Spearman or axeman?

[Yuki]

I started a new campaign and am currently debating wether I should train Sturgian Heavy axeman or Sturgian heavy Spearman? Or a combination of them?

[Yuki]

Heavy spearman or axeman?

i'm currently starting my new campaign and going for sturgian troops so real question, which should I take Axeman or Spearman? or combination? Thanks! :)

[GIJoe597]

Spears are next to useless and extremely frustrating.

[ᴍᴜꜱʜ-ᴄʀÆᴍ?]

It might be the realistic battle mod I have but spears in my saves are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ruthless

[Onimaho]

Originally posted by Yuki:

i'm currently starting my new campaign and going for sturgian troops so real question, which should I take Axeman or Spearman? or combination? Thanks! :)

If on horseback and foot combo "spear" are great but only if they have a swing melee animation...thrust only are ♥♥♥♥ and devs won't fix it.

If on foot only, then depends on how you want to roleplay. 2h axe comes with the added benefit of cut through damage...and again only use "spears" that have a swing animation.

[Onimaho]

they die quickly, it doesn't matter...do both.

[Telerion]

Depending on what you want to do with your infantry.
Axemen are good in meele. Big shields against archers, and short weapons are good when the enemy reaches your frontline.
If you are going to fight cavalry heavy enemys, spearmen shine. They are bad when the enemy infantry reach them, but a wall of spears can stop a cavalry charge dead in there tracks and if a horse isnt moving, the rider is dead.

A mix of both is the "allround" solution obviously and not bad.

It all depends on your playstyle, if you use your infantry as bait or just to hold the line until your cav and archers finish the enemy, then go with spearmen.
If your inf is a big part of your killing strategy, axemen are way better.
Also, axemen are way better when it comes to sieges.

My personel opinion and i love to support sturgia, is go for spearmen. Your bigest enemy as sturgia are the brownies in the east, so you will face alot of cav and horsarchers. Spearmen are great against both, the shields are big enough that they dont get hit and you can simply wait until they run out of ammo. Then they will charge into meele, and the spears stops there horses so your archers can shoot them down. Again, this is only my opinion. In the end, test what suits you better, and when in doubt, mix them you dont do anything wrong with this.
Never underestimate a sturgian shieldwall ;)

[Onimaho]

Originally posted by Telerion:

If you are going to fight cavalry heavy enemys, spearmen shine. They are bad when the enemy infantry reach them, but a wall of spears can stop a cavalry charge dead in there tracks and if a horse isnt moving, the rider is dead.

This is not true for spears...since when the horse stops moving, the spears do 0 damage.

[Telerion]

Originally posted by Onimaho:

Originally posted by Telerion:

If you are going to fight cavalry heavy enemys, spearmen shine. They are bad when the enemy infantry reach them, but a wall of spears can stop a cavalry charge dead in there tracks and if a horse isnt moving, the rider is dead.

This is not true for spears...since when the horse stops moving, the spears do 0 damage.

Sorry if i wasnt clear enough with this, the spears make a horse stop on the spot. Then the rider is an easy target for your archers.
Spears are not to kill the enemy rider, they are used to stop the horse. And a not moveing cav is a dead cav.

[Onimaho]

Originally posted by Telerion:

Originally posted by Onimaho:

This is not true for spears...since when the horse stops moving, the spears do 0 damage.

Sorry if i wasnt clear enough with this, the spears make a horse stop on the spot. Then the rider is an easy target for your archers.
Spears are not to kill the enemy rider, they are used to stop the horse. And a not moveing cav is a dead cav.

Wish they would fix this...

Spears don't magically become useless when the target is standing still in front of the spear tip, well in this game they do...but in reality they are still deadly.

[ᴍᴜꜱʜ-ᴄʀÆᴍ?]

Originally posted by Onimaho:

Originally posted by Yuki:

i'm currently starting my new campaign and going for sturgian troops so real question, which should I take Axeman or Spearman? or combination? Thanks! :)

If on horseback and foot combo "spear" are great but only if they have a swing melee animation...thrust only are ♥♥♥♥ and devs won't fix it.

If on foot only, then depends on how you want to roleplay. 2h axe comes with the added benefit of cut through damage...and again only use "spears" that have a swing animation.

Who the ♥♥♥♥ is Yuki and why do they have me blocked lol

Originally posted by Onimaho:

Originally posted by Telerion:

Sorry if i wasnt clear enough with this, the spears make a horse stop on the spot. Then the rider is an easy target for your archers.
Spears are not to kill the enemy rider, they are used to stop the horse. And a not moveing cav is a dead cav.

Wish they would fix this...

Spears don't magically become useless when the target is standing still in front of the spear tip, well in this game they do...but in reality they are still deadly.

I presume you're against mods - but this is not an issue in my saves (i think because of realistic battle mod) thrust spears are ruthless

[Onimaho]

Originally posted by Psycho-Active:

I presume you're against mods - but this is not an issue in my saves (i think because of realistic battle mod) thrust spears are ruthless

Correct, I don't play modded bannerlord EA...maybe once it has reached its full release. But, that doesn't excuse the base game from having a very broken feature.

[ᴍᴜꜱʜ-ᴄʀÆᴍ?]

Originally posted by Onimaho:

Originally posted by Psycho-Active:

I presume you're against mods - but this is not an issue in my saves (i think because of realistic battle mod) thrust spears are ruthless

Correct, I don't play modded bannerlord EA...maybe once it has reached its full release. But, that doesn't excuse the base game from having a very broken feature.

Oh no I agree, of course not, it should be addressed.

[Voncrow]

LyonExodus made a post on the TW forums ( https://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php?threads/best-units-in-bannerlord-update-for-1-5-9-up-to-1-6-1.443714/ ) in which he tested the best top tier units from each faction in 500v500 against the same type of unit. Sturgian Heavy Axemen placed second behind Legionaries while Heavy Spearmen placed near the bottom. Spears are jank and don't really function well within large units in vanilla. Plus, despite the fact that LyonExodus intentionally avoided using throwing weapons, because he thinks throwing isn't good, Axemen have good throwing skill and weapons, so if you want a good throwing unit too, Axemen are still better.

I think the problem with spears is not just that they do nothing at close range, but that the square formation is way more practical for slaughtering cav formations anyway. Keeping spear units just makes you weaker against other infantry while it's not necessarily that much better against cav.