cavalry charges against pikes units

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Zurai:
A single pikeman has absolutely no strength to repel a cavalry charge, even with just one horseman bearing down on him.

I wouldn't quite say THAT. A single horseman colliding with a single pointy stick is in for a world of hurt. It'll be that much harder for a single pikeman to connect, but if he does, it's gonna hurt just as much.

Of course, you can model this by having all pikes in a square be able to make a repel attempt against anything that attacks the square...and combine that with my "extra damage for repelling a charger" bonus. A charging cavalryman will thus be looking at 3 sharp pointy stick attacks at once....with extra damage because he charged across the field into them.

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Zurai:
they're incredibly unwieldy and have no way to handle anything closer than 8 feet or so in front of you.

Pikemen were routinely issued small axes (or shortswords) as secondary weapons.

[Zurai]

Originally posted by Norfleet:
I wouldn't quite say THAT. A single horseman colliding with a single pointy stick is in for a world of hurt. It'll be that much harder for a single pikeman to connect, but if he does, it's gonna hurt just as much.

The reason pikes are effective against horses is that horses aren't dumb. They won't charge into a field of sharp pointy things that they can't jump over and can't avoid. They won't knowingly commit suicide. A single pikeman doesn't provide that benefit - there's plenty of room for the horse to manuever.

[Zurai]

Originally posted by Arryn:
Pikemen were routinely issued small axes (or shortswords) as secondary weapons.

Which doesn't negate anything I said at all; indeed, it reinforces it. Pikemen wouldn't be issued alternate arms if the pikes were a viable melee weapon in its own right.

[Aikamun]

Pete Rose is my Pikeman trainer. His famous words, "Choke up on the bat, son, for more maneuverability." I can see them doing so if their formation has broken up or when fatigued.

Aikamun

[ February 17, 2004, 04:46: Message edited by: Aikamun ]

[Zurai]

I want to be clear here in case people are getting the wrong message (probably are, I'm good at sending the wrong message): I'm not opposed to a pike vs cavalry bonus at all - matter of fact, I was surprised there wasn't one. I simply enjoy debating. I apologize if I seemed overly critical or negative.

[Pocus]

There is also a problem with how narrow is the deployment area on the battlefield. Against big sized armies (200+ units), you will always find that your cavalry that you put on a wing, with order to attack rear, will fail to do anything 'flanking'-wise, and will stumble against the enemy center (which is a big mass), as soon as they move.

With a wider deployment area, and with a revision to the attack rear, then you would have proper usage for wings of cavalry.

Revision of attack rear:
It has been aknowledged by the devs that the bigger the formations are, in the front of your army, the lower the chances are that an enemy squad on attack rear will really attack rear. I'm unsure its realistic, but gameplay wise I can tell you that against any significant sized army, this 'magnet' effect is so strong that any attack rear order will fail miserably.

damn, I feel my english is worsening each days. Sorry...