braced pikes when take cities

[MaDmAn_1988]

Ive found a great strat when taking town or cities is to use pikeman units (burgar pikeman being my favourite) click and hold the right mouse and form the unit to the extact width of the streets, then moving at snails pace towars the plaza, wen they finally arrive at the enemy (assuming they have decided to camp themselves in the plaz) the pike points will be down and the defenders will be slowly jabbed to rags,

this does require micromanagement as the pike formation can sometimes change to the swords, if this happens the will get slaughterd, however by the time the enemy work there way through the pike points you should of inflicted alot of loses without any real casualties, when the pikes finally get removed ur heavy should of had time to flank and get in behind the enemy by useing different paths to the plaza then is just a matter of slaughtering the now surrounded enemys.

i write this just because i used to only find pikes useful in field battles protecting the frontline in defence however this is the best offensive use as in the narrow streets they cannot be flanked by infant or charged by heavy cav,

wont work if enemy has archers however

[♔ST0MPA♔]

This probably the best advice from frogbeatsegg regarding your Pikemen changing to sword.

The pike in this game is designed as an anti-cavalry unit. It does not fare so well against other infantry; it is capable of holding the line and keeping the enemy tied up for a time, but another unit is usually needed to deliver the coup de grace and start the rout. This is the first thing you need to remember when using them. The second thing is that they need to be frequently checked to see if they have dropped their pikes and are fighting with their swords instead. This is the major issue with pikemen. Their sword is a poor secondary weapon, far less lethal than the pike, and units which fight using it tend to die nasty deaths in relatively short order. Thus the usage of pikemen revolves around forcing them to use their pikes.

So far the most reliable way discovered to do this requires a lot of micromanagement. Unless standing stationary receiving a charge guard mode should be turned off, and when taking a charge it should be turned off once the lines are joined as this will allow your men to fight instead of focus on dressing their lines and leaving half the soldiers out of fighting range. The attack should be ordered with a single click; this should begin combat with your pikemen stabbing away with their primary weapons. As time passes more and more men will swap to using their swords because individual enemy soldiers have made it past the pike points. When you see this you should turn off spear wall formation, immediately re-engage it, and reissue the single click attack order on the target. The majority of your men will magically produce pikes and start stabbing away once again. It’s usually necessary to do this multiple times with each unit during the course of a melee, adding up to a lot of micromanagement. If your pikemen are engaged against infantry you will need to coordinate some flanking forces whilst doing this, and it can all get very fiddly. Practice is the key, and custom battle mode offers unlimited amounts of it for those willing to invest the time.

[Sher Khan]

I love that. Especially right after a cavalry charge. A single click on the enemy unit after its charge falters on the pike. The pikemen will lift their pikes and walk slowly, poking away. They turn into a moving hoplite formation, and because of their steady, inconsistent advance, they form gaps in the enemy front line.

Gaps that cavalry reserves behind your pikes can take advantage of Alexander style....