Do you charge with spear men or hold the position?

Considering the fact that charge is higher than defense which one do you use in your battle?

With spears (and later pikes), it's all about the rank bonus. For spears, each supporting rank (up to 2) gives +1 defense and +1 charge, and a second supporting rank gives +1 to attack. So, in theory, a spear unit with at least 3 ranks of men gets +2 defense + 1 attack, and +2 charge. In practice, the rank bonus can be disrupted by trees, obstacles, and poor formation control. You can tell how well a spear unit is holding formation in combat by the individual attack animations, the front man and his backup in the supporting ranks will all be performing the animation. Pikes can support up to 4 supporting ranks, for a max +4 defense, +4 charge, +2 attack.

When charging, the formation may get disrupted and lose the rank bonus, and the charge attack bonus for spears generally won't last long anyway, so it's better to stay in formation and grind it out with the rank bonus. Spears should be the anvil of your army, holding enemy units in place while your cav and other flankers get in position to charge from the side/rear.

On the flip side, when attacking spear units you want to negate the rank bonus. Attack the side or rear, force them into trees, break up the formation.

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Originally Posted by drone

With spears (and later pikes), it's all about the rank bonus. For spears, each supporting rank (up to 2) gives +1 defense and +1 charge, and a second supporting rank gives +1 to attack. So, in theory, a spear unit with at least 3 ranks of men gets +2 defense + 1 attack, and +2 charge. In practice, the rank bonus can be disrupted by trees, obstacles, and poor formation control. You can tell how well a spear unit is holding formation in combat by the individual attack animations, the front man and his backup in the supporting ranks will all be performing the animation. Pikes can support up to 4 supporting ranks, for a max +4 defense, +4 charge, +2 attack.

When charging, the formation may get disrupted and lose the rank bonus, and the charge attack bonus for spears generally won't last long anyway, so it's better to stay in formation and grind it out with the rank bonus. Spears should be the anvil of your army, holding enemy units in place while your cav and other flankers get in position to charge from the side/rear.

On the flip side, when attacking spear units you want to negate the rank bonus. Attack the side or rear, force them into trees, break up the formation.

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Thanks for clear explanation.

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Originally Posted by drone

With spears (and later pikes), it's all about the rank bonus. For spears, each supporting rank (up to 2) gives +1 defense and +1 charge, and a second supporting rank gives +1 to attack. So, in theory, a spear unit with at least 3 ranks of men gets +2 defense + 1 attack, and +2 charge. In practice, the rank bonus can be disrupted by trees, obstacles, and poor formation control. You can tell how well a spear unit is holding formation in combat by the individual attack animations, the front man and his backup in the supporting ranks will all be performing the animation. Pikes can support up to 4 supporting ranks, for a max +4 defense, +4 charge, +2 attack.

When charging, the formation may get disrupted and lose the rank bonus, and the charge attack bonus for spears generally won't last long anyway, so it's better to stay in formation and grind it out with the rank bonus. Spears should be the anvil of your army, holding enemy units in place while your cav and other flankers get in position to charge from the side/rear.

On the flip side, when attacking spear units you want to negate the rank bonus. Attack the side or rear, force them into trees, break up the formation.

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Generally speaking this is the best way to approach using Spear units. However, I have adjusted this slightly and it seems to work ( most of the time ) :

1. If attacked by Cavalry - your Spears should remain in situ and be set on Hold Formation.
2. If attacked by Infantry with Pikes, treat as 1. above also.
3. If attacked by Infantry with Spears - your Spears can counter attack and use Engage at Will.
4. If attacked by Infantry ( excluding Spears and Pikes )- Your Spears can counter attack and use Engage at Will.

[ However, try to avoid 4. as you will probably lose anyway unless fighting Peasants. ]

[ NB : If your unit is Pikes ( rather than Spears ) always use 1. above. ]

[ NBB : These revisions may be best with units with Short Spears rather than long ones. These are usually the 60 man units rather than the standard 100 man units. ]

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Originally Posted by MoKus

Considering the fact that charge is higher than defense which one do you use in your battle?

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One thing you can do with spears[and pikes], is to charge them after getting them out of "hold formation" - if you charge them while on formation very few men of the unit will actually attack the enemy unit [as drone says] with the [huge] charge bonus.. while out of the "hold formation" all men in the unit will attack [it will be like any other unit charging, like cavs or swords] with the charge bonus..

This makes spears especially handy to use as a hammer unit to other pinned units [in the later stages of a battle - NOT when battle lines are locking - there holding formation and getting the ranks bonus is better.. and spears better used as pinning/hold the line units] especially against pinned cavalry, as together with the bonus charge your spear unit will get the anti-cav bonus too..

its also handy against other unit types that are about/near_about to break due to the large charge bonus [again in the later stages of a battle or when the spear unit is extra on your part and wont be stopped]..