I've always wondered what purpose pikemen served other than as an extremely inflexible anti-cav unit. Here is a unit at the top of the infantry tier in terms of training/investment. Yet does anyone bother with them? Sure they have their moments. But we don't, shouldn't ask for miracles in battle. We ask for the undying reliability of a sword, shield, spear . . . but a pike?
The problem with pikes is that while the look mean, they swing like girls, BUT they thrust like men. AND that's all they should ever due in M2TW. Unfortunately, when left to their own devices, they often resort to their secondary attack, swinging their swords. So I did some testing and viola!:
Victory!
Against dismounted English Knights!!!
Here's what I did:
Keep your pikemen on hold ground against infantry despite what you've read. Holding ground keeps them from loosing formation and mingling with the enemy while receiving a charge. Once your first line drops dead from the charge--it gets better--and the pikes start falling, reset the phalanx formation/button. Pikes will start to raise. There will be a dumbfounded look upon their faces as they stand idle taking blows. Then as if possessed by spirits of Switzerland, they'll start to reform, brandishing their pikes once more.
Once your pikemen have pushed the enemy back beyond the tips of their pikes and no one still has their pocket knife out. Release you pikemen from their hold ground instruction and watch the slaughter unfold as they advance with astonishing brutality (in pike formation). Their attack rate is quite superhuman.
Their biggest, and perhaps fatal drawback is that they require constant attention/micromanagement. Probably not good for a large force. However, if you always fight your battles when defending against sieges, you might find them very useful. But give them space away from the gates. They don't like to be pushed. [You'd think the prospect of being pushed into a pike, would halt gate traffic.]
Halberds can be used the same way, but their phalanx isn't quite as impressive. Enemy units still reach into their formation, even at poles length.
Armored Swordsman (heavy units with shields) are little hard to beat. They can be routed, but it takes luck. A single enemy swordsman can wreak havoc in a pike formation. With protected flanks and a weak charge (sieges), they can handle anything.
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