Deadly but fun army of Pikes

[7Bear7Bottom]

This was an experiment with the Bro Clan and I. In many circles it is believed the strongest attack is a flank attack, but in this replay I will prove an extremely strong center will also win in a 3 vrs 3. I'm in the center with nothing but pikes, rear line of pikes have 3 cheverons plus to prevent a rout from a head on attack. Both my allies on right and left flank are committed to protecting my pike box and any flank happening. I do not ram the pike down the center of the attack but march the pikes right to their infentry line and drop the pike wall so the tips of the ends of my pikes lands in the enemy formation causing defensive melee. First line of pikes get obliterated by arrows and melee as the other lines move slowly inward and to the flanks increasing an overwelming sea of pikes. In the end the accumulated effect is too much for the defenders and they collapse.

Extremely effective attack and fun to play with, give it a try. BTW this was a 10k army of pikes in high era. Here's the replay.

http://www.hawk.igs.net/~cgazey/pikewar.rpy

[ElmarkOFear]

Yup bottom, even in the late/all era, pikes can be devastating in a team game, but you have to have your teammates stay back and cover your flanks, until you begin to gain the upper advantage. If one of your teammates goes in first and gets his flank rolled, you would be in big trouble. :) I know, I am normally the one who's flank gets rolled and my poor teammates must deal with it. hehe

Also, good point about stopping before contact with the enemy frontline, and lowering your pikes in "spearwall" formation. It makes a big difference, and also keeps the pikes safe from cav charges. If you just send your pikes in for hand-to-hand, they will most likely lose. Plus, keeping a second line of Pikes behind your first is a good idea. They stay fresh and are ready to take over, if things go badly for your 1st row.

I will watch the replay tonight after work. Thanks for posting it.

PS: Tell Kuma I am looking forward to the day when we will both be on at the same time and can play against or with each other. :)

[pike master]

man that seems like a novel stategy what do you think elmo?

[ElmarkOFear]

LOL Madcat. I may have seen something similar from a certain teammate of mine awhile back. Though I will have to watch the replay to see which of the two appear to have it mastered.

The best thing about the above army, is it can be tailored to fit in with your team's strategy as well as your opponent's playing style. Though it isn't the fastest moving thing.

Now I can't wait to see the replay when I get home from work. :)

I will have to play this army and post the replay so everyone will have a good "Bad" example of how NOT to use it. They say you learn more from mistakes than successes.

ELMO WONDERS IF PIKEMEN CAN BE PLACED IN SKIRMISH MODE BWAHAHAHAHA!

[7Bear7Bottom]

When we did the game we were all laughing at my army (me included) we didn't think it would work. The acronym is Yellow Mellon as my ally (FYI). But this is where the some of my Shogun years came in as we use to play this stratagy in Shogun.

7Bear7Polar would go all yari Spears, 7Bear7Dej would go all cav and I would go 0 val Monks. Using spear wall to block, monks to attack and all cav army to flank.

The pike army reminds me alot of the all Yari army Polar use to take.

And yes, you will see Elmo that I went in first with my allies following up the flanks after me.

P.S. I will have to rip Kuma from Kal.

When I get a chance I will post a stratagy that did fail on me, and I was sent routing to the hills.

[ElmarkOFear]

My problem with the Pike army is, I forget to stop before getting too close to my opponent, and lowering my pike in spearwall formation before I move forward. They get slaughtered quickly if I make that mistake.

Yup, I remember you, Dej, and Polar doing just that thing. It takes a lot of coordination to pull it off to, so you knew if you won, you played very well. :)

Tell Kuma, I'm callin' him out! hehe

I keep forgetting to save my darn games at the end. They need a big pop-up that says; "Elmo do you want to save this loss for the .org replay section?" Maybe I can talk CA into adding that in with the next patch.