I searched the forums for this suggestion and similar suggestions and was somewhat surprised not to see it. I believe this unit type may offer some balance with regards to cavalry and perhaps allow for greater variations of battlefield tactics.
Pikemen are, as the name implies, soldiers who are equipped with an extremely long spear-like weapon called a pike. Generally, these types of men are deployed when a cavalry charge is expected, and they are usually very effective against charging mounted opponents. However, they must be specially trained to use the weapon effectively; the pikes themselves are heavy and unwieldy. This unit is generally a defensive one, but they can be very devastating when well-ordered and on the attack.
Pros:
Extremely good defense and offense against cavalry; any cavalry foolish enough to charge a line of pikemen will suffer heavy losses.
Bonus to melee attack and melee defense against other unit types as long as the unit has not suffered casualties of over 40%.
A recruitment center for pikemen can be specifically built, though it has as much chance to succeed as a cavalry recruitment center.
Cons:
Once this unit has lost 40% of its men, it will become disorganized; once disorganized, the unit will lose its melee attack and melee defense bonuses, as well as its bonuses against cavalry.
This unit is vulnerable to ranged attacks.
This unit is expensive to recruit and maintain.
So infantry. Tom has said in the past he doesn't want to go down the path of specifying the equipment of the different units so I'm not sure how much chance this has. We have also up to this time avoided giving any unit type a specific advantage against another unit type, in so far as the unit will have modifiers against a specific unit type.
