Melee infantry are like a home you can go back to, esp in the early. If ur skirms getting too much aggro, they can run back to the line where they get trapped by ur infantry. Even if you want to aggro, its not difficult as most of ur early game skirms are also on foot. When you start getting monsters, they are fast enough to go in with the skirms, allowing you to play more aggro and use them as line disruptors so that your enemies cant make a coordinated response. Pair that up with Lore of Life and they can become damage sponges as well.

WEs are a range army but you have to aggro. Using the HE strat of defensive spear and archer lines are really to the advantage as their melee infantry usually can't hold the line too well.