Carthage Pike Infantry

African Pikemen

A tightly formed phalanx of sarissa-armed infantry presented an almost impenetrable wall of spear points, especially to cavalry. The sarissa itself was a two-handed spear or pike, between four and seven metres long, and was adopted by the armies of Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Successors that followed them. With an iron tip and a bronze butt-spike which provided balance and could be dug into the ground to bolster a defensive stance, it was an effective weapon for mass combat. When advancing in close order against the enemy, each man would occupy a square roughly a metre to a side, with the sarissas of the first five ranks projecting beyond the phalanx. On the defensive the phalanxes would close up, locking together with each man resting his shield on the man in front for greater stability. Such formations sacrificed manoeuvrability, leading to their main weakness on their flanks and rear. Philip II’s employment of the sarissa, and this new Macedonian-style phalanx, developed from earlier hoplite warfare. There is some debate as to whether his wounding by either an Illyrian or Thracian long spear, which killed his mount, may have influenced the sarissa's introduction.

Unit Name African Pikemen

Main Unit Key Car_African_Pike

Land Unit Key Car_African_Pike

Naval Unit Key pel_transport

Soldiers 160

Category Melee Infantry

Class Pike Infantry

Custom Battle Cost 700

Recruitment Cost 700

Upkeep Cost 130

Melee Attack 38

Weapon Damage 24

├ Melee Weapon rome_pike

├ Melee Damage Base 20

├ Melee Damage Ap 4

├ Armour Piercing No

├ Bonus vs. Large 0

├ Bonus vs Elephants 0

└ Bonus vs Infantry 0

Charge Bonus 10

Melee Defence 25

├ Base Defence 15

├ Shield pikemen

└ Shield Defence 10

Armour 70

├ Armour mail

├ Armour Defence 40

└ Shield Armour 30

Health 55

├ Man Entity rome_infantry_very_heavy_pike

├ Man Health 40

└ Bonus Hit Points 15

Base Morale 55

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

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

Requires Buildings
Lv. 0	Hoplite Barracks (greek_military_heavy_3) Level 2 Royal Barracks (greek_military_heavy_4) Level 3

Faction Availability
Grand Campaign	Carthage Adirim loyalists Adirim Secessionists Punic Rebels
Hannibal at the Gates	Carthage (Hannibal at the Gates) Adirim loyalists (Hannibal at the Gates) Adirim Secessionists (Hannibal at the Gates) Punic Rebels (Hannibal at the Gates)
Imperator Augustus	Punic Rebels (Imperator Augustus)