Skavenslave Spears

Skavenslave Spears is a Skaven melee infantry unit in Total War: Warhammer II. A spear may mean they fight a little longer or better, but it only delays their inevitable demise.

Description
The Under-Empire is run by slave labour. Skavenslaves perform all menial tasks, including mining, tunnelling, and food production. In lean times, they themselves become the food. The majority of slaves are Skaven born into bondage, the lowest class of a hierarchical society. Their ranks swell as rival clans are captured during internecine wars. At times even non-Skaven become slaves, although few other races last long under the whips of the ratmen overseers. In warfare Skavenslaves are used en masse to absorb missile fire and to overwhelm the foe with numbers. A common Warlord tactic is to whip Skavenslaves to the fore of an assault. Many are butchered, but the loss is acceptable if the slaves bear the brunt of incoming or tire the foe for the next attack wave. The best Skavenslaves will even pull down and tear to pieces a few of the adversaries, although this is considered a bonus.

Strategy
Theoretically better than regular slaves due to their higher melee defense potentially helping them last longer. Their lower melee attack doesn't matter much as slaves generally won't be able to get many kills anyway. They do have a small anti-large bonus that could result in them killing light cavalry that foolishly get stuck in a huge mass of them. They have no charge defense though and large units with a decent charge will run them over just like melee infantry.