Pikes ! Pikes everywhere ! And not one bloke to use them.

[Kobal2fr]

I recently tried a game as the Scots (mainly to hear their speeches), and got to mess around with pikes for the first time. On the defensive, they're great, there's no denying that... But I have yet to find a way to use them on the offensive with them actually using their bloody sticks.

I tried attacking with spearwall + defensive mode : no charge, plus you get flanked like it's Christmas. And even though they start poking, they keep on advancing till they're toe-to-toe with their target and then switch. I also tried charging without defensive mode, and without both wall and def, and it's just depressing : they race in with their pikes at 45°, then just switch to swords on contact.

Now, you all know what I want. I want them to charge in (or even just walk in, that would be good 'nuff) with their pikes *horizontal*, and STOP when the pike hits the first line of the enemy unit, then poke-poke-poke without moving one inch forward. Anyone found a way to get them to do that, or something close to it ?

PS : I don't really want to delete their swords either, as it makes them too good (ie cav charging their backs get slaughtered)

[dopp]

They're great on the defensive? I bow to your superior skill with the hedgehogs of death. I cheat. I confiscate their swords to prevent misbehavior during battle.

[FactionHeir]

The only time I got them to be somewhat smart was having them get engaged by the enemy frontally in guard+pike mode and then switching off guard mode. They are useless in any other circumstance.
Also a nice mini exploit is to switch pike mode on/off while enemies are standing somewhat inside your pikes.

As dopp said, confiscating their swords in the only proper way of getting them to become useful.

[pike master]

just command this formation to advance beyond the enemy target with guard mode off.

i believe it will give you the desired effect.

there is a little more to the way the formation is used than that instruction but the rest will take your imagination and experience.

[rvg]

Yeah, getting Pikes to work correctly is still a mystery to me, doubly so since in RTW spearwall units worked flawlessly.

....mmmm....Sacred Band.....

[FactionHeir]

Meh, the standard hoplites were good enough for the purpose of pikes already :D

[Kobal2fr]

They're great on the defensive? I bow to your superior skill with the hedgehogs of death. I cheat. I confiscate their swords to prevent misbehavior during battle.

What I mean is that they perform exactly like they're supposed to : like moving stakes who can protect my archers from cav, and to block streets long enough for my cav to go around. For 150 florins apiece, I don't expect them to be wargods , but they're great at buying time

EDIT @madcat : hmm, I hadn't thought of that, and it's a bloody brilliant idea. I'll give it a try next time.

[Didz]

I recently tried a game as the Scots (mainly to hear their speeches), and got to mess around with pikes for the first time. On the defensive, they're great, there's no denying that... But I have yet to find a way to use them on the offensive with them actually using their bloody sticks.

Well according to my hero Mike Loades the reason the Scottish were so deadly with their pikes was that they had mastered the art of manouvre whilst in a shiltron formation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schiltron

Although the schiltron is often seen as a principally defensive formation, it was not the defensive use of schiltrons that proved decisive at the Battle of Bannockburn; instead, Robert the Bruce had drilled his troops in the offensive use of the pike (requiring great discipline), and he engaged the English host on unfavourable ground. This was similar to the pike charges that brought victory at the Stirling Bridge. Bruce's new tactic was a response to a crushing defeat for the Scots at Falkirk (1298), when the traditional use of the schiltron failed in the face of English archers."[1]

He actually demonstrated this with a bunch of volunteers and movie stuntmen training them to move whilst in a shiltron and then charging them repeatedly with horsemen.

He beleives that because the formations could move they were able to trap English Knights between each other and annihilate them rather than stand around statically waiting for the english to bring up archers. Whilst at the same time because the formation actually had no flanks there was nothing the English could do to break into it.

[Kobal2fr]

Yeah, I know, and the Swiss also fought like demons and charged their pikewalls, which is why we oughta be able to use pikes in an offensive manner too. Hence my OP

But you remind me of a post I did a few days ago that go no reply at all : has anyone ever tried giving pike units the schiltrom formation instead of spearwall ?

[Slaists]

So far, the only way I get them to work in the game is by confiscating their swords as suggested before. This overpowers them a bit since even rear and side cavalry charges become deadly (for the cavalry), as the rear soldiers of the pike unit just turn and fight in spearwall formation (whereas they would turn and fight with swords if available). It is similar to a moving schiltrom mentioned above though. So, I guess, not that inaccurate.

