Quick Suggestion: Readying spears

[Elrathh]

Some people who play Dungeons and Dragons may be familar with this concept. Basically, my proposed feature would allow you to automatically attack a mounted opponent who runs into the spear (kind of like a lance, but reversed). I think this could:

1). Make spears (Single and two handed) more useful
2). Create oppurtunities for more unit advancement (Dedicated spearmen)
3). Allow for some awesone fights where you un-horse the Knight then poke him to death

How this would be implemented I'm not so sure of though. Perhaps you would have to hold down the attack button, to make sense and keep it balanced. So ya..

 

[Destichado]

Spears (and lances) are already TOO useful. They have no close-range penalty. As far as the game is concerned, there's no way for you to pass by the tip and start whaleing on your enemy -he can still hit you even if you're two inches from his face.

Organized units of spearmen, though, that would be AWESOME.
Disciplined infantry can kick cavalry's ass all over the field any day, any time. The thing is, M&B currently has no method of making disciplined infantry. It seems like a game is either "big darn gaggle" or something like RTW.

Being able to form schiltrons, pike blocks or phalanxes with high-level infantry would RULE. Hey, if someone's able to figure out how to code for that... W00T! But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Gilglaurad]

Introduce a minumrange for spears, then - it has been proposed often enough.
Which is, BTW, also D&D-like
But poking... hm, dunno, I don't really think that a lone pike could do something against an armoured, dismounted knight.
Appropos - there are currently no pikes anyway - only longspears, javelins and lances - a pike would be *much* longer, AFAIK.

As for disciplined infantry - it would take a much better AI, and I I fear that the AI will never get good enough. Though it would be great.

 

[Johann67]

my character wields a pike. Trust me, they're there.

 

[tsuken]

I have a pikeman, just with a double sided lance and a shield. He owns cavalry already. I stand right in front of the troops (holding position) and when the horse rushes right to me I order a charge, then I poke the lance into the horse, which will come to a halt by standing up on his hind legs. Then I just poke it again and sometimes the horse dies, especially with the help of my troops.

I haven't been up against black knights yet, but I have killed swadian man-at-arms and knights already in this way.

However It would be even cooler if a pike/lance did more damage to horses in the hands of a footsoldier. Because sometimes I have to lance the horse 5 times and then he still gets away.

 

[0cool]

i think we need specalist of one type like archer, swordsmen,knight, pikemen then you have soldiers that can do all just not as well.