A pike is a long (3-6.5
metre), pointed stick used
en
masse to keep an advancing force at a distance. The idea originally came from
spears, (this is why Roman spears were so long). From the age of
Alexander up until the practicality
of
black powder weapons, the pike was very popular.
The pike had been an infantry’s weapon of choice
against
cavalry. Typically, a pike would be used by every man in the first three
(give or take) rows of
infantrymen. The pike was held about at a 20° angle to
keep horses from jamming through the lines. With this three row deep defense,
one could safely bring out
archers. Archers were always a prime target,
because their weapons were not those of close quarters combat, and they had
usually no armor. If you were an archer, pikes are your
friend.
The pike was extremely useful in wickedly smiting forward advancing heathens,
but if you got flanked...dizamn. Pikes were quite the immobile
weapon, and hinders the fluidity of your forces. That's their only real pitfall, as
far as I can tell.
Note:
If you've seen Braveheart, then you've seen pikes. Remember when they hid
those big ass sticks when the horsies were advancing, then when they got real
close, skewered them? Those were poles were an example of pikes.