Military Weapons - Spears and other Polearms

[CalPal]

Well, the entire point of spears is that they work great when your opponent is far away.
If the opponent gets past the spearhead, the spear wielder is likely to find it shoved where the sun doesn't shine.
So for the initial charge, the spear/polearm would work wonderfully, but then swords will have to be drawn.
I suppose in that case, the secondary weapon slot will come into it's element.

They're not necessarily useless in close quarter combat. If a person is exceptionally skilled, they can wield a spear the same way they wield a bo staff, which can be just as devastating in close-quarter combat to get thwacked in the head by one of those staffs.

[Edril]

The main reason spears were so popular in medieval ages, and the superior weapon on the battlefield is because of formations. Breaking into a formation of soldiers wielding a long sword and a shield is near impossible, but in a 1v1 combat a good soldier with a sword should be able to break the guard, get in close and end the pesky spear wielder.

The spear is a weapon that very much relies on the man next to you.

[Blackbird]

I'd recommend the Naginata, as opposed to a spear. Considering the primary weapon in the game is a Katana, a Japanese sword, it would fit better.

The Naginata is a pole arm with a difference: instead of a spearhead, it has a long curved blade. This way, it can be used both to stab and slice, potentially.

They were used by Samurai, foot soldiers and warrior monks.

They're badass, to say the least.

I, too, would prefer something like the naginata over a regular spear given the current weapon/armor theme.

Another polearm I would love to see is something like the sasumata, tsukubo or sodegarami as a special required weapon for taking bandits alive.

[CodofWisdom]

They're not necessarily useless in close quarter combat. If a person is exceptionally skilled, they can wield a spear the same way they wield a bo staff, which can be just as devastating in close-quarter combat to get thwacked in the head by one of those staffs.

Ah, the key word there is "skilled". Initially, a guy with a polearm would be rather useless, thinking "Well, the point of the weapon is to poke the guy, right?", but after a while they'll figure out how to push an opponent back, or block a sword blow, and eventually how to use the shaft nearly as much as the head.

The spear is a weapon that very much relies on the man next to you.

Which fits perfectly with the game, considering it's a squad based RPG.

Another polearm I would love to see is something like the sasumata, tsukubo or sodegarami as a special required weapon for taking bandits alive.

I'll admit, I hadn't thought of the non-lethal options. I've yet to come across a scenario in the game where they might want to capture someone alive. But if the game develops to the point where there are hidden bandit camps, and you can interrogate bandit raiders for it's location, then that would be an excellent idea.

[Edril]

The spear is a weapon that very much relies on the man next to you.

Which fits perfectly with the game, considering it's a squad based RPG.

Yeah, but the way it currently plays out each soldier in the squad fights very individually. Spears rely on formation fighting which is an entirely different fighting style than what the coding currently allows.

[CalPal]

I'll admit, I hadn't thought of the non-lethal options.

I already have: bounty hunting.

[Flash_Jordan]

I remember Chris saying that he's not implementing spears or staffs because he doesn't have animations for those. If you can find them, we might have a chance.

If im not mistaken, couldn't he use the Shogun 2 Total war animations? For the Yari, an others as well, like cavalry, clubs.