Spearmen

[MJF]

true, their offense sucks. however, the other alternatives are no better.

if you ignore spears and have a front line of swordsmen, several cavalry charges to your line will cause massive casualties. therefore, the all sword approach is not (IMO) really feasible.

pikemen (except Swiss Armoured Pikemen) are similar to spearmen except they have less armour and so die quicker. best to ignore these unless you have no choice or are bored and going to win anyway.

the only real viable alternative is to have polearms and swords. this is highly effective. polearms are infinitely better than spears in many regards. however, they do have their downfalls.

firstly, they only come in 60 men per units cf 100. so you're losing 40 men per unit. assuming you might have 4-6 spear units in your chosen first 16 units, thats 200 men down.

secondly, polearms are best used at charging. this is fine if you're on the offense. however for defence, it can mean that your front line disappears into this mess of units all over the shop. the flanks and rear of your polearms units are now highly vulnerable to a charge. spears on the other hand are best at standing, so although you run the risk of being flanked by the enemy moving their forces around your whole army, if you can successfully remaneuver your troops, you present a coherent front line.

personally, i always have about 4 spears, 2 pole arms and anywhere from 2-4 swords (depending on how much cavalry or archers i want). polearms can then be moved around to counter any flanking moves (most likely by cavalry which are prime targets for your polearms)

just a few of my thoughts anyway. btw, i only use chivalric spearmen. all others (except maybe Gothic if you get them) are rubbish. feudal seargents are just peasants with pointy sticks - completely useless.