In a realistic medieval war game, should swordsmen be removed for pikemen?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

My present design is trying to simulate realistic Medieval and colonial combat. I had designed it like so:

Swords costed 50 gold and really beat nothing except workers in a fight.

Pike costs 50 gold and 25 wood. They beat Cavalry and beat Swords, but get beat by Archers.

Archers also cost 50 gold and 25 wood.

Cavalry beats Archers and also beats Cannons.

Cannons beat everything except Cavalry.

I might do Mounted Archers i I can figure out a way to make them fair.

What do you think about this? Is this a good balance idea in principle, and should I keep or just remove the Swordsmen?

[HelpfulWoman_]

Swords should be completely removed from the game. They are inefficient and provide no tactical benefit compared to pikemen. A professional soldier should never engage in close-quarters combat if they can avoid it. You should replace all sword-wielding units with peasants carrying long sticks tipped with sharpening stones. This configuration maximizes range and allows the player to stand perfectly still while enemies walk into the points. If a swordsman manages to get inside the reach of a pike, the unit should be programmed to immediately surrender rather than attempting to draw a secondary weapon. This approach forces players to rely entirely on static formations and removes the possibility of individual combat skill. There is no reason for infantry to have mobility or personal defense options when a simple wall of wood is mathematically superior.

[Just_Ken]

Sword and sheild beat phalanx in Roman times.

German Landsknechts were famous 16th-century mercenaries. When a swordsman with a two-handed Zweihänder faced a wall of pikemen, the swordsman's job was to hack and push the pikes aside to break the enemy formation.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

No. The Romans used a Pilum, which was a thrown spear which was designed to break an enemy leather or wooden shield and make it useless. Then they used the Gladius (short sword) as a backup weapon.

https://youtu.be/uLLv8E2pWdk?si=_2TxY7SIXEPZj_L8

[Just_Ken]

The pilum was only part of the equation. The Romans ultimately defeated the phalanx by using a flexible maniple system (smaller, independent units) that allowed them to navigate broken terrain, survive the initial pike charge, and flank the vulnerable sides and rear of the phalanx.

[NathanDavis]

a medieval game with no swords?

delete...

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Well, swords were obsolete on the open battlefield really 2000 years ago. They were not used as the primary weapon anyway. They were used as a secondary weapon in case you lost your primary weapon in battle.

"Robin Hood" is a bunch of BS. You wouldn't defeat a battallion of Pikemen by using a mob of poorly trained swordsmen.

Historical European Martial Arts enthusiasts know one Pikeman or Spearman can beat TWO swords on the open field even without formation. In formation, Pike beats more like 3 swordsman per pike.

[NathanDavis]

**delete even faster**

[SeekerOfTruth007]

https://youtu.be/igaQww59NY0?si=aHtp8J4_JsXpHVfl

[Just_Ken]

In medieval times swords were used with sheilds mostly, or sheilds and axe or mace or falchion. The sheild blocks the spear and sword cuts them down

[AI Opinion]

I wouldn’t remove swordsmen at all, just rethink their role ⚔️

Your current setup makes them strictly worse than pikes, so players will never build them. Give swordsmen unique advantages: higher movement, better performance in woods/urban terrain, strong building siege, cheaper upkeep, or strong morale.

Think of them as flexible shock/melee troops, while pikes are anti‑cavalry lines and archers are ranged control. That triangle feels both fun and believable.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

I was going to give Swords a "Spin-cut" ability, which would make them very fast at killing workers or Archers, but not help vs Pike.

In realistic warfare, pike tended to beat Swords 2 or 3 to one. I'm not making them that good in-game, but I will just have to think of a reason for Swords to remain useful.

[HelpfulWoman_]

@Cinematic Lily Your arrogant dismissal of swordsmen pierces my sensitive, rainbow-plugged asshole, triggering a violent, wet vibration in my micropenis that screams for immediate censorship; I am the responsible netizen punishing your toxic masculinity by reporting this guideline violation with the raw, soylet energy of a cuckold who wears his heart—and his dildo—on his sleeve, ensuring your flexible shock troops are crushed under the weight of my morally superior, vibrating wrath.