Mercenary Eastern Pikemen

A tightly-formed phalanx of sarissa-armed infantry presented an almost impenetrable wall of spear points, especially to cavalry. An effective weapon for mass combat, the sarissa itself was a two-handed spear or pike, between four and seven metres long. With an iron tip and a bronze butt-spike which provided balance, it could be dug into the ground to bolster a defensive stance. When advancing in close order against the enemy, each man would occupy a square roughly a metre each side, with the sarissas of the first five ranks projecting beyond the phalanx. When defending, phalanxes would close up, locking together with each man's shield protecting the pikeman to his right. Although such formations were difficult to break, this stability came at the expense of manoeuvrability, leading to their main weakness on their flanks and rear.

Unit Name Mercenary Eastern Pikemen

Main Unit Key 3c_Mer_Eastern_Pikemen

Land Unit Key 3c_Mer_Eastern_Pikemen

Naval Unit Key 3c_pel_transport

Soldiers 160

Category Melee Infantry

Class Pike Infantry

Custom Battle Cost 320

Recruitment Cost 320

Upkeep Cost 240

Melee Attack 30

Weapon Damage 20

├ Melee Weapon rome_pike_levy

├ Melee Damage Base 16

├ Melee Damage Ap 4

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 0

├ Bonus vs Elephants 0

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 4

Melee Defence 15

├ Base Defence 5

├ Shield pikemen

└ Shield Defence 10

Armour 60

├ Armour leather

├ Armour Defence 30

└ Shield Armour 30

Health 45

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_heavy

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 5

Base Morale 35

Abilities

• Pike Phalanx
  The unit moves into a deep, close defensive formation.
  Bonus vs cavalry, bracing
  Limited speed

Attributes

• Disciplined
  This unit does not suffer a morale penalty when the general dies. It can also rally after routing more often.
• Formation Attack
  The unit will try to stay in formation when in melee.
• Hide (forest)
  This unit can hide in forests until enemy units get too close.
• Resistant to Heat
  This unit tires less quickly in the desert.

Strengths & Weaknesses

• Very poor hull strength
• Very slow speed
• Weak ramming

• Average defensive unit
• Low damage but average armour penetration
• Weak attack
• Poor morale
• Very vulnerable when not in phalanx

Empire Divided Mercenaries Pool

Mercenaries Pool
No.	Pool	Province	Region	Initial Unit Count	Chance To Replenish	Max Replenish Per Turn	Max Count
1	3c_province_pool_armenia	Armenia	Arsamosata Artaxa Carana Tigranocerta	0	0.15	1	2
2	3c_province_pool_armenia	Caucasia	Gabala Mtskheta Phasis	0	0.15	1	2