>>10895750Yes. The empire's grand army scheme is almost comically complex in some ways - the disparate lands and realms within its borders produce a wide assortment of military styles and philosophies., all coming together to be almost jury-rigged into a unified fighting machine. While the pike phalanx saw its original heyday with the ancient Greeks and Macedons and then fell out of favour until the Age of Gunpowder revival, one vassal state came to dominate the vast fertile flatlands in its corner of the continent through heavy and effective use of this archaic way of warfare.
They take great pride in their martial accomplishments, to the extent that their vassal status and feudal obligations are conditional to their phalanx being central to tactical and strategic planning when called for war; further, their own sub-vassals and a few of the empire's are required to supply additional pikemen for their phalanx.
Until recently the empire has only rarely been in need of their forces; typically within the grand army they will function as one half of a hammer and anvil tactic, or as an immovable block of spears to keep the masses of enemy at bay while the flanks close in Cannae-style. Recently there have been attempts at a sort of pyke-and-shotte formation, with archery instead of musketry for the shotte components. It remains to be seen if this tactic is viable for the medieval battlefield.
