Quote Originally Posted by JMRC View Post
Let me complement what Martelus Flavius already explained: this "battlefield confusion" is exactly the kind of feeling that we want players to have. In fact, I will encourage players to enhance that feeling by removing the green markers and the factional flags hovering above the units. This basically turns the battlefield into a gigantic "mess" when units break through the enemy ranks and attack from the rear. Then, not even the overall heading of the units will be enough to distinguish them. Just like a "real" commander of those days, ordering a retreat from the melee may not be an easy task and probably will be costly in terms of casualties. Of course, you can turn the green markers and the flags and everything will be easier...

The interested players will learn to distinguish the factions by the shield designs and (in some cases) by the different coloring of linothoraxes.

However, there will be some cases where factions share the same unit and skin (normally in low class units, where a peasant and his "equipment" would be common throughout a large geographical area). In those cases, the confusion will be enormous, yes.
I mean historically, how does a hoplite separate a friend from foe then?