How to Employ Pikemen

[Machiavelli]

Pikemen can be very effective offensively in vanilla, so much so that they can become unstoppable if used properly… I’ve posted a lot of this here before, but it didn't seem to change the overriding opinion that the only thing pikemen are good for is defending bridges and city gates.

After heavy exploration and playtesting into the subject, I’ve come to the conclusion that the vast majority of Medieval 2 generals are guilty of overlooking one of the most dominant weapons of Renaissance Europe. I’m referring, of course, to the humble pike, originally developed and employed by the Macedonians (notably Alexander the Great), and which ultimately fell out of favor during the era of the Roman Imperium. Because of the manner in which pikemen were implemented in Medieval 2, many generals have pushed the pike formation into a defensive corner, preferring to reserve the offensive role of their militaries for tried-and-true heavy infantry, swordsmen, and spearmen. What these generals fail to realize (and until recently, I myself was guilty of the same crime) is that pikemen be deployed in an offensive manner with the potential to dominate the late period battlefield.

So put down your modding tools, because with a little help from a friendly General and an examination into historical tactics, I’m going to show you how to build and exploit a pike-centric army with vanilla soldiers (and hopefully, in the process, redeem my own previous, irrational scorn of medieval pike).


Pikemen and the Pike Square



Historical Significance: Developed by the Swiss Confederacy during the 15th century, the Pike Square breathed new life into an ancient method of combat unseen since the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. As a direct descendant of the Macedonian Phalanx that conquered half the known world, the Pike Square was “rediscovered” by Swiss mercenaries in an attempt to counter the feudal status quo of cavalry-centric armies. It can be inferred, therefore, that deployment of the Swiss Pike at the Battle of Nancy in 1477 marked the transition between Feudal to Renaissance forms of armed combat, establishing pike-equipped infantry (instead of heavy cavalry) as the primary fighting arm of the European Theatre. This battlefield dominance of the resurgent pike phalanx was to last throughout much of the Renaissance, until its eventual replacement by the bayonet in the late17th century.

Battlefield Deployment: Pikemen are the most synergistically-dependent of all available unit classes, and should never be employed alone on the battlefield. Pikes achieve synergy with other, overlapping units of pikemen in double-stacked square formations (refer to my discussion of the Pike Square) or Heavy Infantry (as examined in the Tercio).

With their mode properly set you need to use pikes in conjunction with other units. For example, you can use dismounted knights as your front line and charge them in, then take your pikes and tell them to attack the same units your dismounted knights are fighting. They will move up and start using their pikes between the dismounted knights effectively doubling your offensive power.

The classic pike square formation is the indirect descendant to the Macedonian Phalanx, and involves two units of pikemen, each of them three to four rows deep, operating in a combined, staggered formation.

3 to 4 rows is optimal. If you make the formation too deep it will get flanked easily and too shallow and infantry can break through.

These two units of pikemen are mutually complementary, and must be employed in conjunction for the greatest benefits. It is recommended that one of these two pikemen units must consist of professional soldiers (such as the Tercio), deployed slightly in front of a unit of pike militia acting in support of the professional pikemen.

I'll use Scotland for example. Your strongest pikemen are in the front line with the weaker pikemen behind, so highland pikes front line and Scots pike militia in back. You don't want any pikemen fighting alone, they all must have at least a second unit of pikemen behind.

The Pike Square is most easily employed defensively in various choke points such as city streets and bridges (where it cannot be outflanked), but Generals experienced enough to micromanage their pikemen will find flat, open terrain favors the offensive killing power of the double-stacked pike phalanx. Marching Pike Squares downhill will permit enemy units to slip under the rows of pikes, and uphill battles usually favor heavy infantry. Thus, Pike Square Generals should avoid elevated terrain whenever possible.

Tactical Usage: Professional pikemen are expected to engage the enemy first, no matter what the situation. If initially deployed to intercept charging enemies (particularly cavalry) with guard mode on, guard mode must immediately be disabled the moment the enemy make contact with the front rank of pikes. Pike militia should then be marched forward through the rear ranks to support the professional pikemen, either by issuing attack or move orders to an area directly behind the engaged enemy unit (which guarantees that the militia march through the professional pikemen into range of the enemy). Pikes, after all, have the longest close combat weapon reach in the game, and screening militia pikemen with professional pike soldiers allows the weaker militia to exploit the reach of their weapons while simultaneously avoiding enemy contact.

