Battle Guide: Issue 1 - Spearmen

[putts]

Just recently, innocentius created a thread with the intentions of it being a one-stop all-you-need battle guide. It was a great idea but I think that it was just a little too broad to try to cover in just one thread.

Soooo....here's what I thought of. Create individual threads to tackle certain elements one at a time and then possibly compile some of the key notes together.

To start it off, I thought we'd start with the most basic part of most good armies - the Spears.

To participate, just post how you use spearmen most efficiently.
Try to tackle many of the questions newbies often have concerning them:

How should I use them best in an Attack
How should I use them best in a Defence
Which formations should I use on a Group of Spears
Where is the best place to put them when I set up my Army
Where do Spearmen work best (flat land, hill, forest, etc.)
Where do Spearmen work worst (flat land, hill, forest, etc.)
Are there ways to use Spears that are somewhat outside-the-box
Examples of how you've used Spearmen very effectively


Now, this isn't a quiz or test or anything like that so you don't have to address all these points but I thought they might give a good start of what to look for

Anyway....fire away :D

[caravel]

Q. How should I use them best in an Attack
A. Spear units are generally not suited to attacking. They are by nature defensive units. If spears are to be used in an attacking role then they should be switched to "engage at will" with "hold position" turned off and used only as flankers, or against lower quality or broken enemy units.

Q. How should I use them best in a Defence
A. In solid lines, protecting each others flanks in "hold formation" and "hold position" mode. The spear units should not be ordered to engage but should simply stand their ground, asbreaking formation at a critical moment can spell disaster.

Q. Which formations should I use on a Group of Spears
A. A single line or a blunt arrow head formation is best, with your more vulnerable units behind.

Q. Where is the best place to put them when I set up my Army
A. On the highest ground possible, preferably the crest of a hill or just in front with missiles behind to give them some height over the spears.

Q. Where do Spearmen work best and worst (flat land, hill, forest, etc.)
A. Spears work best on open flat land, preferably facing downhill. Forests disrupt their formations. This can invalidate the rank bonus that spear units gain from being in proper formation.

Q. Are there ways to use Spears that are somewhat outside-the-box
A. Some spear units can function as regular infantry or flankers due to their stats.

Q. Examples of how you've used Spearmen very effectively
A. Spearmen can prove invaluable when defending against the inevitable Mongol invasion. Without spears your better units will have to go head to head with the Mongol Heavy Cavalry and take losses from the arrows of the Mongol Horse Archers. The spears form a base for your missile units such as Arbalesters and hamper the enemy movement, preventing the enemy from driving a wedge into your defensive formation. Good armoured spearmen such as Chivalric Sergeants or Saracen Infantry are best suited to this role, but they will need backup from strong attacking units such as decent swordsmen or polearmed units.

[Ravencroft]

Good armoured spearmen such as Chivalric Men at Arms

Er, don't you mean sergeants?

My answers:

On attack, try not to use them. The whole point (hehe) of spears is to be line holders, not line breakers. Still, if you must use them offensively try to exploit their very strong charge(5).

Whoops, forgot about Muwahids (60 men, 7 charge).

On the defensive, spears are at their best. the rank bonus really comes into play here. Just don't let them break formation and you'll be fine.

[Brandy Blue]

To be honest, I don't think this thread makes much sense. Frogbeastegg has already provided an excellent unit guide which deals with both general categories (spearmen, swordsmen etc) and specific unit types. Obviously it does not cover everything, but it gives the beginner plenty to start off with. We don't really need threads organized around unit types because she has already laid out most of that info for us.

If you want to make a battle guide series, I suggest you organize it around typical challenging combat situations. Here are some ideas:

How do you deal with the Mongol invasion? (Already in this post, but add halberdiers and make unit of bridge provinces for better defense, and don't foget that woodsmen are cheap and handy if you keep them in the forest and let the enemy come to them. Assassinating the chief Mongol before he has kids helps too.)

How do you deal with those jedi generals who kill 100 of your guys even when they've got no army left?

How do you storm a castle with minimum casualties?

How do you take a bridge province?

How do you fight those heavily armored Catholics with your lightweight Islamic fighters?

How do you fight those peksy nimble Moslems while your Catholic heavies are cooking themselves alive under the desert sun?

In Viking era, how do you beat those horrible huscarls and crazy beserkers?

How do you attack a heavily defended position?

How do you defend against heavy odds?

