Why Spearmen with Shield is the best line infantry for the Empire in

[@apimpnamedslickback8847]

The dwarves be like "Look at what they do to mimic a fraction of our power!"

[@Tonyx.yt.]

empire can say the same about gunpowder units

[@gabe8515]

Dwarfs gave the empire gunpowder 😂

[@salehmcballz1238]

Too bad the dwarves have a fraction of land and people too

[@lukeherbst7931]

​@@gabe8515started a malakaisson campaign and can confidently say elspeth does gunpowder better

[@gabe8515]

@@lukeherbst7931 I beg to differ, thunder barge banned in mp

[@rogergraf1634]

I like those little dudes too. They are, by far, one of the most underrated Units.

[@Kalidoscope1230]

Underrated? Spearmen without shields are underrated as cheap line fillers. Spearmen with shields should be the standard infantry in every empire army.

[@TheVoodooMaker]

​@@Kalidoscope1230 laughs in warrior priest frontline

[@madlarkin8]

​​@@Kalidoscope1230 i prefer swordsmen but I keep 1-3 spearmen or halberdiers as a second line to plug holes or respond to monstrous infantry embedded in the enemy line. Swordsmen perform better against enemy chaff infantry like marauders, nurglings, orc boyz etc since they can beat them. Spearmen will hold for longer but rely on others to win their fights, but early in the game good cav are hard to come by.

[@smokncho77]

​@madlarkin8 Why not flip it? Use 3 swordsmen as hole pluggers. Spearman as your wall. Cause spearmen have less charge bonus and melee attack, so it seems like you would want the spears for holding and the swords for charging into gaps to reinforce

[@madlarkin8]

@@smokncho77 14 charge bonus for swordsmen versus 4 for spears is honestly insignificant since so little of the unit makes use of it. Its easier to hold an anti large unit in reserves and send them to counter the enemy monsters than retreat and recommit from elsewhere on the line. If the whole frontline is anti large then they will just wait for their anti infantry frontline to beat yours then send in monsters.

[@ManDuderGuy]

He protec, he protec, he also protec

[@Amenema]

Play Franz. Recruit only Greatswordsmen. Never use any other unit for 9 years.

[@SatansRoyalBoner]

Glad I’m not the only one that does this xD

[@PyromaN93]

Play Wulfhart. Recruit almost only huntsmen. Just fine

[@udozocklein6023]

@@PyromaN93 yes but his campaign is weird

[@PyromaN93]

@@udozocklein6023 yep, he need some rework

[@grandmastercultistofben]

@@PyromaN93 Ranged lords gotta be my least favorite. so annoying having to micro line of sight and theyre always so squishy

[@JulianChan-y3u]

Oda yari ashigaru returns

[@lukalovric2463]

Nah they are a cheap copy

[@CavemanBearPig]

Cathay’s Peasant Long Spearmen are the true successors of Yari Ashigaru, can’t change my mind.

[@jasperzanovich2504]

Those guys carried me to the only campaign victory I ever had in SHogun 2.

[@josephr4761]

Spearmen with shields are usually my early front line in Empire playthroughs. You can never expect them to actually kill anything or to beat anything in melee, but they are decent tar pits. Eventually heroes make a better front line

[@landeler8888]

I would say Halbediers are better, as you can give them "Charge defence againts All" skill via the tech tree, and they have AP aswell as the bonus VS Large

[@basriket5710]

But no shield

[@landeler8888]

@@basriket5710 true, but a bronze shield is not that of an upgrade, and as the Empire, you can easily obliterate any enemy ranged unit before they can start shooting at your frontline.

[@jarvee9407]

They are bad tho, just using archers is way better

[@loganwallace101]

Exactly, halberds are awesome

[@Garret007]

Good point. I use the spearmen in the early game and later swap them out for Halbediers when fighting anything but the woodelves. Always worked fine for me so far.

[@tianyangfang2861]

The spearmen's morale is kinda shakey though. Halberdiers trade some defence for better morale which feels worthwhile to me

[@alexw8758]

True. But unlike halberdiers who affect the balance of power quite significantly when routing or broken, a spearmen unit breaking doesn't affect armies overall leadership much at all. Coupled with cheap cost, they make better tar pit units if you can rank them up.

[@flutterc4t458]

Yeah i usualy go wit 2 hal and 3 spears who are the cannon fodder while halberds hold closer to backline

[@Person0fColor]

Thats lore accurate. It takes all these years and research and technology development to even match the simplest of Dwarven warriors. Hell in Dwarf society even barbers and like woodmen and hunters participate in battle and are just as good as even the most stout of Empire units

[@Andrewza1]

Far less dwarfs so every dwarf needs to be on the front line. Most of the empire army would be simple people. Dwarfs are cool but really best opstion is the dwarf empire alliance. They complment each other.

