What faction are you playing, Ramses? I started out with Makuria, but am trying the Abbasids after feling sorry for their poor performance in an aar I read.

Quote Originally Posted by Ramses II CP
The best available spearmen. Everything else would change depending on the era, types of cavalry, types of ranged weapons, but I always bring the top tier spearmen with my armies in quantity... and not pikes, halberds, etc.

Even in Broken Crescent where I'm playing a faction without good spearmen, my offensive and defensive armies always have a substantial collection of spearmen.