Quote Originally Posted by Sheogorath View Post
Dont they get pikemen? Well, the other option is to use a cheap militia unit, then shoot them in the back.

Remember the scene from Braveheart?

King Edward: "Tell the archers to fire."

General Fellow: "But milord, our men are still out there."

King Edward: (looks surprised): "Yes? But we'll hit theirs too."

EDIT:

@andrewt
Actually, space providing, I like to have them move around to the flank and fire into the enemies rear, or at least pin flankers.
Just watched that movie again, quite possibly the best line in the movie.
"won't we hit our own men?"
"Yes. But we'll hit theirs too" .

Pikemen, despite being equipped only with a melee weapon are no better at melee than line infantry, and due to casualties they sustain while closing the distance, will often lose.

While a poster above said that pikemen are useless unless fighting cavalry, in my experience they are useless even when fighting cavalry.