3.1 New spears

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Dismounted nobles.
Charge 5 Attack 2 Defence 3 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 8 Cost 400 Support cost 50

Available in: Viking campaign

Dismounted nobles are elite, and they have a large shield. They are the dismounted form of mounted nobles and in the campaign they can only be obtained by ordering a unit of mounted nobles to dismount. In custom battles you can buy them separately. Dismounted nobles present something of a dilemma; while their stats are outstanding for Viking age spearmen they suffer from only having 53 men per unit. This means that they either cover a reasonable area when deployed or they get the full set of rank bonuses and cover barely any ground. I suggest forming them up in three ranks instead of the usual four, this is a compromise between fighting ability and formation width. While the formation becomes less effective the second it takes a loss (because there is no fourth rank to supply reinforcements without robbing from the supporting ranks) at least it is less likely to become surrounded.

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Fyrdmen
Charge 5 Attack 0 Defence -1 Armour 1 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 2 Cost 200 Support cost 62

Available in: Viking campaign and medieval campaign.

Fyrdmen have a large shield. They are the Saxon peasant levies with reasonable equipment and basic training. In contrast with the standard round shield they are more expensive and cost more in upkeep. They also have a single point more in their attack stat and better morale. What does this mean? Fyrdmen are a more reliable and slightly more combat ready unit that can help you build a good shield wall. Their lack of armour makes them more effective against all the armour piercing units; the morale makes them more reliable. They are identical to the medieval feudal sergeants and the unit they are competing with for your florins is the same (spearmen or round shield spearmen).

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Round shield spearmen
Charge 5 Attack -1 Defence -1 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 0 Cost 150 Support cost 50

Available in: Viking campaign and medieval campaign.

Round shield spearmen are the plain spearman from the medieval campaign with a new name. They have a round shield but this does not alter their defence bonus as round shields give the same bonus as the standard large shield. Just consider them flavour and use them in exactly the same way as the normal spearman.

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Royal Bodyguard
Charge 5 Attack 2 Defence 3 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 8 Cost 300 Support cost 10

Available in: Viking campaign.

Royal bodyguard are elite and use a large shield. In the campaign you can only get this unit by dismounting royal bodyguards, in custom battles and multiplayer you can buy them. While they are in possession of even better stats than dismounted nobles royal bodyguards are also in possession of even smaller numbers. 20 men per unit means that this unit never gets the full rank bonus with fighting efficiency unless they have a front just 5 men wide! For what it is worth you may as well just let them go berserk on engage at will – they have the stats to survive this tactically dim setting for spearmen

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Rus spearmen
Charge 5 Attack 0 Defence 2 Armour 3 Speed 6, 10, 11 Morale 2 Cost 325 Support cost 62

Available in: Medieval campaign.

Rus spearmen have a large shield. They are nice spearmen in the early game and sit well against Chivalric sergeants and Saracen infantry. Use them when you have the chance.

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