Chivalric Sergeants

**ajaxfetish** · 03-06-2006, 00:12

The best use by far for any spear unit in any period is as an 'anvil,' and chivalric sergeants continue to field that role better than polearms. The large unit size means they can cover a larger front, and with rank bonuses they can hold on defensively for a long time and are very hard to push back.

They continue to be the best troops for holding a line, and they're cheaper per man to build and maintain than any polearm unit, so great for when money is tight or you need more bulk to your army. But with the advent of decent polearms they are no longer strictly necessary. They don't become useless or excessively limited, but they do become optional. Depending on your preferences as a commander, you can keep them or organize an army without them.

Ajax

**Roark** · 03-06-2006, 00:57

Ajax is spot-on.

If you ever need to establish a "front" just before a major clash, just get a unit of Chivalric Sargeants and plop a polearm unit behind them. These two units working in tandem can hold back pretty much anything in a melee for a really long time.

**Ironside** · 03-06-2006, 07:50

And they're gods to survive arrowfire.

**antisocialmunky** · 03-06-2006, 22:29

Until Arbs come around and they lose a chunk of armour protection.

Does AP Arrow vs Chivalric Seargents make them equal to Feudals? 3-int(3/2) Armour after application and 0 Morale vs 1 Armour and 2 Morale?

Also, does anyone regularly use Gothic Seargents?

**ajaxfetish** · 03-06-2006, 23:33

I'm not sure since the AP system for ranged is different from melee. I've seen it presented a couple times, but never tried hard enough to figure out how it works. They'd suffer but still have more protection than feudals, but I'm not sure how closely that'd balance the difference in morale.

Ajax

**Ironside** · 03-07-2006, 08:59

Originally Posted by ajaxfetish

I'm not sure since the AP system for ranged is different from melee. I've seen it presented a couple times, but never tried hard enough to figure out how it works. They'd suffer but still have more protection than feudals, but I'm not sure how closely that'd balance the difference in morale.

Ajax

It's a simple raw modifier IIRC, 0,3 for arbs, 0,4 for crossbows and 0,5 for longbows while 1 for regular arrows.

**Ciaran** · 03-09-2006, 11:22

Ajax is right on his use of Chivalric Sergeants, don´t go to battle without them (unless you can get Italian or Saracen Infantry, which have the same stats, but higher morale). I certainly never do. There´s nothing better than a solid wall of spears to deploy from.

Gothic sergeant suffer two flaws, in my opinion: They come around way too late to be usefull (even if you start playing in the Late era, it´ll almost be over by the time you´ve fulfilled the building requirements, much the same goes for Gothic Knights) and they´re only 80 men, so they can´t cover the same front line Chivalrics can.