TACTICS: Which, When and Why?

[Asmodai]

Against phalanx, I will match their length, take them head on and flank the shit of of them while pray that my line holds. I hate fighting against phalanx.......

The Nob square with a good few phalanx units is practically undefeatable, some could even call it cheating.

I found, that many people have difficulty with fighting with or against phalanx. The trick is to let them come for you. My tactic against them is maneuver with missile units, and flank only attacks, without commiting any troops to their front. The thing to consider how to beat any unit is to think, how that unit is used on battlefield. Phalanx have excellent defence and attack in melee, but only in front. Also, it must be in special phalanx formation, that makes whole unit very slow. Usually, when they try to move quickly, they adopting normal formation, with their spears high. That is clear sign, that phalanx lost some bonuses granted by formation, so they are easier to kill by missile fire, or by charge. Easy to exploit, cos their spears are big enough to signalize that maneuver.
Best use of phalanx is to make formation not very deep(about 3-4 ranks is enough), but it should be wide enough to cover as much front as possible. And in that formation, AI usually deploys. Combined with few units for flank protection (creating effectively a solid, spear wall) this seems, that our only hope is to flank whole their line by cavalry units. Well, thats only part of the truth. We can also shatter their line, simply by breaking own infantry line into more loose formation. Javelin armed troops(even velites or peltasts) are best to beat even the most solid phalanx line.
I play usually as romans, and i find simple pila armed troops to be my ultimate phalanx killers in most battles. I deploy them in two lines, usually with wide spaces between each unit. Second line is deployed similar to the first, but whole formation looks like chessboard or zigzag line (ie, each unit from first line closing to the second line one not by flanks, but by angles. I try to deploy each unit in roughly square formation. Each unit have their fire-at-will command checked, so they will be standing and throwing their pila at advancind phalanx. When whole line of phalanxes reach the first line, phalanxes will try to exploit your gaps, and starts to maneuver, to bring more spears against only one of our units. Thats logical, but unfortunatelly, you have second rank of pila armed troops, that starts javelin shower against flank of slow, and tightly packed phalanxmen. Also, that units threatened with 2 or more phalanxes will be having plenty of time to retreat, even when melee starts. When your units have javelins/missiles, tactic of steady and quick withdrawal is vital. Withdrawing units must end their move on phalanx flanks. When enemy line will be shattered, phalanxes will be forced to chasing much faster enemy, loosing flank protection and support of nearby troops. That will lower their morale (losses and exposed flanks), and sometimes they break even when charged(before contact)
But the fun starts, when javelins runs out, and you must get into melee to break them. Simply let one of your units to be anvil. Wait for phalanxes to get to your anvil, and then hit them with your second unit (hammer), charging phalanx flank. Do not charge into rear. Never.
When phalanx is attacked from the side, it seems to panicking more often, and the chance for running away rather than stand to the last is much higher. Attacking from rear will result in much higher casualties, and very high risk of fighting to the dead. You may prevent this situation simply by withdrawing one of your units from combat, leaving some escape path for enemy. They will change their stance from fighting to the dead for running away ,and you can simply run them down with some cavalry.
I usually killing whole stacks of phalanxes, with losses not higher than 10%. No matter of what type of phalanx i facing (spartans and other elite types of phalanxes are only harder to rout and taking about 5% casualties less from missile fire) theyll breake anyway.
When i faced elites phalanxes with ordinary ones, i concentrating on killing elites first, then the rest is much easier to kill)

Support units, espetially archers with fire arrows are very good at lowering phalanx morale. As for cavalry, use them only for chasing, and for killing enemy cavalry and/or skirmishers, that are supporting phalanxes. Charging at phalanxes with cavalry(even from flank or rear!!) will bring you pile of dead horses and little effect.

As for that noob sqare....
Deploying missile unit at the flank of one "side"(unit) and the phalanx will get very high losses. If they do not break this formation, whole square will be shoot to pieces(losses from even javelins may reach more than 30% in each unit, dont mention about bowmens, ballistas). Weird and very unpractical formation. If player is using phalanx agains AI in that way, i can see some point. But against human opponent......expect massacre.