Most of us felt a little jump of glee when GW announced that all high elves would be getting the ASF special rule. The initial joy from having our units re-enact the opening scene from lord of the rings turned sour later on, but this is not today's topic of discussion. We are here to discuss one of the three core units in the High Elven armada. The spearmen, or spears.

At 9 points a piece, spears are by no means a cheap unit, but considering the rest of the high elven army, they are the cheapest choice we have. While other armies have the luxury of buying core units at almost half the price, and thereby having veritable cannon fodder, we do not have that luxury. As someone wise once said: every death is hard felt.

Spears are not to be considered cannon fodder, they are to be considered a main battle unit. Thanks to Speed of Asuryan, they will strike first against the majority of our enemies, and thanks to martial prowess, and their weapon of choice, spears will fight in three ranks when not charging, instead of two, as is the norm for spear-equipped troops. With this in mind, a typical spear regiment with full command will boast a staggering 16-22 attacks, all depending on the frontage of the unit. Thanks to this, they are a potent threat to most units with a relatively low armour save.

It is a resounding consensus in the Asur community that no spear unit should have less than three ranks. Having an incomplete third rank means that you are not just missing a point of combat resolution by rank bonus, but you are also missing attacks that could result in further combat resolution through kills, and through that, save your own elves from falling prey to the enemy. As with most elven units, our strength is our attack, and to fight half-heartedly is to take our enemies lightly, something that rarely moves in our favour.

The unit size that has been considered the minimum for a unit of spears to function is 15, with a frontage of 5. And a favourite among many is 21, with a frontage of 7. Both options allow all models to fight, and carry with them three complete ranks. Some people find space in their army list to include more spears to make room for casualties while still preserving a full third rank, however this is not very common, since most generals tend to carry with them units that are a more pressing concern for enemy shooting. In an army where dragons, swordmasters and chariots roam, casualties among the spears are expected to be minimal.

Why no less than 15? I can field a unit of 10 without command units and save some points for more elite infantry units.
Sure, you might do that. But then you're paying for 10 spears, who are at best, cannon fodder, or a bump in the road. At worst, they are free victory points, and a possible ignition point for a wide spread panic attack among your troops. Unlike some other armies, our spears are quite competitive, able to stand their ground against units that other core units would only dream of fighting.

A regiment of spears, with three full ranks can in many cases hold their own against flagellants, who are unlikely to strike back due to the overwhelming number of attacks from the spears, and the obvious lack of protection on the flagellants. Against any human infantry unit, spears can fight well. While a detachment might negate the rank bonus, they do not negate the martial prowess nor the speed of asuryan.
These are just examples, however, against low armour save enemies, spears are excellent.

I have already mentioned that spears are fielded as a main combat unit. This is because spears have the numbers, both model wise and attack wise, to survive the first round of combat, and make room for a flank charge from a supporting unit. Notable flank chargers include chariots, dragons, swordmaster, white lions and dragon princes. Phoenix guards are of course quite capable of filling the same role as a unit of spears, and quite possibly with fewer casualties, however, they are notably more expensive.

The main weakness of a unit of spears is that they are elves. With strength and toughness three, they are neither strong enough to destroy heavily armoured foes, nor tough enough so survive the strongest foes. This can be dealt with by a quite simple solution, introducing a character.
A unit of spears offer a nice home for a Battle Standard bearer, who with the proper weapon can offer high strength attacks to deal with the more troublesome enemies the spears face. And whose improved leadership re rolls will keep the spears from breaking.

Spears are best fielded in numbers, both to take advantage of their ability to strike in three ranks, and to benefit from the power of numbers and ranks. They should always have command units, to grant combat resolution from the banner, the benefits of a musician. and should a character seek refuge, a commander can accept a challenge in their place, as well as provide another attack for the regiment as a whole. And a unit of spears should whenever possible, fight well supported. This support can be from a character, or from a small support unit, or even magic, should you have an appropriate spell.

I mentioned earlier that spears have access to the special rule "first among equals", and that it allowed us access to a cheap magical banner. Cheap in this case means 25 points or less. And looking through our list of banners, we see the five banners that fit the bill. What banner you chose affects what the spears can do. The Lion banner allow us to field a unit of spears against all manner of fear and terror causers. The ellyrion banner allow them to walk undaunted through difficult terrain, much like the White Lions. The banner of arcane protection helps protect them from harmful spells,, and the warbanner adds another point of combat resolution. If you chose a banner, and what banner you pick in that case, depends on what banner your other troops could make better use of. For an example, the ellyrion banner is often more useful on a faster unit, such as cavalry or even a chariot.

No matter how many units of spears you field, or how big they are, honour them by including them in your strategy, rather than just using them to fill up core requirements.

In the end:
- Spears can function as a main combat unit.
- spears benefit from numerous attacks.
- Spears are frail, and can die easily if faced with a strong foe.