Spear Militia (M2TW Unit)

Overview

Common throughout Europe, Spear Militia are commoners and peasants who have been levied into local militias to defend towns, roads and bolster armies. Given some training and equipped with a long spear and shield, these units are useful in support roles for heavier and better units.

Details

Spear Militia is your early-game bread and butter unit. All of the factions, with the notable exception of the Aztecs, that have no militia equivalent, and the italian factions (Milan, Venice, Papal States, Sicily) that have a superior spear militia equivalent, have access to this unit. There are some differences aesthetically between the cultural groups but the primary stats (attack, defense, morale) are all the same. They are decent garrisons, costing the same upkeep as Town Militia, albeit a little more expensive to train, that can be upgraded in their armor, some up to three ranks, making them much more useful. They are cheap, making them useful to bolster armies. Some factions, such as Portugal and Spain, that lack dedicated early game melee infantry, may rely more heavily on them on the field. However they suffer from the same problems as other early militias, namely low morale and no base armor, as well as a low damage and charge bonus that are common among spear units. However they are decent against cavalry, particularly light cavalry to due bonus attack associated with polearms and their shield rating is rather good, making them good at soaking arrows with relatively few losses.