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Spare a thought, then, for the Roman emperor Severus whilst besieging the Parthian city of Hatra, his army was showered with pots of scorpions from atop the city walls. Home to the most lethal scorpions in the known world, whose sting can paralyse and kill a man within an hour, it was only a matter of time before a wily Middle Eastern general used them against his enemies. Bees also have a practical application in battle, as a swarm of angry bees will always cause troops to stall and panic. A trio of mythical nymphs, the Thriae or ‘bee maidens’, were loved by Apollo and Poseidon, bearing their children. Whilst large-scale beekeeping for agricultural purposes was a later innovation, the humble honeybee nevertheless held an important place in ancient Greek culture. Used as both a guard dog and in battle, Virgil remarked “never, with them on guard, need you fear for your stalls a midnight thief, or onslaught of wolves, or Iberian brigands at your back.” These vicious dogs do not tire easily, and never lose the scent of an enemy.Ĭan be recruited by: Athens, Epirus, Macedon, Sparta, and Syracuse And when their will is broken and they flee the field, run them down with two new breeds of ferocious war-dogs.īeasts of War brings introduces the following recruitable units to ROME II:Ī heavily muscled beast from western Greece, the now-extinct Molossian is considered to be the predecessor of many of today’s larger breeds, such as the Rottweiler and Great Dane. Terrorise your enemies and slow their progress with beehive, scorpion and snake-pot ballistas, or crush them under the weight of heavily-armoured Cataphract Camels and Mercenary Syrian Armoured Elephants. Comprising seven new battlefield units, Beasts of War brings further variety to ROME II’s already diverse unit roster.
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Marshall your savagery, and strike primal fear into the hearts of your enemies with the Beasts of War unit pack for ROME II.
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