[Jambo]

Remove their swords and decrease their mass by 0.2 or 0.3. That makes them effective and yet somewhat vulnerable. They don't take out their swords but they'll also lose their formation more easily.

[anders]

this fault in the battle-game is really a bigger game-wrecker than the 2-h bug. the reintroduction of pike formations on the continent by the swiss changed the way war was conducted, decreased the importance of noble cavalry, and together with the introduction of gunpowder paved way for modern warfare.

but in the game, this doesnt happen as each and every pike unit is totally inept.. it might be ok for militia pike to not be able to function as anything more than moveabe static defense points, but the swiss and landsknechts should be offensive units in their own right, able both to do the slow poking "phalanx" advance and full charges against any other unit with good results.

[Doug-Thompson]

Just command this formation to advance beyond the enemy target with guard mode off.

i believe it will give you the desired effect.

there is a little more to the way the formation is used than that instruction but the rest will take your imagination and experience.

Maybe so, mad cat, but I for one would like to hear a whole lot more.

I may be the nuttiest of the resident cavalry nuts, but I'm fascinated by pike tactics of the Medieval Swiss — and how I can't find any two accounts that give the same description of them.

I've also been frustrated by the apparent uselessness of the game's pike formations on the attack. It looks like you're not using them as a block but using several units in a column to make up a "block." What's up with that?

[pike master]

the history of the swiss fighting formations goes back to their early years when they fought in halberd only formations. they oftentimes found themselves in fights against heavy cavalry and although they would usually win of course it was their discipline since the halberds were too short to effectively neutralize the horse charge.

they knew of flemish experiments with the pike and decided to enclose their halberd formation with a box of pikes on all sides. this was known as their main shock force the middle guard. when the phalanx engaged it held its line with pikes well but when the opportunity arose as in the enemy formation began to fall apart or the pike wall was breached then the halberdiers were let loose to wreck havoc in close in fighting.

the term column referred to the overall marching formation of the swiss. vanguard contained a mixed bag of combined arms to recon, pin down, and occupy the enemy preparing it for the advance of the massive middle guard. following the middle guard came the rearward guard which could split up to support the middle guards flanks or move as a whole to one flank or another to execute a single envelopment.

as mercenaries the swiss developed all pike formations and drilled and trained in the phalanx style of warfare reckoned from classical times. these formations were sometimes described as being very narrow and deep, others that they were a box formation. i tend to believe they were very versatile and that the speed with which they approached an unprepared enemy was usually along a road as it was in a battle near milan where they trotted down a road with no music playing and smashed into a french army almost before it had time to meet them, would tend to indicate a column that would not have been able to deploy and travel down the road so quickly.

i would say they had a certian drill that once such a narrow front was engaged that they could then form the formation up in square or even use it as a wedge.

also the scots were not the only pikemen who used hedgehogs. in some battles the swiss would use a hedgehog to hold off an enemy while the other swiss formations maneuvred. many different drills and formations im sure. the system was quite versatile.

the downfall of the pikes could be most likely attributed to gunpowder but could have also have been related to specialized training and tactics to get past the pike wall. in this the mercenary swiss were vulnerable but i fear an enemy would have never been so lucky against the original swiss phalanx that incorporated halberdiers.

the swiss cantonel phalanxes as i described at the top of this post usually were comprised of three cantonels of the biggest cantons each with its own vanguard, middle guard, and rearward guard.

[pike master]

on another point if CA makes pikes any worse than they already are then they can forget about me purchasing anymore of their products. i think they have went too far to satisfy rps gaming by sacrificing historical accuracy. of course im a single player at heart although i play enough mp to know how to route my own army quicker than most. im a firm believer in historical immersion when it comes to the fighting units in the game.

simply put there were simply some units in history that had no weaknesses and were literally the best in their times. heavy armor to defeat arrows, fighting discipline with many ranks lowered to defeat the best sword infantry that could be thrown at them, and able to defeat horsemen easily.

also the austrians had developed an excellent pike phalanx of armored dismounted knights that was very formidable.

i know one person being dissatisfied wont make much of difference but from what i have seen their are many people who are not pleased with pike performance in the game and who do not like using mods.

[Miracle]

This is what it would probably look like in-game:



Extremely vulnerable to missiles/artillery and nearly impossible to keep in good order while moving.