[@gr_egg]

they still get stomped by empire lol

[@galbert117]

And they are relatively cost effective too. Not the cheapest frontline unit by far, but they can dish out far more damage & take more damage on their own when compared to the cheapest ones.

[@morte2504]

Holding the line since 2016!

[@MarkLow-v8d]

Leadership is the issue! I'd rather have a Dwarf warrior unit 😂

[@sethleoric2598]

Ah.. good o'l Spear and Shield troops.

[@pessolano461]

I was playing Rome II once with 4 units of Socii Extraordinarii in an army attacking a settlement, and those bastards held down hundreds of enemies all on their own for the entire fight while I moved the rest of my forces thru the settlement

[@empireofitalypsstimfromano5025]

Ah Yes, Spear And Shield, A Total War Classic

[@insaneliddel3341]

Didn't even know that Empire had infantry oO

[@male_maid5951]

I find that the knights of the black rose are exceptionally good front line

[@siac888]

I also think that, together with a few heros you get a nice, flexible frontline with a Lot of space for Missile Units! Its just not as cost effective.

[@lief3414]

Haven't bought the DLC but it makes sense, I got good results using empire knights as temporary frontline.

[@olafgurke4699]

In a world filled with unspeakable horrors, these mere mortal men hold the line. The Empire endures!

[@creepercrepitent733]

Le seul problème comparé au hallebardier: le commandement

[@excursor4296]

Ah but you see. . . .if you have enough phosphorous that too can hold the front line. Cool to know this reikgaurd-less

[@VIEUXNEGBS1337]

Or just use heroes as frontline ahahah way better

[@pullo5518]

Very functional and cheap unit.

[@Crase1986]

Not even considering the States Troops version: Eldred's Guard. With Charge Defense Against All and a Encouragement aura.

[@SebHaarfagre]

Well... it's the best _chaff_ unit :) They're not really line infantry, and the Empire doesn't really have _any_ line infantry which is a bit ironic. Greatswords could've been Line Infantry but they're a specialized unit, which is also bad at anything else than using with chaff against high armour targets with fairly weak offensive stats. Sigmar's Sons may be the most "Line Infantry" unit I can think of for the Empire, or the new Amethyst gunners. If Spearmen had good morale and a bit more attack they could fit a Line Infantry role, but they're more of a militia (a good militia, or specialized conscripts)

[@pessolano461]

If they fought like Kruber does with the damn thing, you’d need nothing else

[@bluntlyhonest6803]

And the new captain skills gives them another 3 MD. per captain.

[@Takero-Sc]

Halbardiers are superior in every way. More healt, armor, morale, have piercing damage, higher anti large bonus, superior charge resistance, and every bonus can have spearmen, are for halbarders too.

[@1oace768]

But they lack any sort of real missile resistance. Its weird the video didn't bring it up since thats why you would use Spearman over halberdiers. And if you use the state troop and ror spearmen they also get charge defense against all like research halberdiers.

[@Riviter19]

Spearmen are much cheaper and cheaper upkeep though

[@itshunni8346]

Yea but halberds have no shields, and that makes a huge difference in campaign depending on match up and it means the world in multiplayer. the real issue with spearmen is their leadership is bad.

[@Takero-Sc]

@@1oace768 As I'm an aggressive player, this is pretty irrelevant (and shields are useless against armies like skaven or high-penetrating ranged units), and the superior armor increases resistance enough to let the troops arrive without much damage. but above all, I prefer to have adequate anti-large specialist units, rather than one that is "just enough". without support, they struggle to resist an ogre unit with that morale (even enemy units receive research buffs etc, but in MP there is any buff, so those for shield spearmen are not enough).

[@Takero-Sc]

@@Riviter19 they cost just 200 more coins and 40 more upkeep... considering the difference in stats I don't think it's worth it.

[@robosoldier11]

Anyone else feel the spears should be longer? Feels a bit odd how either short the spear is or just how high off the ground they look.

[@TheIYFGamingTM]

Even without getting into detail with the stats I always prefered the spearmen with shield over the halberdiers because they tend to last way longer, especially when shot at due to their shields.

[@Brett-uq4tz]

Ever thought of trying a shield wall/phalanx with them?

