spuds4ever wrote:
I don't think pikes would matter too much as you could get shield warriors instead and lots more cheap orc spearmen. Would you rather have few 3 attack groups or loads more 2 attack groups.
I could get 5 orcs and 3 shielded Uruks for the cost of the 6 pikemen, which gives me 1 less support than before or I could switch to 5 and 3 pikemen, gaining me 2 support but of a lesser quality. I might give both a try, but I only have 8 orc spearmen at present so I could do something along the lines of 2 extra spears, 2 warg archers and the rest of the points on UH and see how it goes.
I'm reluctant to completely drop pikes as I like to shield with some of my Uruks and then use the pikes to create openings, which I can then exploit. So I get 2 dice along the line from shielding and then 3 dice concentrated in one spot, forcing an opening and then pressing home this advantage. If I thin my support across the line I lose this advantage and gain only the possibility of an extra kill or two where I am no longer shielding. Against anyone with their own spear support 3 vs 2 can be invaluable, winning a combat and then allowing me to attack the spear support through this opening in their lines.