But if CA had a feature where you could form coherent "macro-units" that acted as a single entity, this would probably work well. This would greatly help with Tercio pike & shot formations too. But alas, M2TW is a game developed with finite time, resources and technology. There are natural limits to historical accuracy and immersion and this is one of them.

Of course there's nothing stopping CA from improving pike performance. Dropping swords completely is a little overboard but greatly reducing sword use would be a good compromise.

[Doug-Thompson]

Thanks for the info. I'm not quick to criticize CA as others but the depiction of pikes in the game is just useless. I tried the "aim past the target" method and got satisfactory results with some landknects.

That also seems like an excessive amount of micro for an infantry unit.

From what I understand, the typical Swiss pike formation was no more than 30 files wide and as many as 50 or so ranks deep. The idea was that a short front made the phalanx much more maneuverable (easy to lead) while the depth was not for weight, really, but for flank protection. Somebody attacking the sides would find a bristling row of pikes, not to mention some halbreds supporting the phalanx, too. Also, the smaller "front" meant that the same amount of men could be used in three or so phalanxs instead of one big one, making more varied tactics possible.

In the attack, I understand the Swiss held the pike above their heads, pointing down. At least that's what I get from the otherwise contradictory accounts.

[dopp]

I've quite forgotten how the phalanx in RTW worked, having played Roman factions and Parthia mainly. How did the enemy fight their way into the formation?

[Furious Mental]

Tell us more about these Austrians

[Per Ole]

I've quite forgotten how the phalanx in RTW worked, having played Roman factions and Parthia mainly. How did the enemy fight their way into the formation?

if you've played romans you'll know that it's very hard to bead a phalanx from the front. I usually played greek cities or Seleucid Empire, so I'm well-versed in phalanx use in rtw.

The enemies I fought all tried to flank my phalanxes, since they couldn't get through the front. However I countered this by having phalanxes facing the sides of my battleline as well, making flanking very difficult. The best way to beat my phalanxes was archers; espessially horse archers (since I had no way of catching them). Of course, I had archers behind my lines as well, so I was usually victorios, but I'd suggest using ranged weapons; mounted if you can.

[pike master]

the battle of sempach on 9 july 1386

leopold led his attack with a formation consisting of dismounted knights and men-at-arms fighting as pikemen. at first the austrians were successful, the held their own against the pikemen of successive cantons in turn. according to legend, the deadlock was broken by arnold winkelreid, who deliberately impaled himself on several enemy spears, enabling the swiss halberdiers to hack their way in the austrian phalanx. once this had broken the remainder of the austrian army fled.

as to my formation the successive lines pile up on each other and lower their pikes in turn. sometimes if the line holds well you will have 8 ranks of pikes fighting at once. an incredibly powerful force. at first experiment with them attacking just one unit in a custom battle then as you get the technique down you will find you can defeat the same number of units as the pike column has and elite units for that matter.

but that will come with practice because there are other things you can do with the basic formation. in one battle i beat 4 units of varangian guard with 4 units of swiss pikemen. results were 170 (40) kills vs 61 losses.

in another i used 4 units of highland pikemen against 4 units of feudal dismounted knights and won with 200 losses on both sides with a number of captured enemy but i forgot the number. it was close but the fact i defeated a force of elite infantry post 1.02 shield fix by a unit that cost around 300 with the weapon upgrade was very cost efficient.

by themselves one on one even swiss pikemen would get massacred by varangian guard and feudal dismounted knights. the work around is as close as we will get i fear to a working pike formation with many rows of pikemen fighting at once like they did in history. i fear now that someone will complain and beg CA to find a way to stop this from being done somehow.too me it is not an exploit by any sense of the word since you are basically using up four units to fight as one unit. i would consider this a disadvantage and it would only take skill to make it work properly. im really wanting to help satisfy the single player communities disappointment hence why im posting the "pike column" here and not in the multiplayer academy.

i dont think there was a certian fixed number of ranks lowering their pikes as much as any that could lower them and still protrude past the first rank. the front ranks fought with pikes at waste level i believe contrary to modern notions, the ranks further back held theirs overhead and pointed at a downward angle as a dual purpose to support the front ranks and protect the unit from missiles at the same time. it is really based on the weight of the pike. the earlier pikes were lighter and more versatile while late pikes were difficult to effectively hold and thrust with.

of course my talk here is based some on hard facts and the rest based on intuition when discussing the way they were used historically and others may share different views or evidence which i hope we can all do here so we can learn more about how they were used offensively.

