Pikemen

Five hundred and fifty men appeared, armed with two-handed swords, alongside separate divisions of pikemen, spearmen, and hagbutters (a hagbut being a type of pistol).

Putting pikemen where boats are going to land and archers on a cliff may sound nice and simple, but it becomes less so when there are two flotillas on their way, each approaching a different side of the island.

But despite being very lightly armoured, the Macedonian pikemen were very well protected against enemy missiles.

During the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, these weapons, both mounted and unmounted, were so effective that lancers and pikemen not only became a staple of every Western army, but also became highly sought-after mercenaries.

During the charge, the pikemen held their lances vertically so that this huge mass of wood and iron could block enemy projectiles, lowering their sarissas at the very last moment to strike the enemy lines.

Generally, only pikemen were armoured in this fashion; gunners went largely unarmoured, due to the expense as well as the impracticality of armouring large numbers of men who were not expected to fight in close quarters where it would be most useful.

Mounted knights armed with lances proved ineffective against formations of pikemen combined with crossbowmen whose weapons could penetrate most knights' armor.

Nicholson (2004), p101 European Renaissance and after German reenactors of pikemen Infantry The development of both the long, two-handed pike and gunpowder in Renaissance Europe saw an ever increasing focus on integrated infantry tactics.

On some occasions, simple weapons employed in an unorthodox fashion have proven advantageous, as with the Swiss pikemen who gained many victories through their ability to transform a traditionally defensive weapon into an offensive one.

Philip was unhorsed by the Flemish pikemen in the heat of battle, and were it not for his plate mail armor he would have probably been killed.

Swiss pikemen The use of long pikes and densely packed foot troops was not uncommon in the Middle Ages.

The Qin also employed long spears (more akin to a pike) in formations similar to Swiss pikemen in order to ward off cavalry.

These were German " landsknechts ", a mix of handgunners and pikemen.