Well, 1 I can't give Melee units drill.
2, I thought I said 1st strike chance srry.
3, I don't now what heck you are questioning me about. I didn't mention any heck in that post.
In real life: Light Infantry Beats Heavy infantry in Small Battles- they are light on their foot. I can dodge that mace and then stab his face!
Light Infantry is Nuetral to Heavy Infantry in Medium Battles- they have less space and the Heavy Infantry can get close. I can try to jump, but I might hit my buddy!
Light Infantry loose in tight space. They can't manuver, which means they can't get out of the way from that huge ball of steel. I can't move at all!
Pikesmen have a long reach, and in the past, it can be almost impossible to get in. When the Phalax (more pike than spear) faced the Roman Legions, the flexable 'Medium Infantry' went under the pikes with their shields and cut them up.
A few hundred years earlier, Persian 'Light Infantry' and 'Heavy Infantry' where cut up infront of the Greeks Year after Year, only winning through out flanking, Archers, numbers, or many combinations of the above.
During Late Imperial and Early Medieval ages, the Horse Ruled. Providing a tall platform and a weapon itself, they usually can run down any undiciplined man, and only lost their advantage in tight area, where they reliy on their foot soldiers and themselves off their horses, or through few Pike/Archer combinations.
As the age of the Pike grew, we find many battles where Knights are starting to be defeated by Pikes/Archers/Men-at-Armes or Foot Knights. Whenever this formation weakens, however, the Knights can storm in.
As the first Armour Piercing Crossbows, and later Guns Appeared, they are extremely vurnurable to the Knights. TAking a minute to reload, they can be cut down while struggling with their weapon. That is why I proposed my Covering Fire Idea. As guns grew larger and smaller they became easier to load, and when the Bayonet was becoming widespread, that is when the Knight with Pike/Archer/Men-at-arms field army subcurbed to Musketters+Mercenaries and Levies with Heavy and Light Cavarly and Skirmishers.
As each era presents a changing timeline, so should the game present a challenge to the player to coninuesly research to try to get an advantage for the next war. Your Mailed Knights might do well this campaign, but you flanking nation has developed Strong Pikesmen formations supported by archers. You find that for the next war you would need swordsmen or archers of your own. Maybe you just finished off your enemy's heavy spear formations, but horsemen are just on the rise. You will need to develope your own horsemen corps to deal with this threat.
I believe that we should have two types of Melee... Light and Heavy. Real life represents this divide well... the Minutemen V.S. the Continental: both are needed, but the Continental stands out front and the Minutemen defends or flanks the enemy.
We have the Legion and it's Auxillaries. The heavy Harbardiers of China and their swordsmen. Lightly armed conscript Spears of Egypt with the well trained Axemen of the main armies.
I forgot what I was going to talk about.