[dopp]

if you've played romans you'll know that it's very hard to bead a phalanx from the front. I usually played greek cities or Seleucid Empire, so I'm well-versed in phalanx use in rtw.

The enemies I fought all tried to flank my phalanxes, since they couldn't get through the front. However I countered this by having phalanxes facing the sides of my battleline as well, making flanking very difficult. The best way to beat my phalanxes was archers; espessially horse archers (since I had no way of catching them). Of course, I had archers behind my lines as well, so I was usually victorious, but I'd suggest using ranged weapons; mounted if you can.

I always shot the phalangites to pieces (Urban Cohorts skirmishing, oh the shame of it) or flanked them with cavalry, so I don't recall any one-on-one duels between my heavy infantry and a phalanx. Was it possible for the legionnaires to fight their way into the formation from the front, or could they only flank (taking advantage of the right hand drift)? It's been so long I can't remember it very well.

Infantry (especially swordsmen) can bypass the spearwall completely on the charge, while cavalry get locked out and killed. Since they can pass the spearwall as if it isn't there, the attacking infantry are now close enough for the buggy weaponswitch code to kick in and the whole pike formation suffers a fatal overdose of wannabe swordsmen. The end.

This makes pikemen rather useless atm. Whereas spearmen can hold a battleline against swordsmen or missile fire and last for quite a while, pikemen will simply evaporate (having no shields or armor). Their sole existence is to counter cavalry which, frankly speaking, spearmen do well enough since v1.2 fixed their shields. Pikes aren't necessary, considering what it takes to build them (highest tier barracks) and what you could be using instead of them. And their cheapness is misleading, because their upkeep cost is the same as any other unit.

Quite aside from gameplay considerations, it's just sad to see a formation of Swiss or Tercio pikemen stabbing around with their puny swords two seconds after impact. It's pathetic even. They look like little boys getting put in their place by the big mean knights on foot. Actually, even Retinue Longbows and the like will stomp pikemen in melee.

I'd even say that the entire late period is relatively underpowered compared to earlier periods, especially high, and pikemen are a major part of that. Late cavalry don't carry shields, are heavily penalized for being 'professionals' rather than 'true' knights and get eaten by Chivalrics (or even Feudals), firearms get buggy fire-by-rank, pikemen don't work, halberds work even less (attack is way too low, especially for a 2hander), and 2handers are unimpressive, to say the least. Even the artillery is relatively feeble (except the monster ribaults, I guess) compared to the deadly accurate ballistas. Despite being armored in plate, most late units only count as wearing mail and don't carry shields, so they tend to be very fragile, liable to melt away at the first peasant archer volley. I love the artwork, unit designs and graphics, but their actual battlefield performance is marginal at best, making them an indulgence for when you have virtually won the campaign and want to mess around a bit, rather than vital new developments in military technology that you must master or die.

[Whacker]

I always shot the phalangites to pieces (Urban Cohorts skirmishing, oh the shame of it) or flanked them with cavalry, so I don't recall any one-on-one duels between my heavy infantry and a phalanx. Was it possible for the legionnaires to fight their way into the formation from the front, or could they only flank (taking advantage of the right hand drift)? It's been so long I can't remember it very well.

Infantry (especially swordsmen) can bypass the spearwall completely on the charge, while cavalry get locked out and killed. Since they can pass the spearwall as if it isn't there, the attacking infantry are now close enough for the buggy weaponswitch code to kick in and the whole pike formation suffers a fatal overdose of wannabe swordsmen. The end.

If you can disrupt the phalanx significantly with one or two pila tosses then you *can* charge from the front and win, but it'll usually cost you. I don't have the examples handy, but there were several battles in Greece where the Roman cohort 'proved' to be better than a phalanx in an infantry to infantry battle, even from the front. Really in RTW any Roman infantry unit pound for pound is going to be superior to any other inf. matchup that you can make for it, very few examples nonwithstanding. I used to conquer the whole map with stacks of Hastatii because they were relatively cheap, easy to mass-produce, and pretty durn powerful for light inf.

This makes pikemen rather useless atm.

Agree.

Quite aside from gameplay considerations, it's just sad to see a formation of Swiss or Tercio pikemen stabbing around with their puny swords two seconds after impact. It's pathetic even. They look like little boys getting put in their place by the big mean knights on foot. Actually, even Retinue Longbows and the like will stomp pikemen in melee.

