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Warmatrix

War Matrix - Spear

Prehistory 35000 BCE - 3500 BCE, Weapons and technology

Spear
Spear
The spear is one of the oldest weapons in existence and is probably the most used. Spears were more ubiquitous than bows, clubs, axes and certainly more than swords, despite the fame of the latter. The reasons are that a spear is simple to make, easy to wield and effective in combat.
A spear consists of a sturdy wooden shaft with a sharpened point. Spearpoints can be made from the shaft itself by carving and burning, but those are neither hard nor durable. Stone age warriors put flint points on them; later they were equipped with bronze or iron points. Some spears have a counterweight or secondary spike at the end, but most have a blunt butt. The average stabbing spear is between 1.5 and 3 meters long. Shorter spears are called javelins and used for throwing, rather than stabbing. Longer spears, up to 6 meters in length, are often called pikes. These are pure infantry weapons, wielded with two hands and used only in massed formations. Cavalry spears, used in a charge, are usually called lances.
A spear can be wielded 'over-hand', but 'under-hand' is more powerful and effective. It is primarily a stabbing weapon, but can also be used to block and parry.
In battle, dense formations of spearmen protected by armor and or shields, called a shield wall or phalanx, present a formidable obstacle to any opponent that wields hand-weapons, especially cavalry. Often the spear wielders are lined up in several rows, with the spears of not only the first, but also second, third or even fourth rows pointing forward. The weakness of such a group of spearmen is at the flanks and the rear, as their weapons do not point that way and re-aligning the formation can take some time. During the Wars of Scottish Independence, Scottish pikemen employed sheltrons, circular formations with spear point outwards in all directions.