I don't think set spear was used all that often by well-trained troops. The Swiss didn't use it -- they held their pikes overhead, so that the tips were _lower_ than the butts. That way, if the point slid off the defender's armor, the pike went down, into the ground, and still formed a defensive barricade of sorts. If you held the spear pointing up and it glanced off, then it would bounce up into the sky where it's not doing anyone any good.
I don't know about the Macedonians and Greeks, but I get the impression that they held their pikes in hand, rather than bracing against the dirt.
The closest thing to set spear I can find a reference to in my military writings is that the English archers hammered pointed stakes into the ground in front of their positions at Crecy.
I suspect the set spear is a product of the modern imagination, and may _never_ have been used. But I'm eager to hear tales to the contrary.
Someone praises the use of caltrops
>"caltrops were pretty popular for defensive-minded troops. "
Then Mike mentions
>I have no historical knowledge of caltrops ever being used against
>infantry.
Post-Roman times, the only persons I know of to use caltrops were the Japanese, and then as far as I know they were only used by ninjutsu during assassination attempts inside a building -- since the Japanese wore stocking feet, the caltrops were reasonably effective in hindering pursuit. Pictures I've seen show the ninja caltrops as quite small (about the size of a jack), and one book claimed they were poisoned, but this theory might simply be based on the fact that deep foot puncture wounds often get infected.
The Roman caltrops were relatively huge -- 4=6 inches across, and I, too, can find no reference to them being successfully used to stop infantry. Presumably infantry could slow down and pick their way through the caltrops (or even pick them up for re-use). This wouldn't put them at risk, because the defenders sure as heck wouldn't dare charge them while they're still in the caltrops.
If the Romans had had effective missile troops, they could have taken advantage of the caltrop-delayed force, but they really didn't. In addition, when the Romans themselves went for a heavy cavalry striking force (under Byzantium), caltrops went out of style. When your main arm of battle is horsemen, you don't want to lay caltrops all over the field. Especially when they're only good at protecting infantry, and medieval infantry (no offense Mike and other SCAers) was a rabble.
Xemela's Blessing
Steve
>What are you quoting from? It sounds familiar, but can't place it.
Sadly, I am quoting my own self. My own writings. Which have tragically not yet been published by TAHGC, though I've published them at least twice through this digest, and I think one of the magazines (Dave? Mike?) has published part of my Saint descriptions in the full Invisible God writeup. I think. Anyway, there's copies of it wandering around the RQ world.
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