2. Medieval: Total War.
2.1 Spearmen
2.2 Archers and ranged units
2.3 Swordsmen
2.4 Axemen
2.5 Pikemen
2.6 Polearms
   *Billmen
   *Chivalric foot knights
   *Halberdiers
   *Janissary heavy infantry
   *Swiss halberdiers
2.7 Barbarians and Religious Fanatics
2.8 Peasants
2.9 Knights
2.10 Heavy Cavalry
2.11 Missile Cavalry
2.12 Light Cavalry
2.13 Camels
2.14 Naptha and Javelin
2.15 Artillery

2.6 Polearms.

Polearms are another set of specialists; they are made to combat armour and cavalry. This is a very handy combination as most of the more dangerous cavalry has heavy armour allowing polearms to receive some very impressive bonuses when fighting heavy cavalry. Polearms are so effective when facing cavalry they make spears almost obsolete; the only thing that makes spears better at facing cavalry is that fact spears are not likely to be pushed back by the cavalry’s initial charge because of their dense formation and spear class bonuses. Polearms are as vulnerable to cavalry charges as any other non-spear unit, to counter this you need to use them in the opposite way to every other non-spear unit when facing cavalry. Draw them up in two to three ranks and charge! Because they are charging they will kill more cavalry in the initial impact and the thinner formation allows them to get more men into the fray and increases the likelihood of men getting around the cavalries flanks. If you do this with a thicker formation the end result is less effective as fewer men get into the initial killing phase meaning more cavalrymen survive to cause damage in the ensuing melee. This approach is effective against light and medium cavalry, heavy cavalry and knights will do a lot more damage on their charge.

When facing heavy cavalry or knights you should consider letting another unit receive the charge and use your polearms to smash into the cavalry’s flanks and rear, the carnage this can cause is incredible. This tactic allows spearmen to continue to be useful after the advent of polearms as they remain the best unit for receiving charges. Polearms should always be left on engage at will as they receive no rank bonuses and they need to get in amongst the enemy to really reach their full potential. Against infantry units you should use your polearms in two ranks and let them engage at will, in many ways they should be used like swordsmen when facing infantry. Draw them up into formation, march them close to the enemy and then charge into battle. Generally speaking the polearm units are capable of putting up a good fight if they cannot flank, unlike many of the Axemen for example. Therefore you should flank when you can but it is not vital to their proper usage. Polearms not only semi replace spears they also semi replace swords as most infantry units in the high and late eras have armour, enabling polearms to take them on very effectively. Against the unarmoured units swordsmen are still much better. This means you can reduce the number of sword and spear armed infantry in your army and replace them with the multipurpose polearm troops, this is more effective for some factions than others as the basic halberdier is not nearly as good at multitasking as the billman or Janissary heavy infantry.

Polearms are best at: killing armoured units, killing cavalry, acting as multipurpose infantry.  

For more on the armour piercing bonuses look in appendix 4.

M15

Image M15: This unit of Billmen has been forced to receive an enemy cavalry charge. They formed up into two ranks and charged the knights. On impact 14 billmen and 4 knights died, the billmen wavered for a second before steadily dispersing amongst the knights and slaughtering them. The final statistics were: billmen 20 lost, knights 43 lost.

M16

Image M16: Here the same battle is repeated with the billmen in four ranks to resist the shocking effects of the knights charge. On the initial impact 7 billmen and 2 knights died. In the subsequent battle the billmen were slow to get in amongst the knights and fight them off. The billmen won in the end with 27 dead against the knights 36. This demonstrates how much more effective the two ranks are when receiving a cavalry charge.

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Billmen
Charge 2 Attack 2 Defence 4 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 2 Cost 300 Support cost 37

Billmen are the first unit of proper (i.e. not a peasant militia – see the peasant section below) polearms you can get - that is as long as you are English! Billmen are very good, solid polearms and they have balanced stats. This means they can kill effectively and survive the battle in reasonable numbers as long as nothing disastrous happens. While billmen can handle a front-on charge by heavy cavalry you should try to avoid this, as they are not strong enough to resist the charge without taking substantial losses in the process. Send billmen charging into the rear of a group of heavy cavalry and they will slice them up into horsemeat.

