Close-combat ship

“	Hammer ships can defeat siege ships.	”
—In-game description for hammer ships before Retold

The close-combat ship is a type of ship in Age of Mythology. It becomes available once the Heroic Age is reached, and can be trained at the Dock.

There are two subtypes of close-combat ships, hammer ships and fire ships. Hammer ships are melee units which use a hammer mounted on their prow to strike, while fire ships are ranged units which shoot projectiles. Close-combat ships are available by different names to different civilizations:

Civilizations	Siege ship	Model
Greeks	Pentekonter ➞ Heavy Pentekonter ➞ Champion Pentekonter
Egyptians	Ramming Galley ➞ Heavy Ram Galley ➞ Champion Ram Galley
Norse	Dreki ➞ Heavy Dreki ➞ Champion Dreki
Atlanteans	Fire Ship ➞ Heavy Fire Ship ➞ Champion Fire Ship
Chinese	Fire Ship ➞ Heavy Fire Ship

All hammer ships have identical attributes. Fire Ships have longer range than hammer ships.

Technologies

Listed below are all generic technologies that benefit hammer ships.

Generic

Technology	Researched at	Age	Effect
Copper Weapons	Armory		+10% attack
Bronze Weapons
Iron Weapons
Copper Armor			-10% hack and crush vulnerabilities
Bronze Armor
Iron Armor
Copper Shields			-10% pierce vulnerability
Bronze Shields
Iron Shields
Heroic Fleet	Dock		+150% attack vs. myth units
Heavy Warships (Since Retold)			+15% hit points, +20% attack
Champion Warships (Since Retold)			+20% hit points, +30% attack, and +1 Line of Sight
Reinforced Ram (Before Retold)			+10% hit points, +10% attack for hammer ships
Reinforced Hull (Before Retold)			+15% hit points, +10% attack for fire ships
Conscript Sailors			Produced +25% faster

Note: For Thor, all Armory technologies are available at the Dwarven Armory starting in the Archaic Age.

Myth

Technology	God	Effect
Dionysia	Dionysus	+5% hit points
Anastrophe		+20% attack, +10% speed, and -25% training time.
Oracle	Apollo	+6 Line of Sight
Arctic Winds	Skadi	Dreki attacks slow and freeze targets.

Tactics

Close-combat ships deal a large amount of hack damage and have high crush armor, making them very strong against siege ships. In groups, they are also better than other ship types against naval myth units, whose hack armor is generally lower than their pierce or crush.

When Heroic Fleet has been researched, they become decent at defeating naval myth units. Since there are no naval hero in the game except Poseidon's The Argo, this is an important role for them.

They are weaker than other warships and are easily sunk. They are vulnerable to archer ships due to their low pierce armor. Any defenses on the shore should be avoided as well. Their exceptional speed makes taking evasive action easy.

Changelog

Age of Mythology

• Hammer ships are upgraded by Reinforced Ram.

The Titans

• Fire ship type introduced. They are upgraded by Reinforced Hull.

Age of Mythology

• Both hammer and fire ships are upgraded by Heavy Warships and Champion Warships, like all other military ships.

History

Hammer ships

“	While many galleys had stationary rams on their bows, the Greeks also developed a moveable weapon known as a dolphin. This heavy lead or bronze weight was swung from a boom on the ship's mast and was used like a flail to puncture holes in enemy hulls. The Romans would later improve on this design and develop the corvus, a spiked weapon that doubled as a boarding ramp.	”
—In-game help section

Fire ships

“	The success of the Fire Siphon on the battlefield was noted with great interest by the admirals of the Atlantean navy. It was not long before similar devices began appearing on warships. Early mishaps were common; the first few vessels outfitted with the new weapons caught fire before leaving port. But in their first battle against the Egyptians, the Atlantean fireships returned without a scratch, leaving dozens of burning galleys drifting in the shallow waters at the mouth of the Nile.	”
—In-game help section for the Atlantean unit

“	At the zenith of ancient naval warfare, it was only a matter of time before fire would be introduced as a weapon to counter navies comprised of wooden ships. The Chinese were among the first to build fire ships that spurted flames onto enemy boats and dealt a lot of damage. Their downside was a much lower range and thus they were often sunk before they could get close.	”
—In-game help section for the Chinese unit