Having had the dubious experience of painting over 1,000 of the little bastards in the last 20 years I have, if you'll forgive the indelicacy, done it all ways
Current method for quickness:
1. Snip wire lengths from piano wire in batches of 20
2. Use dremel tool to shape pike head
3. Undercoat in dark brown (holding the business end)
4. Use large and old brush to slap on lighter colour - usually a deep flesh tone these days). Don't be too precise, the small uncovered areas will look like wood grain.
5.Finish pike head
6. Fix figures onto base first and let milliput set
7. Whilst doing so, use unpainted pike or piece of scrap wire to make an indent in the - milliput thus making a little socket for the pike in the base material. Let that set.
8. Glue pike in place with super/crazy glue BEFORE finishing the base painting of the stand of models and before adding the static grass etc.
Of course metal to metal gets a better bond than metal to paint so if you are really clever - use a scalpel to scrape out the inside surface of the pikeman's hand after painting AND scrape a little - patch on the pike where it will contact the hand... voila!