They did in 300.
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It all boils down to two things:
What was the predominant hoplite style fighting?Overhand.
Did they use underhand on exceptional occasions? Certainly.
We all agree on the exceptions you've put forward, which are well based, but you cannot seriously think that 8000 hoplites in a battleline would charge without any spacing between them, or that the synaspismos would work perfectly all along the line. Some hoplites would have spacings between one and another, allowing this and other kind of movements.
This is exceptional and utilized when the conditions allowed it. How many times do I have to tell that?
Who says that Hoplites would charge in the first place? There isn't any solid proof of that, as far as we know they could as easilly marched in formation. Why do you think writers were so amaxed at the Athenians charging at Marathon, they charged and just before engaging reformed the Phalanx since chargings disrupts the Phalanx. Otherwise what use is war music? What use is the formation?
So you are saying one Hoplite would charge out of the formation risking the lives of his comrades to to an underhand attack and then quickly change to overhand with both sides charging? That just isn't practical.
It just isn't practical, which by all means makes it not fully Historical, especially if you see Hoplites as charging soldiers which means he just doesn't have the time to do it since he would have to do it within a second.
I think the animation is more a thing for loose order fighting and not in the Phalanx dense formation.
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