[@paret_ranger6273]

+5 de def avec "tenir la ligne" du capitaine ou du seigneur

[@asdasd-di4zj]

Pretty solid, but the halberd looks so fucking cool

[@SilverforceX]

Wrong. It's Halberdiers. The 35% shield block is irrelevant as Empire, most enemies you face have weak or no range at all, and the ones that have range, Empire range firepower is far stronger so you can destroy their range first. Halberdiers have Expert Charge Defence, they will hold against even elite infantry charging into them, something Spearmen cannot do as they get wrecked by high charge bonuses boosting Melee Atk & damage.

[@swissarmyknight4306]

I'm currently playing Elspeth von Draken, and my Free Company Militia front line is putting in work. Shootiest army I've ever played in Total War.

[@KingTigerGuy]

The one, major issue these guys face is their inability to ever win combat, which when fighting anything with fear, as in majority of your early fights, means they will always break long before your guns will have done enough damage. Swordsmen on the other hand will match skeletons and will beat back zombies making them actually hold the line a lot better. Though for later halbadiers and greatswords are far better choices (or just get more mobile guns with heroes and lords to try and pull enemy aggro).

[@TheVoodooMaker]

And Volkmar's Book of Nagash (number 7 I believe) boosts MA and MD and Leadership by ANOTHER +8 so that's 75 MD total. WTF.

[@Farquaad3rd]

Halberdiers have even more MD, 10 more leadership, get all the same buffs as spearmen, and charge defense against all from tech. So eventually you should transition to halberds. In my experience bronze shields aren’t particularly impressive against late game missile infantry anyways. But Shielded spearmen should be the bulk of the frontline at first. Swordsmen are outclassed by both shielded spearmen as line holders and by flagellants as damage dealers. Flagellants have unbreakable which makes them superior to swordsmen against the undead. The Eldred’s guard variant can have a place mixed into a halberd line thanks to their encourage circle and have charge defense against all by default + high armor. (They also look really pimp, and fit in with the new amethyst Ironsides).

[@crogsmash1611]

I like to have 4 halb and 2 greatsword as my front line personally

[@Weberkooks]

Ok so what? This video makes very silly points. All of those general and tech tree skills also apply to halberdiers who have higher leadership and deal more damage and can get expert charge defence. Also every faction in the game has buffs like that so comparing them to ironbreakers who also receive buffs is silly. This video should be titled while spearmen with shields are the best line infantry, besides halberdiers.

[@typical-issues]

Im only interested in 40k but when i do see fantasy videos and clips im always baffled how these very normal medieval spearmen are meant to fight gar' muth the big fat great unclean one or the skaven rat pit abominations 😭

[@sudanemamimikiki1527]

They are supposed to tarpit it so someone more important can come and kill it.

[@aymanelkadouri8235]

They are the backbone of the Empire

[@fucku6556]

They usually get rekt and run away in terror after a few of their comrades die so it checks out

[@OlaftheFlashy]

Truly a staunch line of spearmen that are not a disgrace to their race. Legend has been destroyed.

[@total_war_mods]

They have charge defense against large. :)

[@davidesacco7511]

Still prefer my longbeards. But eh spearmen deserved silver shield at least... Like my goddamn quarrelers XD

[@SK-ih4pj]

Yes the empire front line is so garbage that these guys are actually the best it has. Literally the most backwards faction in the game. One of the worlds superpowers can't come up with something comparable to jade warriors. I hate the Empire so much .

[@Thatoneshinigami]

I prefer halberds, they just work. They have the charge defense against all, they may not have shields but they can tank damage as well as deal damage, i dont really have time to level up spearmen (because they lose, alot) i think i saw spearmen lose to spear goblins once.

[@cccaaawww8685]

Yeah but I usually take halberdiers when I can, given, it isn’t terribly often until mid game that I get them in full force, in which case spearmen with shields are the best

[@hugofreitas6799]

And them you have the state troop version that is 100% cracked, and with Extra 30 armor from gelt they can tank black orcs

[@listerineclean343]

In campaign, the best line infantry for the Empire is 4 units of Ironbreakers. Just make sure not to upset daddy Ungrim :p

[@thephoenixempyre2300]

Halberdiers are better for the AP damage, charge defense against all, and greater melee defense. The shield really isn't that important, especially when facing enemies like chaos

[@giovannigio3764]

You are right they are good at the start of the game. But not in mid and late game. A Lord and some heroes are much better. If you use spells or arti or ranged units to get rid of the enemy infantry they will have big losses but you can hold out easy. Also some fast units to lure some of the enemy away or to kill their ranged units or arti are always good to have.

[@christopheduron6181]

I've played a few games recently using these spearmen as frontline, but even against simple zombies they break and run in like 10 seconds giving my gunnery line no time to even reposition. They may have ok melee def, but their leadership is so bad it makes them unuseable imo.

