Repels and the pike square

[Sheap]

An added factor for difference in weapons length won't matter since a knight's lance is pretty long anyway. Once his lance is used up it might matter, but the issue is the pikeman's effectiveness vs a charge.

Repel mechanics just don't work very well as currently implemented. It isn't a huge problem as repel is not a big part of the game, but pikemen just don't seem to work the way they should. Especially, I think there should be a bonus for having a lot of pikemen in one place, historically the pikemen would be placed in mixed formations or even in the second row, to protect their fellow troops, and as it stands they can't.

I'd recommend some weapons be designated as "good at repelling" like pikes, halberds, long spears or jotun spears, and these would have various bonuses to repel. Maybe you could just say any weapon of length 5 or 6 is like this since these are the primary repelling weapons anyway. I'd recommend they be able to repel attacks targeting anyone in the square, have a large attack bonus (+5? +8? Something really useful) when repelling, and maybe do extra damage if the attacker manages to make his morale check. Similarly, some weapons could be designated as "bad at repelling" - like a flail, for instance - and they not be able to repel at all, though their weapon length would still come into play in determining if they would be repelled.

[Wauthan]

Altering the attack defence values on the pike produces somewhat dissapointing results. High attack values with low defence values means that the pikeneer becomes a glassjawed butcher of militia.

Too bad we can't assign a specific attack value that applies to repel attempts only. Or perhaps some value that is related to size? Two size 2 units in the same square could perhaps gang up on one attacking size 3 unit and thus force two repel checks for an attack on either of them. Way to complex solution I guess but somewhat more realistic. Polearms are only effective in formations after all.