Quote Originally Posted by Cheexsta
From memory, all spear attacks get a bonus against cavalry and a penalty against infantry. When they're in Ready mode, they also get an additional bonus on top of that.

So your Kuarothoroi will still get some bonus against the cavalry when their spears are pulled out, just not as much as units already with spears. Besides, the Kuarothoroi secondary attack (ie their spear) still has a higher rating than the Hoplitai primary attack (16 vs 14), so while they might lose a few more on the charge they'll still be better overall for killing cavalry once they get stuck in.
The spear is the GK's secondary weapon. From what I have tried so far, you can't have your secondary weapon out without actually attacking an enemy unit. The objective is to get the GKs to stand still with the spears out, facing the cavalry charge. That would be the most effective and typical of a "heavy spearman" unit. This is also not possible because AFAIK I can't have the GK's hold their spears out while just standing there and not moving.

Also, even though the GK's spear attack is slightly higher than the Hoplite's, you must agree with me in saying that the main strength of cavalry is in the charge. They die in melee easily enough (besides, in standing, locked melee, I would want to have the swords out instead of the spears because of the lethality). But Hoplites have a huge advantage in being able to block a lot of the charge, making them excellent flank guards. GKs, who are also supposed to excel at guarding the flanks from cavs, are at a huge disadvantage in this sense, and they only have a SLIGHT advantage in melee due to 2 higher points in attack, but lose massively in not being able to block the primary strength of the enemy cavalry, being the charge itself.