My god was I unprepared for that!

[ajdeignan]

Stay away from these guys



and these guys



I was fighting the Getai as part of my Dacian Wars when I came across falxmen for the first time. In an equally-sided battle, I used my slingers to clear out his elite horsemen and my skirmishers to clear out his skirmishers (dumb move). That just left 3 units of (1x bronze chevron) falxmen to dispatch, and since I had the high ground, I charged my 1 hastati, 1 principe and 1 Gaeroas into the 3 enemy units while my skirmishers moved out to the flanks to help my cavalry assist the enemy cavalry off the battlefield. By the time I had returned with my cavalry, my 3 heavy infantry units were nearly annihilated. My principe had been whittled down from 160 to 10 men! And I was the one who charged (imagine the damage if they had charged me!). Boy was I surprised. And I play my battles on medium difficulty. From now on, they get the 'special' treatment.


Next turn I moved on to attack Pontos which was extending its influence into Greece. I saw that the general was this grubby looking (I dislike brown units - they look cheap and peasant-like) guy on a slow moving horse ("why is he moving so slow, gee he must be crap"). Then he charges my skirmishers, which I always let them do to blunten their charge before they hit my Hastati. As my Velites skirmish away, he follows them THROUGH my Hastasti, my Principe and my Triarii, right into my general (an ancient bulldozer). I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Then I checked their stats. Bloody hell, how am I supposed to kill them ; they had just charged through 3 lines of Roman heavy infantry without losing a man. Oh boy, am I going to be avoiding these guys in the future.


To the guys at EB; every day I play this game I thank you for the excellent work you do. The hours of enjoyment you give is greatly appreciated and I hope you continue your outstanding work in the future.

[Spartan198]

Pish posh on falxmen! My Spartans and I eat them for dinner on our off days.

[Strategos Alexandros]

Only when you outnumber them 3 to 1

[Spartan198]

Yeah, that would be unfair. Why cut falxman units down one at a time when I can cut down three of them instead...

[Maion Maroneios]

I see now how the Romans would have really felt when beaten by the Dacians... And that with even better soldiers!

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Stay away from these guys



and these guys



I was fighting the Getai as part of my Dacian Wars when I came across falxmen for the first time. In an equally-sided battle, I used my slingers to clear out his elite horsemen and my skirmishers to clear out his skirmishers (dumb move). That just left 3 units of (1x bronze chevron) falxmen to dispatch, and since I had the high ground, I charged my 1 hastati, 1 principe and 1 Gaeroas into the 3 enemy units while my skirmishers moved out to the flanks to help my cavalry assist the enemy cavalry off the battlefield. By the time I had returned with my cavalry, my 3 heavy infantry units were nearly annihilated. My principe had been whittled down from 160 to 10 men! And I was the one who charged (imagine the damage if they had charged me!). Boy was I surprised. And I play my battles on medium difficulty. From now on, they get the 'special' treatment.


Next turn I moved on to attack Pontos which was extending its influence into Greece. I saw that the general was this grubby looking (I dislike brown units - they look cheap and peasant-like) guy on a slow moving horse ("why is he moving so slow, gee he must be crap"). Then he charges my skirmishers, which I always let them do to blunten their charge before they hit my Hastati. As my Velites skirmish away, he follows them THROUGH my Hastasti, my Principe and my Triarii, right into my general (an ancient bulldozer). I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Then I checked their stats. Bloody hell, how am I supposed to kill them ; they had just charged through 3 lines of Roman heavy infantry without losing a man. Oh boy, am I going to be avoiding these guys in the future.


To the guys at EB; every day I play this game I thank you for the excellent work you do. The hours of enjoyment you give is greatly appreciated and I hope you continue your outstanding work in the future.

I think you have learnt three valuable lessons here.

1. Check the enemy unt cards.

2. If the guy is near naked and has a big sword cover him in rocks and chuck pointy sticks at him. (You think your situation was bad, think how I felt when three units went through my Pezhetairoi and cut my line in half)

3. Big armoured horse = pain. As the Romans extraordinarii, foot and cav together, are your best bet.

[Kromulan]

HEHE. . . I love those falxmen. Cheap, fast, absolute KILLERS in melee.
Enemy heavy infantry. . . just send in the falxmen.
Enemy heavy cavalry . . . just send in the falxmen.
Enemy wimpy archers. . . oh, drat . . . recruit some new falxmen.