Generals using the Pike Square should favor light infantry, static heavy infantry, and cavalry as offensive targets for his pikemen. Pikes have a tendency to scissor their way through lightly-armored units, and heavy infantry holding a fixed position are likewise vulnerable to the awesome killing power of the double-stacked pike formation. If the enemy allows your slow-moving pikemen to come into range of his cavalry, punish him accordingly: Pikemen make logical cavalry-killers because of the combat bonuses they receive, and the pike square is flexible enough to deter cavalry charges from any direction.

Other advantages to this are it's impossible to rear charge the formation with cavalry. If you see them coming around you can just take one of your double stacked pikemen and tell it to attack the charging cav. That's the end of that cav, go back to fighting in the front.

Notable Vulnerabilities: Pike Squares are ultimately vulnerable to powerful heavy infantry charges performed. Shock infantry such as the Varangian Guard and Venetian Heavy Infantry are capable of smashing into the front ranks of Pike Squares, especially when flanking from the side or rear of the formation. Heavy infantry are also capable of an anti-pike tactic known as “weapon heckling”: if heavy infantry manage to run the gauntlet of pikes and arrive within striking distance of the front ranks, pikemen closest to the threat can no longer exploit the reach of their pikes and are forced to engage with their swords (which forces pikemen to fight on the enemy’s terms). This undesirable situation can be remedied through several methods, including toggling guard mode and spear wall, or issuing halt orders to the engaged pike units:

There are other tricks with pikemen, like if many of your pikemen are falling out of formation and dropping their pikes, just click stop, wait a second and then tell them to attack again. This resets them and they all pull their pikes out again.

On Pike Militia: These form the primary foundation for every pike square and are absolutely indispensible for their utility-per-florin. Pike militia are available to nine factions, including France, the Holy Roman Empire, Milan, the Papal States, Portugal, Sicily, Scotland, Spain, and Venice. Two units of pike militia can be used to form a slightly weaker variant of the pike square vulnerable to morale effects, but when supported by units like the Carroccio Standard of the Italian States, can hold their own.

I pretty much only play multiplayer, so cost is a big deciding factor in what units I use. With pikes I find the cheaper the better. This has several advantages, one of which being that it saves a lot of money for cavalry and other upgrades but doesn't sacrifice the quality of your troops. Elite pikes are better than pike militia of course, but if you use the double line method the difference isn't so big.

On Cost-Effective Unique Pikemen: Consisting of professional soldiers, these are traditionally deployed directly in front of pike militia to take advantage of their superior morale and survivability.

So, in short, the pikemen I use and find to be cost effective are Flemmish pikemen, highland pikemen, Tericos/Lanskenckt (the same), pike militia, scots pike militia, and regular pikemen.

On Elite Pikemen: While extremely powerful, elite pikemen such as the Aventuros carry a hefty price tag and are substitutable for the cheaper professional variants identified above. In campaign games where cost is not a factor, elite pikemen can be used to great effect, but should be considered “soldiers of luxury”.

I don't generally use Aventuros, Swiss pikemen, or the Armored scottish pikemen. These are in fact the best pikemen in the game, but I just don't find them to be cost effective in 10k multiplayer games

On Spear Wall: Generally, spear wall should be switched on at all times. The exception to this rule occurs when battlefield conditions demand immediate battlefield redeployment:

Even though pikes walk pretty fast in spear wall, I'd switch it off if you really need to run. Sometimes if I'm charging a fortified position will switch off spearwall and run them until I'm almost on top of them and then switch it back on and attack. It's good if you want to close and not get hit by too many arrows.

On Guard Mode: Unlike other units, toggling guard mode on and off severely changes the behavior of pikemen formations. When switched on, guard mode forces pikemen to brace in a defensive manner, primarily to intercept cavalry charges and fix enemy units in place. While pikemen in guard mode will cause little or no casualties to the enemies they pin in place, they will likewise take fewer casualties and can be used in conjunction with cavalry to perform hammer-and-anvil maneuvers, or to hold enemy units in place for a pointblank volley of gunpowder (which is discussed in the Pike-and-Shot segment of the guide).

However, be warned that pikemen in guard mode tend to draw their swords when engaged in melee combat:

First of all, since we're talking about their offensive usage, you'll want spear wall on and guard mode off. Guard mode is what makes them go into "brace" formation, but it also causes them to move more slowly and they pretty much drop their pikes right away in melee.

