Why should 2H/Polearms be different in M2:TW ?

[Agent Smith]

Hi All !

This is not a history discussion, it is a game discussion.

In MTW/VI 2.01 (or whatever the last version was):

1. Polearms such as JHI, Bills, CK, etc were offensive anti-cavalry units. They did their job VERY well and could be relied upon to do so.
2. Spears were a defensive unit which could perform very well against cavalry and hold their own for a short period of time against comparable infantry.

In M2:TW (PureFixer 1.13 and presumably official 1.20):

1. Polearms are now anti S&S (Sword & Shield). They perform very well against elite S&S infantry.
2. They are utterly destroyed by cavalry.
3. They do well against infantry as well.

My questions to you and to CA:

1. Why this change from anti-cav to anti-S&S/anti-inf ?
2. What has filled the gap, created by this change, for an offensive anti-cav unit ?

Salute !

Well, it's hard to talk about it without going all historical

I think you'll find that polearms were in fact dual use. Most had an armor piercing/cavalry dismounting weapon along with a spear point. However, I think the problem is that polearm units should never have been used as an offensive anti-cav unit, and it was a lack of making a unit "dual use" in the early game that led them to choose what they did. That being said, I don't think you'll find a charging polearm unit swinging at a charging horse to be very effective. The polearm was effective to defend against a charge as a spear and to attack the horseman in a melee (hence why, I believe, billmen can form a spearwall, etc.). So, polearms could be used offesnively against enemy infantry with greater ease.

I think they filled the gap with, as silly as it sounds, heavy cavalry. Just about every faction has their own heavy cavalry. So, you either have to counter cav with cav, which makes sense, or with more overwhelming amounts of spear units to survive the charge and force a melee.