Agree yet again. Pikes in v1.02 are rather useless. Agree on all points, they switch to swords too quickly, their formations are broken up way too easily. I fought a single battle of the cheapo French pikes vs. some Scottish border horse, in a small town so they couldn't flank me. Even braced, they managed to do soem heavy damage in the charge. Further, what annoyed me was the 2nd time the 'charged' which failed and they basically walked into my unit, every horseman in the front basically stopped but was stuck in the moving forward animation in front of my pikes, but weren't dying. Meanwhile the other horse were happily moving around the flanks of my unit and killing pikemen merrily. I would have thought and expected that the horsemen to the direct front of my braced formation would have died off at a fairly quick and regular rate, as it's not unfeasible to imagine some guy thrusting his pike forward a good few feet, and the press of horses behind forcing the front line guys forward onto the pikes.

/shrug

I'd even say that the entire late period is relatively underpowered compared to earlier periods, especially high, and pikemen are a major part of that. Late cavalry don't carry shields, are heavily penalized for being 'professionals' rather than 'true' knights and get eaten by Chivalrics (or even Feudals), firearms get buggy fire-by-rank, pikemen don't work, halberds work even less (attack is way too low, especially for a 2hander), and 2handers are unimpressive, to say the least. Even the artillery is relatively feeble (except the monster ribaults, I guess) compared to the deadly accurate ballistas. Despite being armored in plate, most late units only count as wearing mail and don't carry shields, so they tend to be very fragile, liable to melt away at the first peasant archer volley. I love the artwork, unit designs and graphics, but their actual battlefield performance is marginal at best, making them an indulgence for when you have virtually won the campaign and want to mess around a bit, rather than vital new developments in military technology that you must master or die.

And it's largely for these reasons that I just bit the bullet and confiscated their swords, and dropped the attack a few points. They're still a bit overpowered, but at least they work now, and can be countered reasonably with S&S units when used properly, and with ranged/arty fire.

[pike master]

pretty much all halberds especially spearwall type are worthless. swiss guard cost somewhere around 800 and they get demolished by feudal dismounted knights or highlanders.

i dont know which disgust me more the halberd or pike performance.

rps is lame.

[Miracle]

spearmen do well enough since v1.2 fixed their shields.

Not quite. Spearmen will still take heavy losses when repeatedly charged by good cavalry (even in schiltrom). Pikemen on the other hand will completely slaughter any cavalry upon impact and take very few losses. The length of their pikes also allows it to directly protect missile troops a la Tercios.

However it is true this is a niche role. They perform best in the field against a cavalry-heavy army. In all other situations spearmen work better.

firearms get buggy fire-by-rank

Simply don't use the default three ranks. Use a two rank formation instead. They work a lot better this way and seem to inflict more damage over time. They're still not perfect of course but they're not useless. When properly deployed and protected by pikemen, they are a force to be reckoned with.

every horseman in the front basically stopped but was stuck in the moving forward animation in front of my pikes, but weren't dying.

Yeah this annoys me too. Eventually the pikemen will move foward and start poking, but you need something to break the deadlock first. Horse archers work well in this role because they can fire over the heads of the pikemen. Thankfully mounted crossbowmen appear at about the same time most factions get pike militia.

Also, a lot of the problems people get with pikemen can be alleviated if they used a two rank dense formation without guard mode. This helps prevent flanking, matches the entire width of a heavy cavalry unit and allows the pikemen to attack immediately after impact.

As for halberdiers I think CA ought to prioritize fixing these guys first. While pikemen can slaughter cavalry, halberdiers can't slaughter anything. Their spearwall is useless and their marching speed is abysmal. Every spearwall polearm unit should have its attack raised by about 4 points and its marching speed at least on par with pikemen.

[napoleon526]

Could someone give me a link to a thread that tell how to mod the game and remove swords from pikemen?

[WhiskeyGhost]

If only we could make the pikemen use them like 2handers when engaged in melee

[dopp]

Not quite. Spearmen will still take heavy losses when repeatedly charged by good cavalry (even in schiltrom). Pikemen on the other hand will completely slaughter any cavalry upon impact and take very few losses. The length of their pikes also allows it to directly protect missile troops a la Tercios.

Yes, agree. However they are much more resilient against even their specific counters, while pikemen are not, making them much more useful than pikemen.

I know you can hide gunners/2handers (if available) just behind the speartips of the pikemen, but this was probably not intended. Very creative though.