[@itshunni8346]

How? i had spearman hold a line against grave guard for 13 minutes of a battle. i don't know if you don't support your battle lines or if you leave gaps that trigger flanking penalties a lot, but spearmen should hold perfectly well against zombies, despite the fear hit.

[@ManDuderGuy]

Nah, spearboys easily hold chaff infantry like zombies/skellies

[@Who1776]

Simple, play Franz, use the millennium dawn mod on max difficulty, for the empire.

[@lief3414]

Meh, tried them, swords are better against pure infantry. Killing enemies is a good way to survive I guess.

[@Pairtree44]

However, too much time and effort to invest in a unit that already has poor armour and weapon strength.

[@datuputi777]

Cavalry of any kind is better in any scenario. You just need to cycle charge a lot.

[@Evirthewarrior]

Nuln Ironsides are the best line infantry for the empire, just kill the enemy before they get to you and they can also hold the line as other Nuln Ironsides kill anyone that actually makes it to your line.

[@redsol3629]

Nah, flagellents. To the last man, not a step backwards.

[@Dragoon-zs8vm]

5 star cannon fodder for sure.

[@darokdeed]

you can basically increase every unit with ugrades so you atr quite dishonest with all that praise

[@bingobongo1615]

They look utterly ridiculous spaced out that much…

[@freshmaze9297]

If you have chosen and do the same, you can get up to 90

[@cassielaralim5443]

They still die like flies sadly, due to low armor.

[@gurgenhovakimyan329]

Am I the only one here that never played for the empire?

[@njwnapoleonjusticewarrior8101]

this dude doesn't understand how the game works 🤦

[@Mars_junior]

That flashing text its such a lame watch time tactic

[@chengaming8120]

disagree, I only bring them against missile factions, halberdiers are better at holding and killing cav and monsters, and swordsmen in practice hold longer against melee chaff like skeletons, goblins, and even orc boys due to not losing fights decisively (big leadership debuff). swordsmen trade well and are more cost effective early on

[@rebelfriend1818]

the best line infantry for empire are nuln ironsides (or handgunners). dont need melee inf when you can shoot/rocket everything before it reaches you (and heroes/steam tanks can handle the rest)

[@Sjw20006]

Meanwhile in the land of radious..... Dismounted knights of the blazing sun spam go brrrr

[@benedictjajo]

Greatsword (state troop), unbreakable, best Empire infantry by far.

[@BigStou]

Flagallents are much better, the have frenzy and are unbreakable, problem with spear men is they can be chain terror routed.

[@Vyrtus_]

The Empire!

[@alessandrocurra9130]

for multiplayer maybe i don't care. But in single player no, Empire is strong with the last dlc and the best melee infantry is no melee infantry, are all garbage and is best to not use any of them.

[@Aircastegamer]

Just by reading stats and see how cheap they are spear with shield are direct upgrade to regular spear men. Like I said they're cheap soo there is no reason NOT to get them.

[@sercastamere9853]

*laughs in free, stable mods*

[@iielysiumx5811]

They’re ok, they’re still rarely squishy but they’ll do their job well enough to let your gun lines and artillery actually do the damage

[@neonectra8892]

But Ironbreaker not have rank 🤣🤣

[@henrywallace1823]

dont underestimate the swordsmen being able to kill basic infantry better

[@SirPano85]

Everything good till a rocket crash in the middle.

[@jackthehat1093]

I've only played 1 and 2 but halberdiers were way more effective for me. The extra cost is definitely worth it. I struggled against the vampire counts until I replaced my spearmen with halberdiers. Spearmen are probably a better option if you're at war with other humans or elves and don't have to worry about monsters though.

[@taloscal]

spearmen are good against armies with ranged focus due to their shields, Halbadiers are better against melee/monster/cavalry focused ones, spearmen are also cheaper so they make for a good filler if you need a quick defensive army.

[@stevengull6703]

I just use more guns.

[@Andy-iq6rk]

I prefer a mixed bag approach, Spearman to hold the front line, great swords and halberdiers to cut away any one trying to flank and then help killing the infantry the line is holding.

[@alpharius4819]

This was true during warhammer 2 but not in warhammer 3. An anvil that can hold back the enemy from your missile troops is important, but if they cant deal any damage then they'll only be taking damage from higher tier troops.

[@australok]

It's line infantry XDDD u don't use them to deal, u use them to hold so units with less armor can deal the damage for them

[@ArcturionX]

They're there to hold the higher tier units for your damage dealers to flank....