Guard mode, therefore, should be switched off when using pikemen to engage enemy units offensively, and switched on when defense is the name of the game.

Final Notes: The Pike Square can form the core of an extremely flexible Renaissance military, capable of both offensive and defensive use against personnel and cavalry when utilized effectively. Additional variants on the pike square involve technological advancements of late period European armies, and are discussed below.

[Machiavelli]

Pike-and-Shot



Historical Significance: Advances in gunpowder technology, when coupled with the resurgence of the pike, defined an entire Era of European warfare between the Italian Wars and the late seventeenth century. This warfare during this era was aptly-named “Pike-and-Shot”, and consisted primarily on the mutual support of tight ranks of pikemen in complement to primitive gunpowder firearms. Pike-and-Shot emerged in answer to the enormous problem of period firearms being cumbersome to use (and ultimately vulnerability to cavalry charges). Pike-and-shot formations, therefore, allowed the widespread use of matchlock (and later flintlock) firearms, with pikemen becoming absolutely essential to the survivability of gunpowder infantry.

Battlefield Deployment: Pike-and-Shot is the ranged late period alternative to the meat grinder of the pike square’s close combat phalanx discussed earlier. While not the most difficult of late period armies to deploy or utilize, the beauty of Pike-and-Shot rests in its simplicity (merely a step up from the pike square). Central to the pike-and-shot army is a unit (or several units) of pikemen deployed three ranks deep, overlapped by a three-rank deep formation of arquebusiers or musketeers. The first rank of gunpowder infantry should be directly in front of the first line of pikemen, which, as mentioned earlier, actually allows the arquebusiers or musketeers to fire point-blank into enemy units fixed in place by a pike formation in guard mode. If close combat pressure begins to take its toll, lighter-armored gunpowder units can always retreat through the ranks of pikemen to safety behind the lines.

I will extend them to two rows if defending a line of muskets from cavalry, but otherwise I'll go 3 to 4.

Tactical Usage: Pike-and-shot will give any general complete superiority in whatever direction it is pointed, so it should typically be deployed at the center of your army, directed towards the strongest side of the enemy battle deployment. The ranged quality of the formation is extremely potent at putting the onus of movement on the enemy, which counteracts the slow movement quality of the pike spear wall (after all, shot forcing the enemy to come towards your pikes is a much more favorable situation than the micromanagement necessary to ponderously march pike formations across the length and breadth of a battlefield). Favor open flat terrain whenever possible: level playing fields with little or no vegetation give your gunpowder infantry unhampered fields of fire and allow your pikemen bring the awesome power of their pikes to bear.

Notable Vulnerabilities: Note that pike-and-shot is vulnerable to flanking (even more than the classic pike square). It is absolutely essential that you do not allow the central pike-and-shot formation to be flanked (either by cavalry or heavy infantry). When flanked, expect the pike-and-shot formation to collapse considerably quickly, so make sure to deploy heavy infantry or cavalry on the wings of the pike-and-shot formations (these must be used to intercept flanking threats).

On Arquebuses: Whilst the “Shot” aspect of this formation can be fulfilled by either Arquebusiers or Musketeers, the latter are considered the ideal choice for gunpowder firepower. Arquebuses have the distinct honor of exploding when fired, causing self-inflicted casualties within the ranks of their own wielders, so unless you’re the sadistic type of general, they’re not recommended. Additionally, consider that the musket outclasses the arquebus in terms of maximum range and accuracy.

That being said, pike-and-arquebus formations can be employed with some effectiveness in pike factions without access to muskets (France, the Holy Roman Empire, the Papal States, and Sicily) or in pike factions waiting for their cities to grow large enough to tech up the gunpowder tree (Milan, Portugal, Spain, and Venice). The Portuguese are exceptionally fond of this transitional formation, given their special Portuguese Arquebusier unit (which is an ‘elite’ core of Arquebusiers that do even more damage per shot than late period musketeers). But even these special Arquebuses suffer from the maximum range of their firearm, so they should be replaced (or complemented) with Muskets as soon as possible.

