In MTW, the general strain of composition of armies has been kind of like rock-paper-scissors, with melee infantry beating spear infantry, spear infantry beating cavalry, and cavalry beating melee infantry. But from what I've read, this isn't true- rather, apparently most infantry carried spears with them as well as some kind of close-range melee weapon like a sword or mace. Is this true? And how did halberdiers, two-handed swordsmen, and other non-spear infantry fit into the real-life equation of medieval armies? I'm guessing that mass gave them some advantage, but wouldn't spears be better, since they can keep attackers from a frontal attack, both on foot and on horseback?
Bookmarks