I have not yet played the demo myself, but I have noticed some discussion/debate in these forums as to how pila are implemented in the game. As it is, they are counted as javelins which may or may not be discharged at a range before charging in with swords.

This depiction is consistent with the majority of popular historical recreations, but I do not feel it is entirely accurate with the way pila were actually used. Based on various sources and my own feeling, it seems to me that the pilum, while it could also be lobbed from a distance, was probably more useful once closer to the enemy, and could even have been used to supplement melee.

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Spears are, we are told, defensive weapons. But if you study the Illiad or other depictions of ancient combat, the impression one gets is quite to the contrary. Classically, the spear is the ultimate OFFensive weapon, with a range and penetrating ability simply unmatchable by the sword.

The impression I have formed is that, in man-to-man combat, the most effective way to use a spear was to hold it in the over-hand fashion, guarding yourself with your shield, and try to hit your enemy before he could hit you. You would either cast it a short distance or deliver a series of long-range strikes, and then close to attack with the sword if you either missed or broke your spear-head.

The downside of this method of fighting is that it was incompatible with an ordered formation. The development of heavier shields and the greater availability of bronze armor led to the dominance of the heavily-armoured hoplites with their shield walls and thrusting-spears. The Macedonians gave their hoplites smaller shields and longer spears and invented the classic Phalanx.

The Phalanx represents the ultimate incarnation of spears as a DEFensive weapon, the formation pushing forward only because the front is impenetrable.

Then came the Romans. They started out using Spartan-style hoplites, but then they had an idea-- whatever happened to the OFFensive spear? What if it could be modified in such a way that it could be used in a well-ordered formation? Thus-- the Legion.

The Legion, in contrast to the impenetrable frontof the Phalanx, focuses on agressively striking the enemy formation. Pila, short enough to be used without putting out anyone's eye behind you, and bending on impact to prevent their use by the enemy, are the first implement of smiting, and if they don't work the legionaries close ALL AT ONCE to stab, stab, stab.

Legionaries are not skirmishers. It seems much more likely to me that a soldier would use his pilum at close range, where he will be much more likely to hit and kill. It also seems likely, indeed I've heard accounts, that the ranks behind him might cast more pila even after he had entered in close combat with the enemy line-- thus providing a modified form of the rear-rank support so touted in more conventional spear formations.

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So it seems to me that while the Legionaries should have the option of casting javelin-style in special circumstances, the Pilum makes much more sense factored in somehow to the melee.

DA