[CUnknown]

I did a test like so:

40 Ulm Inf (w/ morningstars) v 40 Man spearmen
I did that 3 times.

40 Ulm Black Plates (w/morningstars) v 40 Man spearmen
I also did this one 3 times.

Results:

The Ulm Inf killed an average of 20.33 spears and lost an average of 3.67 inf.
The Ulm Black Plates killed an average of 14.0 spears and lost an average of 5.33 black plates.

Ulm won all 6 battles.

I actually prefer the black plates, myself, but my data here sure doesn't support that conclusion. I predict that it's the encumbrance value that's bringing down the black plates, because this sort of fight is of the long, tedious beat-down sort. Against something like heavy cav, the Black Plates would do much better, I'd imagine. Maybe I'll run that test later.

But, still, I was surprised the black plates did so poorly here. They should be better than Inf of Ulm in every case, I think.