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Chivalric foot knights.
Charge 2 Attack 4 Defence 6 Armour 5 Speed 4, 8, 9 Morale 8 Cost 550 Support cost N/A

Chivalric foot knights are elite and are almost tied with Janissary infantry for the honour of being the best polearms, maybe even the best infantry full stop. Chivalric foot knights can charge headfirst into heavy cavalry or knights without too many problems, they have very high armour and formidable defences so you can be certain they will survive the battle unless they run into armour piercing units or get shot up by armour piercing missiles. Chivalric foot knights also have a decent attack value; it is deceptively low, as the armour piercing effect will enable them to rip through targets with a hint of armour. Unarmoured targets generally find it difficult to damage the knights meaning the battle becomes one of endurance that the knights can slowly win. Chivalric foot knights are not perfect. Firstly they are very slow, it is a good thing they can handle a head on charge because they are too slow to do anything else effectively! The small size of the unit (53 men) makes them vulnerable to being overwhelmed – they may be able to fight like heroes but even a hero dies when outnumbered four to one. The final disadvantage is not actually much of a disadvantage; chivalric foot knights must be dismounted from chivalric knights during the deployment phase of the battle. However since chivalric knights are some of the best cavalry in the game this is not too much of a hardship! Some people even make armies out of nothing but 16 units of chivalric knights, they keep half mounted and the other 8 units fight on foot. Apparently this is very effective even though there is no missile support.

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Halberdiers
Charge 2 Attack 1 Defence 6 Armour 5 Speed 4, 8, 9 Morale 0 Cost 300 Support cost 45

Halberdiers are the final unit in the peasant food chain. Unlike militia they are not classed as peasants because they have enough training and stats to squeak into the professional soldier class. Halberdiers are slow but unlike the chivalric foot knights they do not really have the stats to march straight at the enemy and damn the consequences. Their morale is too low and their attack is also low so they will not do much damage, even against armoured targets. The best use for halberdiers is hinted at by their extraordinary armour and defence ratings – most missiles will bounce off their armour. This allows them to stand in the middle of a missile storm and only take a couple of casualties – if they do not take casualties they receive no morale penalties. It is also hard for other units to kill the individual men, unless they have armour-piercing weapons and even then it will take some time before the casualties start to add up. Therefore halberdiers are very effective when you need a unit to send into an arrow shower to deplete enemy ammunition and set up a bridgehead while your other, better units move in to attack. Send halberdiers across a bridge first, they will take few casualties from the missiles and they will be able to hold their own on the other side of the bridge just long enough for your more valuable troops to cross in safety. Yes they will eventually break and run, yes they will do little damage but all that matters is that they will have absorbed the missiles and given others a chance to cross in safety.

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Janissary heavy infantry.
Charge 4 Attack 5 Defence 3 Armour 3 Speed 6, 12, 13 Morale 8 Cost 725 Support cost 67

Janissary heavy infantry are elite, disciplined, have a shield and are probably the best infantry in the game. Question - what can Janissary heavy infantry kill effectively? Answer – anything that is alive. Fast speed allows this unit to nip around flanks, get out of dangerous situations and chase down most infantry missile units reasonably. The high morale allows them to take massive losses or fight when heavily outnumbered and keep going like some kind of inevitable machine of doom rolling over the foe. The high attack allows them to cleave through any unit, it is high enough to do plenty of damage against unarmoured units and against armoured units the Janissary heavy infantry can be compared to a can opener! The defence and armour is adequate, in fact the low armour is something of a bonus as it allows them to fight in any climate and weather without getting hit by the penalties for heavy armour. Janissary heavy infantry have no problems in the desert. The lower armour stat also protects them from armour piercing units. Janissary infantry can handle frontal assaults on just about anything and they are fast enough to flank, they can do what ever the situation requires and you should take advantage of this flexibility. Basically if you are the Turks then you want to use this unit, if you aren’t the Turks then you wish you had this unit. This unit cannot use its shield in a melee as the polearm is a two handed weapon. The shield only protects from ranged attacks.

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Swiss halberdiers
Charge 2 Attack 3 Defence 3 Armour 2 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 6 Cost 375 Support cost 52

Swiss halberdiers are the polearms you want to use if you are neither the Turkish nor the English; they are significantly better than halberdiers for most jobs. Swiss halberdiers are not as heavily armoured and have lower defence so you should not use them to absorb ranged fire, leave that to the halberdiers. Instead you should use their higher attack values and reasonable speed to strike from the flanks or rear and quickly damage the enemy. Because they have high morale they can take losses and fight in unfavourable situations with few problems, always remember this.

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