Pikemen have a useful niche in the game's North American battles. Switching the whole force into melee would cause losses that are expensive to replace, so most of the valuable infantry stays out of close combat. The approach is described as short-sighted, yet it preserves troops for a planned campaign against the French. This connects battlefield choices with replacement costs and the need to retain combat power for later operations. The game also bunches troops together more than real formations did, so the simulation should not be read as a literal reconstruction.
Notable Point · 1:22:34-1:24:54
Preserving expensive units for later operations
A North American battle illustrates the campaign-level tradeoff between a quick tactical decision and preserving costly infantry for the next war.