War Barge

"Arrow ship. Good against close-combat ships. Can transport units."
In-game description

The War Barge is the Egyptian siege ship in Age of Mythology, and is available at the Dock in the Heroic Age.

Special Ability

Image	Name	Description
	Solar Flare	Requires Sun Ray, Projectiles reveal the area around where they land.

Technologies, Upgrades & Bonuses

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strong vs.	Close-combat Ships
Weak vs.	Siege Ships, Siege Weapons

Upgrades

Age	Upgrade	Upgrades to	Cost	Effect
Heroic Age	Heavy Warships	Heavy Trireme	150 , 150 , 20 seconds	+15% hit points, +20% damage, +1 Line of Sight
Heroic Age	Champion Warships	Champion Trireme	250 , 200 , 40 seconds	+20% hit points, +30% damage, +1 Line of Sight

General Technologies

Offense

Image	Name	Description
	Copper Weapons	+10% damage
	Bronze Weapons	+10% damage
	Iron Weapons	+10% damage
	Ballistics	Fires more accurately at moving targets
	Burning Pitch	+15% attack and 4x damage vs. Buildings
	Heroic Fleet	+150% attack vs. Myth Units

Defense

Image	Name	Description
	Copper Armor	-10% Hack & crush Vulnerability
	Bronze Armor	-10% Hack & crush Vulnerability
	Iron Armor	-10% Hack & crush Vulnerability
	Copper Shields	-10% Pierce Vulnerability
	Bronze Shields	-10% Pierce Vulnerability
	Iron Shields	-10% Pierce Vulnerability

Utility

Image	Name	Description
	Conscript Sailors	-20% training time
	Enclosed Deck	2× unit capacity

Myth Technologies

Name	God	Description
Oracle	Apollo	+4 Line of Sight
Sun Ray	Apollo	+10% damage, unlocks Solar Flare ability
Dionysia	Dionysus	+5% hit points

Relic Bonuses

	Pelt of Argus	+6 Line of Sight

Gameplay

War Barges are siege ships, so they are strong against archer ships and buildings but weak against hammer ships. Defensive buildings such as towers can outrange them so they are vulnerable to counterattack in the Heroic Age. However, when upgraded in the Mythic Age, they outrange defensive buildings instead, enabling them to scour the coast for shore defenses. This will allow transports to land safely to enemy territory. Since they deal crush damage, War Barges do some harm to myth units. Out of all the siege ships in the game, War Barges deal the most damage but are also the slowest moving.

History

"As warships became longer, navies began to mount larger weapons on them, such as catapults and ballistae. Dionysius of Syracuse constructed extra-large triremes capable of supporting artillery, and Alexander mounted siege towers on a pair of ship hulls during his unsuccessful siege of Tyre. Later Roman imperial galleys could bristle with all sorts of towers and artillery."
In-game compendium