Spearmen combat mechanics question.

[abadgaem]

So in MTW1, spearmen and pikemen would get bonuses based on how many ranks deep they are and if they are in proper formation.

For example:

- Spear armed infantry = a minimum of three ranks deep, preferably four. All spearmen get a bonus (+1 defence, +1
charge for each supporting rank and +1 attack for every two ranks). Spearmen can only receive support from two ranks;
therefore they get the full bonus only when deployed in ranks three rows deep. The forth row supplies reinforcements
so the unit can take losses without losing its fighting power too quickly.
-Pike armed infantry = they get the same bonus as spearmen, but they also get support from four rows as their weapons
are longer. Therefore deploy them in ranks six men deep, five at the least

Is MTW2 the same way? Or does the bonus apply to all spearmen individually regardless of their formation, etc?

Does putting them in guard formation give them a bonus only to cavalry and not infantry? Or does guard mode have nothing to do with it?

[Sitalkes]

I don't know about the ranks but I find that Guard mode is not as important as telling them to stop, stand still, and form up into proper formation, and this works both against cavalry and infantry. Works like magic if they are defending a hill (as Gondor often does in TATW). If you find your spearmen are losing a combat, ordering them to stop will often suddenly turn the battle in your favour. Against spear-killing infantry there's not much you can do though - you always fight at a disadvantage against swordsmen. If the spearmen are attacking only in dribs and drabs it is usually necessary after telling them to halt to move them forward so they will attack closely together, and order them to charge when their opponents rout.

[Maltacus]

Bonus against cavalry and penalty against infantry applies regardless of formation and ranks and stance. It is tied to the weapon attributes. Spear militia (vanilla), for example, have the attributes "spear" and "spear_bonus_8". Spear is the attribute that gives them some bonuses against cavalry and spear_bonus defines how great the bonus is. If you have an unpacked vanilla game or a mod, look at the export_descr_unit.txt in the data folder. It comes with a guide at the top.
which is quite useful

Spearmen have a animation (IIRC it is the animation) that gives them some unknown and probably hardcoded kind of bonus when they stand still and brace. That always happen regardless of formation, although a schiltrom generally makes all soldiers brace faster and against all sides.

Guard mode has nothing to do with it. It keeps the unit in place and makes them fight slightly worse but save stamina. In other words, good for fights when your unit have good armour and when you need them to hold a position. It can be very useful for wearing down enemy infantry. With phalanx units, it is different as they form spearwalls only when in guard mode.

[abadgaem]

Ah, I see, thank you for the informative responses.

[Arkh]

I find that spears are awesome to defends walls, I usually put a defensive infantry in front of them, and the spears just rip through the attacker. I don't know about bonuses, but if you put two row of infantry, and spears behind them, the first spear row will attack. I suppose that's even better with pikes, and their attack animation shouldn't even be cancelled, since the defensive infantry is taking the hit.

[xxxMoRaVexxx]

As other people said, spears are good against cavalry, the thickness of the ranks as I see from my past campaigns don't have bonuses, but thicker ranks absorb more damage because the spearmen on the front takes the brunt of the damage while the thicker formation means that more men are reserved on the back so the enemy will have a hard time penetrating your lines. The catch is thicker formations means that your battle line will cover less ground and makes you susceptible to flanking maneuvers, while thinner ranks are vice-versa of what a thicker rank is. Thats why defensive troops have more than 4 lines formation by default and offensive infantry has 3 lines because offensive infantry doesn't need to SOAK up damage, it just needs to DEAL more damage.

Pikes on the other hand are great for anti-cavalry but they are susceptible to infantry that can just evade their long pikes(look at export_descr_unit). I dont really use pikemen(except when I played as scotland), I find them inflexible(no offense). But I must admit they do great in city battles if properly placed in chokepoints.

Guard mode is used so that if your units are attacked and you gained the upper hand and the assaulting enemy routs, your unit will not chase them and will still stand on formation, I usually use this one and let the cavalry do the dirty killing.

I hope this helped