[Ibrahim]

HEHE. . . I love those falxmen. Cheap, fast, absolute KILLERS in melee.
Enemy heavy infantry. . . just send in the falxmen.
Enemy heavy cavalry . . . just send in the falxmen.
Enemy wimpy archers. . . oh, drat . . . recruit some new falxmen.

next thing you know, you'll found a new religion built around Drapanai..

[Decimus Attius Arbiter]

Drapnai to Hastati: "That's a nice shield. Can I have it?"

Hastati: "Uh, no you can't have it."

Drapnai uses falx to pull shield from Hastati.

Drapnai are useless against missiles. That's why I keep them feigning retreat or hiding in the grass waiting for a FM to stroll by.

[Olaf The Great]

Just imagine how bad it would have been if you had to deal with the Rhomphaiaoi, you know, the drapania with the armor :).

[Ibrahim]

*and general hooker comes out of his headdquarters. as he does so, he sees the Drapanai coming. he knows exactly what to do..*

"MY GOD! GIVE THEM THE BAYONET!"

[duncan.gill]

Under no circumstances do you want to let falxmen make contact with your lines - they are relatively cheap and so even if you beat them in melee then they will still cause more than their value in damage.

Slingers down them like flies.

[pezhetairoi]

*and general hooker comes out of his headdquarters. as he does so, he sees the Drapanai coming. he knows exactly what to do..*

"MY GOD! GIVE THEM THE BAYONET!"

Hooker? Nah. If it was Jackson, that would be more like it. Hooker would be more 'OMGWTFBBQ RUN AWAYYYY'.

[Ibrahim]

Hooker? Nah. If it was Jackson, that would be more like it. Hooker would be more 'OMGWTFBBQ RUN AWAYYYY'.

yeah I know. but hey, in gods and generals he said it, so why not lampoon?

[russia almighty]

Jackson would pull out a revolver and end it raiders of the lost ark style.

[Aaldaemon]

EB truly has its unexpected moments when some units you thought pathetic surprise you greatly. My biggest ever surprise I think was the first time I had to deal with Cordinau Orcas... fox me, my infantry just melted around them...

[Maion Maroneios]

I've never actually waged a war against the Getai... I was planning to do so in my Makedonia campaign, but decided to head for Anatolia for obvious reasons (they had 3 full stacks moving around with some deadly falx-wielding deamons)!

[Kromulan]

The key to defeating the Getai is missile troops. Even those wimpy little Greek archers are absolutely deadly to drapanai (no armor or shield).

It's a bit counter-intuitive with them. . . send your skirmishers after their melee troops, your melee troops after their skirmishers. And watch out for the Thracian peltasts!

In fact, in my Getai armies, I many times reverse the roles. . . Thracian peltasts as line infantry, drapanai as flankers. Think of the Thracians Principes with less armor and MUCH more punch.

[Spartan198]

Enemy wimpy archers. . . oh, drat . . . recruit some new falxmen.

[mcantu]

The way i set up most of my battles works good against unarmored units like this...i put my javelin armed skirmishers in front with skirmish mode off and fire-at-will and guard mode turned on. I have my infantry in the second line and those that have javelins have fire-at-will on. slingers/archers are in the 3rd line also with skirmish off and fire-at-will on; cav is on the flanks

all of those missiles flying against troops like falxmen or naken fanatics work wonders...

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

The Thracian Peltasts are probably one of the most mis-labled units. Yes, they're peltasts, but they're also assault infantry on steroids.

[russia almighty]

They like themselves some d-bol and HGH I'll say; they also know how to cycle correctly and use liver support. That's why they don't die like our naked celtic friends.

[Decimus Attius Arbiter]

I'm sure I'll have to change my setup when I need to waste money but my cheap setup of drapnai, slingers, and horse archers. I've been thinking of using Thracian peltasts as line infantry with drapnai supporting too.

[Dutchhoplite]

I was besieging Singidunum with my Epirotes when the garrison sallied and cut my entire stack to to pieces..

And i was so confident i could win

I hate these guys:

[Ibrahim]

I was besieging Singidunum with my Epirotes when the garrison sallied and cut my entire stack to to pieces..

And i was so confident i could win

I hate these guys:

aren't they the Drapanai that are the subject of the OP of this thread?

[Fondor_Yards]

Heh no, those are even worse, the Druhtiz Bastarnisku. Big ass germans with falxs instead of big ass getai with falxs.

[Ibrahim]

they're still falxmen though..(yes archers still kill them)

[hoom]

Heavy cav charges do good damage to falxes.
Just don't let them stay in contact unless the charge broke them or you won't have any heavy cav left...