Lewin already said that a rebel uses a pitchfork, not a spear.
Please stop taking the "realism" too far. It's a strategy game rather than an accurate simulation.
If you really want to have the most realistic and detailed simulation available, try
Die Germanen and see, that this project started over a decade ago but there is no sign of a soon finish or even a beta version because the amount of details is way too much for a small programer team.
And please see that there goes one wooden board into the weapons workshop and out comes an axe or a lance. I ask myself, where comes the iron for the upper part of it? Not very realistic, is it?
Laborer uses some wood and some stone to finish buildings with a thatched roof and a wavering flag. Is the flag then made of stone or wood?
The game uses 256 colors - is that realistic? It has no night, no rain, no seasons. How does the corn grow without rain? Where does the first vine in the wineyard come from? The corn grows at least five times before the farmer becomes hungry. He must be a survivalist, or very economical with his food.
Face it, a game always is and always has to be a simplification. It cannot cover the reality as it is way too complex. And isn't it this reason, why we play games - because it's somewhat easy?
I would not count on any argument refering to realism or similar things.
The only argument that counts is - the idea fits or not.
This cannot be objective, so we can discuss about this. And yes, if you make a pike but then the rebel comes out with something, that looks like a pitchfork, then I say, this is the same thing as moving the vagabond to the barracks, put a horse in it and then recruit a vagabond that rides on something that looks like a mule. We don't have a mule farm, but nevertheless I think it is a good idea to move the vagabond to the barracks.
And I think it is a good idea to also move the slinger and the rebel to the barracks, as this gives you 3 possibilities for each soldier type. A very weak one (milita - rogue - rebel - vagabond), one for the basis of your army (axe fighter - bowman - lance carrier - scout) and elite troops (sword fighter - crossbowman - pikeman - knight). And leaving out the barbarien/warrior for special events, fighting missings and similar to keep some tension.
If there wasn't the problem of balancing the whole thing, I'd suggest to give it a go. For sure. But as long as the rogue is little more than a too cheap bowman with the same, great advantages (the defense point almost does not matter as both will die very soon if attacked because of the 1 life point), I'd hate to see them compete with the bowman. Also, the slinger rather seems to be made out of leather than of wood (which would make it only little cheaper than the bowman because you sill need the tannery). And we want to stay realistic, don't we?
