v 1.2 Macedonian Peltastai (Elite): assault role must be a joke, right?

[Ludens]

Is this one of those situations where people confuse the name peltast (medium javelin armed skirmishers carrying a pelta type shield) with a peltast (any unit carrying a pelta type shield)?

I find the whole pelta-theuro-dory-hoplon nomenclature thing occasionally confusing. Is their an agreed harmonisation for ancient military terms? The EB nomenclature seems reasonably consistent, perhaps its that the source material is a bit loose with its definitions sometimes.

I would say the Hypaspistai are the "creme da la creme," and if they aren't petastai, why are they called peltastai?

There is no accepted nomenclature for Hellenic unit types. Partly this is because we don't know that much about them and partly, indeed, because the terms appear to change meaning over time. Peltast is a perfect example. Originally, it must have referred to skirmishers carrying a Thracian-style crescent-shaped shield (the pelte). During the Persian wars it was used for akontistoi-style troops (levied, poorly equipped skirmishers/arrow-fodder), lateron it meant heavier, professional skirmishers. The term disappears from the record somewhere around Alexander's time (Alexander's skirmishers are indicated as Thracians or Agrianians), and when it appears again, it refers to the bodyguards of Hellenic kings. I also recall a reference of peltasts being the first to enter an besieged town. So the term was associated with both elite and assault units; I guess that's how the Peltastai Makedonike were postulated.

I don't know how professional, non-elite skirmishers were called during EB's time-frame, but I guess the team stuck with peltastai because that is the known term. In the mod the Peltastai Makedonike were originally called Pheraspidai (a conceptual name).