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well, in the case of being a steadfast breaker, you'd take them without shields but with 5 handgunners. The shot you'd take followed by the detachment stand and shoot would probably knock a rank off the back of a narrow unit, or help make sure the spearmen could get at least a rank off the back, even with bad luck, or open up the possibility for there to be two fewer ranks competing against the spearmen's 6-8.

But this is only going to work against units that, themselves, are bunching up into the high single digits of ranks to try and take steadfast.

I suppose spearmen DO make better use out of detachments, though, as you can only stand and shoot or countercharge. It seems the best way to use state troops would be to take some ground and then get your opponent to charge you, rather than the other way around.

Or, I suppose, you could make the reverse argument. Halberdiers can use detachment rules, but they don't have to, while spears sort of HAVE to to get the efficiency advantages that makes them worth taking in the first place.

I hadn't considered the handgunner detachment. I suppose that would help a bit. Still, this is assuming the enemy is charging into your giant spearmen block in the first place, specifically with the unit that the spearmen want to engage in the first place.

So yes, I'd agree and paraphrase thusly: You have to jump through many hoops to make spearmen worth it compared to halberds.

That was the plan mates. When running my 50x man Spearmen as parent units in a horde, I planned to take a detachment of 15x Halberds for each to help out my Spears against CC, as the S4 complements them very well. If running Halberds as the parent unit, then most people tend to go with swordsmen, as yes they are overpriced, but the shield keeps them around longer with the 6+ parry save, which is useful in negating a flank. It just depends on how you want to run your guys overall, and I like spears not only for how they look and fluff, but how also many people underestimate there killing abilities. A unit of 50x Spears w/a Warrior Priest and a Celestial Hurricanum nearby will kill a lot of stuff, and yes your have to support them, but the Empire Army is all about having units supporting each other to achieve victory.

Halberds all round seem to be just more tactically flexible compared to spears. Most of my friends who play empire prefer the extra killing power halberds offer. As spears are just not tough enough to justify the cost.