On Muskets: Nations without access to muskets will quickly find their pike-and-arquebus formations solidly outclassed by the pike-and-musket formations of Milan, Portugal, Spain, and Venice. These four nations are the ideal employers of pike-and-shot, because the range and accuracy of the late period musket serves as the perfect complement to the defensive close combat superiority of the pike. In addition to the standard pike militia of the four nations, the Spanish and Portuguese are blessed with the additional benefit of a professional pike unit with decent morale, killing power, and survivability (the Milanese and Venetians must support the weaker morale of their pike militia with the ponderous Carroccio Standard or risk their armies crumbling in fear). This also makes them ideal for the Tercio, which is discussed in some detail below.

Spain with the Tericos and pike militia is a powerful and cost effective combo too, especially when combined with musketeers.

Final Notes: In parting, it should be noted that the Scots are the only pike-equipped faction incapable of employing pike-and-shot formations: Scotland has no gunpowder infantry capable of complementing their ranks of pikemen.

[Machiavelli]

Tercio



Historical Significance: Developed during the Italian Wars in answer to threat of the Swiss Pike Square, El Tercio Español (or the Spanish Square) was the subset of the pike-and-shot formation that marked the transition of medieval militaries towards early modern combined-arms. Produced during the reorganization of the Spanish army into a tactical combination of modern and medieval weapons centered around armored infantry, the Tercio received a reputation of near-invincibility during the Italian Wars and the Battle of Pavia. The Tercio saw extended deployment across Europe under the control of the Habsburg Emperors of the Spanish Empire, until the ultimate obsolescence of the pike and its replacement by the bayonet.

Battlefield Deployment: Derived from the Pike-and-Shot formations discussed previously, the Spanish Square is characterized by overlapping, tightly-packed formations of professional pikemen, heavy infantry, and musketeers. This formation is staggered so the first line of musketeers is directly in front of the first line of heavy infantry, which sits directly in front of the first rank of pikemen. Given the unique tertiary composition of the Tercio, the Spanish Square is actually more flexible than the Pike-and-Shot formation at responding to immediate threats, and more balanced than the pike square from which it is originally derived.

Tactical Usage: The lightly-armored musketeers are expected to retreat into the defensive posture of the Tercio as the enemy closes, and should see as little close combat as possible to minimize unnecessary casualties. As the musketeers retreat behind the protective spear wall of the pikemen, heavy infantry must march forward to take their place in the front ranks. This specific infantry arrangement ensures that heavy infantry employed in the Spanish Square engage the enemy with pikes in support, relying on their heavy armor to prolong their survivability while the effects of the supporting pikemen’s reach are maximized. In essence, the Spanish Square is the embodiment of the ideal late-period pike-centric army: all additional tactical details that apply to the Pike-and-Shot formation likewise apply to the Tercio.

Notable Vulnerabilities: While more flexible than both of the previous pike formations discussed earlier, the Tercio’s extremely compact arrangement of infantry makes it extremely vulnerable to ranged and artillery effects (specifically gunpowder) and super-heavy cavalry (Timurids Elphants). Care should be taken when employing the Tercio against copious amounts of gunpowder artillery or elephants (or gunpowder artillery ON elephants).

On Tercio Pikemen and Aventuros: Tercio Pikemen carry the name of the Spanish Square, and serve as the posterboys for the ideal pikemen of the Tercio formation. While the damage they deal is considerable, their greatest attribute is ultimately the fact they are composed of professional soldiers: unlike pike militia, the professional nature of the Tercio’s unit composition provides it with decent morale, giving the Tercio Pikemen the ability to operate unsupported by morale-influencing banners (like the Carroccio Standard or the General). The Portuguese Aventuros are simply a slightly more expensive variant of the Tercio Pikemen and can be employed in the same manner as their Spanish counterparts. It should be noted that from a cost-benefit ratio perspective, the Tercio provides more utility per florin than the Aventuro:

To expand on this, the only pikemen that I never use are Aventuros. They cost the same as dismounted chiv knights but can't out fight them alone. It's better to take two rows of cheap pikes than one of good pikes. Also, another disadvantage of expensive pikes is you can't really use them to defend your xbows/muskets. It's not a big deal if your 150 florin pike militia are getting all shot up defending your gunners, but you're taking major damage if your 600+ florin Aventuros are getting killed just by standing behind your muskets.

