Spear Levy

My weapon is the spear. I'll kill you as I killed Alar."

— John R Dann, Song of the Axe (vol 2 cap 47)

In game

Spear Levy — Vital statistics
Medium Spear Levy	Slow-moving melee infantry unit meant for defending against cavalry at melee range. Very vulnerable to archer fire. Strong versus melee units, especially cavalry. Weak versus missile units.
Prereq:	Build time	HP	LOS	Attack	Attack speed	Movement speed	Upgrades to
Level 2: Mercenaries Military	5.3s (80t)	110	6	17	2.1s (32t)	24
Cost			Created from	Armour	Weapon range	Specialty
Base	Ramp	Pop
: 20; : 10	: 1	1		3	Melee	Strong versus cavalry Defensive penalty versus ranged units Small attack penalty versus buildings.

Overall strategy

While they have the highest attack ratings for all melee infantry of the Bronze Age, Spear Levy are still rather poor with regards to their use on the battlefield. It is without doubt that Spear Levy, if used properly early on, can make a difference — they can be put together to charge chariots en masse, or be used to defend against Peasant Levy rushes, or to support a rush themselves. They however are still vulnerable if facing units such as Swordsmen or Guardsmen, or ranged units, particularly chariots. For this reason Spear Levy are best used defensively early on with the assistance of Archers or Slingers, and shouldn't be used for offensive actions at least until the Heroic Age, when they in turn can be upgraded to become Medium Spear Levy.

Unit summary

• Amongst all other infantry types, Spear Levy have the highest cost in resources, so you might wish to supplement them with light infantry.
• Spear Levy are most effective but only as either purely defensive or offensive units, due to their speed. This also makes them vulnerable against more versatile units, such as missile infantry and cavalry, which can easily take them apart or massed light infantry.
• Rising Sun — The Japanese Spear Levy are instead salaried with more food as opposed to metal. While this may seem like a handicap, it in fact makes them very cheap in later stages of the game, helped by their being able to be spawned from the Barracks for free once completed.
• Hittite Spear Levy — The Hittites can train a different type of spear unit which has lower armour, but has greater attack and training speed.