less, but since the craft could move fast, it could beatout its competition to the market place and that

could translate into higher prices for it’s cargo.The small Actuaria was designed to takemaximum advantage of its ability to move car-gos to market quickly before conventional sail-ing merchant ships could arrive causing marketprices to fall.

It is rumored that it was a small Actuariathat started the second Punic War. Before thestart of the war, Romans knew that Carthage,Roman’s main rival, was gaining in strengthand was once more was posing a threat to trade,

but most people assumed that Carthage was toofar away to be of a real threat. When a Romansenator held a single olive his hand during asenatorial meeting, and pointed out that thisolive had been brought to Rome by way of asmall Actuaria from Carthage in only threedays, his message was clear: If an olive can

reach Rome in only three days, then so could aCarthaginian war fleet. War was declared andthe Second Punic War began.

The Large Actuaria was a large oared mer-chant ship that is thought to have been a coastal

trader as it may not have been designed to plythe open seas. Instead, these vessels may have been restricted to the calmer waters of shore-lines and bays. This ship class was often usedin times of war as a military transport, even bythe ancient Greeks, not only because they werelong and wide, but also because they had a shal-low draft. These ships were designed to landon beaches, and once ashore, because of theirlow freeboard, could be quickly and easily

unloaded. Julius Caesar was said to have usedthese vessels during his invasion of Britain.

Both small and large Actuaria class shipswere said to have seen brief employment in theRoman navy from time to time. When JuliusCaesar was besieged in Alexandria, along withCleopatra, his general, Domitius Calvinus, drew

a fleet of ships together and with these sentreinforcements and supplies to Caesar fromGreece. A number of these ships were Actuaria,with strengthened bows that would allow theships to ram, although it is thought that sincethese ships lacked the speed of a true warship,any resulting ram attacks would have been fair-ly ineffectual.


Large and SmallActuaria Ships

Large and SmallCoastal Trading Ships



ROMAN BUILDING SET 3



ROMAN BUILDING SET 4

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