CurtSibling
ENEMY ACE™
Erwan overload - Excellent!
Gareth, your attention to accuracy and detail is astonishing.
I think that historybuffness and civtwoness go hand in hand.
Hans99 makes a very good point. This forum needs a thread where to share painting tips, like Catfish's unit painting guide and your tank painting guide, back in the day.
Even a light spear is about 2,40m to 2,80m, if it is a two handed spear. A one handed spear can be shorter, down to about 1,60 or even 1,40. Shorter than that it looses its effect.
I would guess its not so much a pike as an accurate spearman. A pike is generally more than 3m long.
Sorry to go off topic here, but why are the Legio Comitatenses portrayed as pikemen?
Most propably he would have carried a Lancea light spear(that could actually be thrown) and a Spatha sword for backup.
I don't know of any difference in the equipment of Palatini and Comitatenses.
The late Roman infantry used a 9ft thrusting spear (kontos in some sources, despite this term usually being used for 2-handed cavalry spears). The standard throwing weapon was the Plumbata dart or the lancea light spear, which several sources suggest was used by a lighter-armed component of each numerus, and presumably by the all the troops in the various legio comitatenses 'lanciarii' units. Hence I've drawn the bog-standard troops with 9ft spears and the Lanciarii Seniores is shown throwing a lancea.