[@jarvee9407]

Just get archers​@@australok

[@alpharius4819]

I mean yes, but most of the time you end up taking more damage than is cost effective, empire swordsmen are better for norsca, greenskins and tomb kings. Halberdiers are better for chaos warriors, brettonnia, and Ogre kingdoms. Spearman with shields are good at dealing with lizardmen, skaven, beastmen. But you can't just have one type of low tier line infantry for the frontline. Greatswords are very good at clearing tough spots when properly supported. But nowadays Spearman(shields) can't do as well as before due to how they've changed melee and missile infantry. Plus 20 melee attack is really low and can't hit anything unless they're fighting trash.

[@jarvee9407]

@@alpharius4819 use archers for frontline

[@chocho6766]

also those dude got destroyed by missile attack

[@trevorbanks4136]

For Sigmar !

[@Raneyboy]

😂😂 Kroxigors go brrrrt

[@Raneyboy]

@you_tube_user994 uh huh. Doom stack of kroxigors vs doomstack of human spearmen who's your money on? 🤣

[@gr_egg]

@@Raneyboy whos gonna tell bro how much krox cost lmao

[@Raneyboy]

@@gr_egg Peanuts compared to the devastation they leave behind them.

[@gr_egg]

@Raneyboy just tested 10k krox vs 10k spears and the krox got raped 👍

[@Floris_VI]

Arch lector hero be like

[@jc5512]

Impeccable French pronunciation

[@PowermadNavigator]

I see your point, but wouldn't swordsmen end up doing more damage for slightly less melee defense? How common are cavalry charges early game against spearmen like that?

[@caelanforeman8639]

Me doomstacking artillery

[@trevorbanks4136]

What artillery comp do you run ???

[@simonhoogeveen7213]

and they still get wiped by the first goblin that charges them

[@tylerberg4832]

Uhh no ?

[@simonhoogeveen7213]

@@tylerberg4832 shut up tyler

[@alexandernelle6286]

Der hamster mit einen neuen Kanal 👍

[@thenightqueen0]

"Best infantray unit of the Empire is the Spearmen with shields!" Me: Mmmm well considering it's THE EMPIRE ... doesn't say much does it?

[@mr.joesterr5359]

spearshields are quite good for being tier 1 and cheap.

[@thenightqueen0]

@@mr.joesterr5359 Sure. But it’s also the Empire. To which everyone knows, means it’s trash. Because the only thing not trash about the Empire that isn’t trash, is Karl Franz. A man the Empire most desperately needed, but certainly didn’t deserve.

[@lXlElevatorlXl]

Hamster ?

[@thedrewb2273]

They break instantly on contact. Great swords and halbediers are where it's at

[@letroll8954]

Greatswords disintegrate in an instant in combat and halberdiers have no shields for missile resistance. But definitely do phase them out for halberdiers later when you unlock your high tier artillery roster and secure range superiority

[@thedrewb2273]

@@letroll8954 Great swords don't disintegrate in an instant, what?

[@letroll8954]

@@thedrewb2273 shield spearmen can unironically hold for 2x longer if they don't break greatswords trade extremely well in melee mosh pits but die fast and get folded really hard by a lot of stuff

[@johnretard7275]

@@letroll8954 fold deez nuts nigga

[@thedrewb2273]

@@letroll8954 They hold twice as long IF THEY DON'T BREAK lmao 🤣🤣🤣

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

This has been the case since Rome 1 This has also always been the case for at least 8,000 years of real life history

[@TheGameDomeGuy]

The empire captain now also has a skill that adds I think +4 melee Def and atk to infrantry

[@total_war_mods]

I like that

[@spoof6023]

ever since i found out the reiksmarshal cheated in a duel against a much more superior in every single way Bretonnian Grail Knight by not keeping his word and letting his men fire upon the other army after HE LOST THE DUEL ive hated the empire since. but hey at least someone else knows the true sigma that are spearmen of any race

[@Oof_2nd]

I honestly couldn't give a single damn about the smelly french frog eaters but yeah fair enough

[@anhk_yt]

Melee units have always been terrible in warhammer 2 and 3, so id disagree unless youre playing on easier difficultly

[@quickpawmaud]

I had a single unit of normal base garrison Swordsmen hold off 4 marauders with great weapons and a Norscan lord for like 2 whole minutes in a siege once. I always use Swordsmen after that.

[@helltrigger87]

Too bad empire infantry still fold like wet paper 😂

[@Some_Random_Ork]

Ah, but you did not take into account there greatest flaw… they’re French…

[@naturehub.4k]

Nah they’re more fashioned after the Holy Roman Empire which is German. All city and hero names are Germanic

[@naturehub.4k]

Bretons is French

[@sivad2076]

Is this a joke lol