Spearmen-at-Arms (Shields)

Spearmen-at-Arms (Shields) is a Bretonnia melee infantry unit. Put a spear in a man's hand and tell him to brace and he will. He will also hope, and pray.

Description
Each Midsummer, commoners flock to their Lord's castle to present their sons in the hope that they will be trained as Men-at-Arms. For a peasant to have a son accepted into the ranks of a Knight's household is a great honour. Some young peasants will have been guided towards this goal through their entire life, encouraged to stand up straighter and taller than the usual peasant 'slouch' to better improve their chances of selection. All morning and afternoon the Knight inspects the candidates. By dusk, the luckiest and strongest are selected and are taken back to the castle where they are given basic training and outfitted in the livery of their Lord.

Strategy
38 melee defence and 15 bonus vs. large are what allows this men at arms variant to be successful. The defence allows it to be a solid front line or reserve unit capable of holding a bit longer than other men at arms. The Bonus vs. large is also useful when protecting archers or artillery crews from cavalry. Like all men at arms, this unit will never do amazing things, but they can hold the longest among peasants.