Just think of the situations that caused you problems until you learned how to deal with them, and show how you deal with them now.

[putts]

yes, frog does lay almost everything out in her guide but the point of these threads is to break things out more and get more detailed about each topic.

Also, eventually you will hopefully see ones in the future that tackle certain things such as taking a heavily guarded bridge or best siege tactics and that sort of thing. In my mind, these threads are where people will come once they have a very basic knowledge of the game but want to get better fighting their own battles

My vision is that down the road a little ways, someone will be able to come out here and think "I really need to get better at handling Horse Archers....let me find the Battle Guide on them and see if there's something I'm missing."

[Brandy Blue]

In that case,

if you have to use spearmen on the attack, here are two things that can help.

1: Use them to pin an enemy unit, then do a flank attack on the same enemy unit with one of your non-spear units. This can be a good way of neutralizing a powerful enemy unit.

2: Sometimes if you stop a spear unit a little in front of an enemy, you get time for your spears to regroup, and the enemy attacks. So you get to use your rank bonus even on the offensive.

[Heidrek]

I initally saw little value is Spearmen, and at lowe difficulty settings you are probably still better off using polearm units over spears in most situations, but for me now on Expert difficulty tying up the enemy so that I can execute good tactical strikes is really the only way to break them and win. For this reason I have now found spears to be quite valuable. And so to the answers....

* How should I use them best in an Attack

I find it best to form them into a line 4 deep per unit and have them attack the enemy centre. They will almpst certainly be overmatched and take casualties from issiles, but that is besides the point. Their purpose is to force enemy units into combat with them, and keep them engaged so they cannot move and respond to your real threats - flanking infantry and cavalry. Think of your spear units like a "paralysis bomb". They hold a superior enemy unit in place and slowly die, but as long as they hold, the enemy unit is effectively paralysed and vulnerable to flanking.

* How should I use them best in a Defence

If you have the advantage of high terrain, you can match them up against most units to occupy them. Ideally you will eb able to face them off against enemy cavalry or other spears. The height advatage will give you and edge over the enemy spears and you'll probably beat them over time, but again, this isn't really their function. On defense they are best to protect your weaker units like Archers and artillery.

* Which formations should I use on a Group of Spears

Best formations are almost always Close and Hold Formation. If you have a dagamged spear unit of say 50 or less men, they will be ineffective as a shield wall and should be emplyed as a flanking unit. I generally with them to Wedge formation, and Engage at will then charge them into the flank or rear of an enemy unit. They generally have a charge of 5 which can provide a nasty shock to a pinned unit. As a side benefit, they can always reform into a small but deep unit in close formation if enemy cavalry moves to intercept them as they manouver into flanking positions.

* Where is the best place to put them when I set up my Army

Generally in the Centre to provide a foundation for the rest of your troops. they can act as a wall that has to be chipped away at, and most beattles are more or less decided by the time they will be worn down enough to break.

* Where do Spearmen work best (flat land, hill, forest, etc.)

Anywhere but forests generally. Ideally on a hill as this will allow them to last longer and keep their morale up while dishing out some casualties as well.

* Where do Spearmen work worst (flat land, hill, forest, etc.)

Flat open ground or in trees. When on flat open ground it's easy to get around spears and flank them due to their large unit size and long deployment. Flanked spears will break pretty quickly so you have to be careful.

* Are there ways to use Spears that are somewhat outside-the-box

As noted above, they can be good flankers due to their high charge if you take them off hold formation. Having a small unit of 30 or so spears charge the rear of a committed enemy unit in Wedge and break them is very satisfying. Even with depleted numbers, spears can be an effective unit. Team them up with a flanking unit like Gallowglasses or Highland Clansmen and send in the spears to engage the victim unit while the flanker runs past it then turns in to charge the flank. Chances are you'll only lose a few spears each time you do this, but will route the target unit pretty quickly. Small units manouver faster and are less prone to being engaged while moving into flanking positions so don't automatically withdraw those damaged spears - they can still be very useful to you.

* Examples of how you've used Spearmen very effectively

Vs. the Crusader States as Scotland. Good use of spears allowed me to inflict appaling losses on the far superior crusader units. Without the spears to occupy enemy cavalry and heavy infantrymy strong but vulerable Gallowglasses and Clansmen would have been mincemeat. As it was, good use of spears allowed me to inflict 4:1 losses against the more numerous and higher quality Crusader army.