Simply don't use the default three ranks. Use a two rank formation instead. They work a lot better this way and seem to inflict more damage over time. They're still not perfect of course but they're not useless. When properly deployed and protected by pikemen, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Agree. Never said they were useless, although for all the effort you put into getting them (convert to city, build to huge city, build level 6 barracks, wait 2 turns per unit) they sure aren't a whole lot better than pavise xbows and longbowmen (no stakes or shields, no armor, no swords, shorter range, longer reload, don't really kill all that much more). I do deploy them in 2 lines to maximise the gunpowder shock effect, because 3 ranks are buggy.

Also, a lot of the problems people get with pikemen can be alleviated if they used a two rank dense formation without guard mode. This helps prevent flanking, matches the entire width of a heavy cavalry unit and allows the pikemen to attack immediately after impact.

As for halberdiers I think CA ought to prioritize fixing these guys first. While pikemen can slaughter cavalry, halberdiers can't slaughter anything. Their spearwall is useless and their marching speed is abysmal. Every spearwall polearm unit should have its attack raised by about 4 points and its marching speed at least on par with pikemen.

Always use guard mode off, even against cavalry you should turn it off after the first impact. I think the main 'fix' (if any) should concentrate on making pikes attack properly in guard mode. They were obviously intended to fight in guard mode the whole time.

I bumped halberd (Voulgiers in this case, professionals) attack up 6 points across the board, gave them 5 points of armor (so they get 8 points when fully upgraded, just right for their armor level) and they still lose badly to Armored Swordsmen. Wasted.

[Miracle]

The key attributes of city gunpowder troops are fear and accuracy. They can make DFK's run for their lives after just two or three volleys. In a pure ranged duel they will easily beat both pavise xbows and longbowmen. They may have low armor and no shields, but they retain 100% of their accuracy even at max range. They have other advantages too. Unlike most mid to high-tier missile troops, they can run very fast. And since only the first line of their formation fires, only one line needs to be placed ahead of their pikemen escorts. Some units, such as Portugese Arquebusiers, can hold their own in melee as well as Retinue Longbowmen can.

It's true that they take a lot of time and money to get. But usually by the time gunpowder hits you're swimming in cash. The hefty building requirements and slow replenishment rate is to force you to use them in a historically realistic manner (i.e. not in the early 14th century). So it's not a matter of return-on-investment, but a matter of historical immersion.

Their real downsides are that (A) they depend on the enemy coming up to them to attack and (B) they can't switch targets quickly enough. This is probably why it's wise to include crossbows/longbows along with gunpowder troops.

Always use guard mode off, even against cavalry you should turn it off after the first impact. I think the main 'fix' (if any) should concentrate on making pikes attack properly in guard mode. They were obviously intended to fight in guard mode the whole time.

Yes I know not to use guard mode...
It seems the only entity to not get this hint is the AI. Since they are stuck using it beating them is easier than it should be. I totally agree that fixing spearwall guard mode is an absolute priority.

I bumped halberd (Voulgiers in this case, professionals) attack up 6 points across the board, gave them 5 points of armor (so they get 8 points when fully upgraded, just right for their armor level) and they still lose badly to Armored Swordsmen. Wasted.

Don't Voulgiers start with light mail already? Anyway it looks like they need to be beefed up more than I thought, along with nerfing S&S infantry and other changes:

- Pikemen: guard mode fixed, more ranks fighting, less sword use, -1 attack
- Spearwall polearms: guard mode fixed, faster marching speed, +5 attack
- Short polearms/axes: faster JHI-style animation, -2 attack
- Eastern halberds: +5 attack
- Spearmen: slightly faster animation
- S&S infantry: -1 attack, -2 defense skill
- 2H swordsmen: +2 attack, +2 defense skill
- Hybrid foot missiles: more accurate missile fire, -1 attack, -1 defense skill

[Whacker]

Also, a lot of the problems people get with pikemen can be alleviated if they used a two rank dense formation without guard mode. This helps prevent flanking, matches the entire width of a heavy cavalry unit and allows the pikemen to attack immediately after impact.

While this is true and does work reasonably well (when the AI is dumb enough to charge you head-on), it's hardly always feasible to set this up on the battle map when engaging mixed forces. Further, unit placement when in cities still sucks the big one! Thus it's not nearly as possible as it was in RTW to honestly block off an entire street with a unit, there are going to be little gaps on the side that other units will always squeak by.

Agree with your and our overall assessment, this really does need some work for the next patch.