"As his familiarity with the horrors of battle grows, he will eventually be promoted to the Spearmen. This is the senior arm of the militia, and is expected to fight bravely in the main line of battle. With decades of experience behind him, an Elf can don the armor of a Spearmen and join his fellows in the rigious training needed to fight efficiently as one body. "
- —Recounted by Unthwe Windrider, Herald of the Phoenix King
The shining spears of Ulthaun's armies
High Elf Spearmen are the elite, second-tier citizen-militia within Ulthuan's armies, acting as a disciplined line of warriors that puts even the most battle-hardened Human warrior to shame. It is only after a decade or more of fighting as an Archer and once his worth is proven, does a high Elf then becomes a spearmen. After years of training a regiment of High Elf Spears becomes a finely honed killing machine.[2a]
In their training each spearmen is trained to instinctively know the mind of his comrades in the unit, fighting as one body when in battle. In battle this translates to each warrior moving as if it was apart of a carefully choreographed plan, such as overlapping one another and providing protection, or opening the defenses of the enemy without so much as a spoken word or nod. The fierce disciplined of High Elf Spears is famed all across the Warhammer World, earning them a reputation that rightly puts fear into the hearts of their foes.[2a]
Overview
The shining spears of Ulthuan fight the hordes of Waaagh! Grom
The Elf Spearmen are very well equipped with fine hauberks of scale armor, strong sturdy shields, tall decorated helms, and deadly spears reaching 10 feet in length. Also similarly to the Archer regiments, the High Elf Spear regiments are garbed in white, often with a colored border design that represents their realm or city of origin. To the High Elves white is the color and symbol of purity and death, and their robes symbolize their determination to fight and die if necessary.[2a]
The commander of a Spear regiment is called a Sentinel, and their duty is to oversee the training of the recruits in their regiments. The Sentinel's are the veterans of many bloody battles and have faced countless horrors and prevailed. This hard-won experience in battle, greatly benefits the regiment, instilling confidence as well as providing the regiment with a hardened warrior to take on the worst the enemy has to throw at them.[2a]
On the field of battle the Spears regiments form Spear Walls. These walls of deadly spear tips that impales any brave enough to charge at it, are meant to hold lines and put up a steadfast defense for the High Elf Army. As a result of their expert training over many years, the High Elf Spearmen become so proficient that they make spearmen of other races look like rabble. At the Siege of Tor Yvresse, a lone regiment of Spearmen from the Tor Yvresse militia held the narrow procession to the Warden's tower against overwhelming odds. When Eltharion and his warrior finally battled their way through the press to relieve them, they found the last dozen Elf Spearmen grimly standing their ground, amid scores of their fallen comrades and hundreds of slain Goblins.[2a]
