UNIT CARD TEMPLATE
Unit Name: Draculean Pikemen Regiment
Credits:
- Header
- Phalanx
- Wall of Thorns
- The Wall, screenshot from Captain Alatriste film
- Pike-and-shield
Unit Description: Dressed in heavy armour and wielding long 3 to 4 meters pikes with barbed edge. When deployed in the battlefield, these professional warriors fly the colours of the noble houses employing them, be it the ruling Saxe-Hogarth, or any other among Draculean nobility.
ATTRIBUTES
- Main Stats
- Armour: Average
- Gear
- Iron Half-Plate Cuirass
- Kettle Hat, Spangenhelm or Bascinet helmet
- Leather Armour
- Gambeson undergarment
- Gear
- Speed: Low
- Melee: High
- Weaponry
- Infantry Pike
- Shortsword or War-pick
- Dagger
- Weaponry
- Ranged: NA
- Morale: Average
- Size: High 50 members
- Number: Regional
- Recruitment & Replenishment:
- Armour: Average
- TvM Requirement: 4v2
+ Sophisticated Formations. The formations employed by the Pikemen are sophisticated and designed to face off cavalry as well as infantry charges.
- Phalanx
The most often-found formation employed by the Pikemen regiments, the Phalanx is a tactic meant to meet frontal charges, or push advances. The first three rows of the phalanx hold their pikes horisontally, creating multiple layers of engagement should cavalry or infantry engages the ranks. Those behind the three leading lines hold the pikes diagonally, readying to fill out gaps in case of casualties. The far back lines hold the pikes vertically to the ground, resting. This formation is mainly used during infantry advances, where several regiments form long lines to engage enemy troops. - Wall of Thorns
A static form of the Phalanx, the Wall of Thorns, usually refered to as Wall, is a formation that has first two lines knelt, holding pikes diagonally upward in narrow angle, having the back end under the boot, while the third and forth line holds them horisontally. Although a formation that renders the regiment static, the Wall is the most powerful counter to cavalry charges and a tactic to endure enemy archer volleys. - Pike-and-Shield
Perhaps one of the most complex formations employed by the Pike regiments, the Pike and Shield refers to the use of equipment, not often found in a pike regiment. Troops enter the phalanx, equipped with large tower shields, which form a long protective barrier in the very front of the regiment, instead of pikes. These troops are tasked with holding a tight shield wall, meant to face enemy infantry. The second and third line holds pikes horisontaly, effectively piercing through the line to engage enemy attackers. This formation is mainly defensive, used primarily against northmen, to counter the shieldwall which weakens the original phalanx formation as it makes impact much easier.
Weaknesses
- Deadly Flanking. Although there are formations that can be employed to avoid that, in most cases the Pike Regiments operate by facing the foe in motion, or static deployment. When not in specialized immobile formations to cover their flanks, should the unit is attacked by the rear of the flanks, they are easy picking for armoured units, as their coherence breaks.
- Slow. Due to the equipment and discipline of the unit, the Pike Regiments are very slow moving entities in the battlefield.
Historical Information
Although Brythonic peoples were never known for their sophisticated military, the Archduchy was the very first to establish a standing military, successfully overcoming the many warring nobles by the use of professional armies and heavy armoured units. During the many wars for the conquest of the northmost mountains of Brython Isles, Draculean armies became more and more akin to the use of pike, meant to face the barbarian hosts that opposed the Archduchy's rule. Being well-equipped, due to the very focus of Dracule in Iron mining, the Draculean armies thrived in the wars.
When the viking raids started and the great invasions were encountered, the Draculean military employed the pikemen regiments for the first time in mass. Whole armies fielded, consisting of pikemen and heavy archers, abusing the overall lack of the viking hosts to field ranged units, instead being huge hordes of heavy impact infantry. Although the wars to defend Dracule from the vikings lasted almost ten years, until the final withdrawal of the Northmen from the region, the Pikemen proved capable of breaking enemy lines, as they employed very sophisticated tactics, combining the strength of the Draculean military.
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