On Dismounted Conquistadores: While only available in the New World, these are unquestionably the ultimate sword-bearing Heavy Infantry in the game. Capable of carving a bloody swathe through anything they come into contact with, dismounted conquistadores are a must-have for the Spanish and Portuguese Tercio formations. Extremely resilient and reliable, expect them to bear the brunt of the casualties and perform the majority of kills in any Spanish Square, because when advancing under the shadow of well-placed pikes, dismounted conquistadores transform the pike phalanx’s meat grinder into a virtual buzzsaw. Spanish and Portuguese Tercio formations will ultimately prove most effective operating against the Aztecs due to the exlcusive availability of these Conquistadores overseas (sword and buckler men or chivalraic knights will prove a lesser alternative in the European theatre). That being said, a patient Spanish or Portuguese general can export boatloads of Dismounted Conquistadores across the Atlantic for use in the European Tercios once the New World is completely subjugated.



On Milan and Venice: A “false Tercio” utilizing the same tactical deployment as Spain and Portugal are available to these Italian States. Slightly less mobile and resilient than the Iberian variant, the pseudo-Tercio employs pike militia instead of professional pikemen, so a Carroccio Standard should be used near the front lines to bolster the morale in the Italian Square. Venice, specifically, can employ a devastating pseudo-Tercio that relies heavily on their armor-piercing warhammer Heavy Infantry to offset the weaker combat contributions of the Venetian pike militia. (The Milanese pseudo-Tercio is slightly more traditional with its heavy infantry being a weaker variant of the dismounted conquistadores, and is overall the weakest variant of the El Tercio Español.)

Final Notes: Due to the effectiveness of Genoese Crossbowmen and the relatively uninspired Dismounted Broken Lances, Milanese generals may want to consider alternatives to their battlefield deployment than Tercio-centric armies. Venice, in turn, employs a Tercio much more dependent on their fantastic Heavy Infantry than their pikemen, so the true Tercio factions remain the Portuguese and Spanish, both of which will find the Tercio operating with surprising effectiveness during the colonization of the New World.

Acknowledgements: Many thanks go to Old Scratch, who changed my complete worldview on how to utilize pikemen, and without whom this guide would not even have existed.

[PittBull260]

way tooo long buddy...

[Old Geezer]

I think the explanation was perfect. Perhaps you could write a summary that could be read in less than 2 minutes for those with attention deficit.

I particularly appreciate your explanation of why pike formations should be powerful in the game and should dominate latter period armies. Thank you for spending so much time and effort on this problem.

I shall endeavor to try your suggested tactics with my British Isles campaign pikemen although I abhor such micromanagement.

[Zild]

Pike-and-ShotIn parting, it should be noted that the Scots are the only pike-equipped faction incapable of employing pike-and-shot formations: Scotland has no gunpowder infantry capable of complementing their ranks of pikemen.

To clarify, Scots have no gunpowder infantry at all? That seems a bit harsh! (And here was me thinking I just hadn't got far enough along the tech tree...)

[Quintus.JC]

Might take some time to read, but it's worth it. Very well written; I would especially applaude the amount of historical research involved in this. Simply quite superb.

Hmmm... got some fantastic pictures to compliment your work as well.

To clarify, Scots have no gunpowder infantry at all? That seems a bit harsh! (And here was me thinking I just hadn't got far enough along the tech tree...)

Nope, the Scots don't have any gunpowder units apart from rather primitive artillery. I'd say it's fair, I play Scotland for the spirits of Braveheart, not for their pike and shots. That's simply not Scottish.

[Cute Wolf]

Actually, when I play as Scots, their Noble Archers are better substitute compared to Arquebusiers, as they could still fight in melee, but well, no fear effect, except you start to packing some highlanders... Two lines of pikes, some feudal knights as cavalry, and some noble archers behind as ranged capability, it works pretty awesome, except against late game Spaniards who start sending dozens and dozens of musketters.... AAARRGGGHHHHHH...

[Zild]

No wonder I've never actually won any of my myriad Scotland campaigns - no gunpowder infantry, poor gunpowder artillery (apparently, although they do the job for me!), and even their most capable archers lack stakes (surprising given - or perhaps because of - Scotland's reliance on pikes) - or have I just happened to always miss the option for using stakes?!

Interestingly, the game points to a lack of heavy cavalry as their main weakness, however I find Hospitaller Knights do the job well enough...

[scrapcode]

To clarify, Scots have no gunpowder infantry at all? That seems a bit harsh! (And here was me thinking I just hadn't got far enough along the tech tree...)

same thing happened to me... and the game says their biggest disadvantage is poor cavalry and nobles prefer to fight on foot...