It began on seven hills - an EB 1.1 Romani AAR with historical house-rules (now ceased)
Heirs to Lysimachos - an EB 1.1 Epeiros-as-Pergamon AAR with semi-historical houserules (now ceased)
Philetairos' Gift - a second EB 1.1 Epeiros-as-Pergamon AAR
i read post this the other day and i thought to my self "I wanna try jog with a 4 meter long stick"... and I did so, and it worked... for 2 minutes, then i was exhausted
but my assesment of the "running pikes" is YES:a well drilled formation with really endurant men can do it... but, it could turn into a game of mikado if they are not carefull... the teqhnique is for the guys in front row to use their right hand held relatively close to the counterweight, to push it down... and the rest is easy peasy...
War is a puzzle with morphing pieces
I make Ancient Weapons and Armor
It began on seven hills - an EB 1.1 Romani AAR with historical house-rules (now ceased)
Heirs to Lysimachos - an EB 1.1 Epeiros-as-Pergamon AAR with semi-historical houserules (now ceased)
Philetairos' Gift - a second EB 1.1 Epeiros-as-Pergamon AAR
If they have been training at it for years, then yes, they probably could pull that off.
Last edited by QuintusSertorius; 03-11-2011 at 16:11.
It began on seven hills - an EB 1.1 Romani AAR with historical house-rules (now ceased)
Heirs to Lysimachos - an EB 1.1 Epeiros-as-Pergamon AAR with semi-historical houserules (now ceased)
Philetairos' Gift - a second EB 1.1 Epeiros-as-Pergamon AAR
I actually read a good book on this topic.
Anyway, the quick summary is that Alexander's Phalanx was highly mobile, and could change directions very quickly.
After his death, phalanx formations became deeper, used longer spears and the soldiers had heavier armor. This meant they could easily overwhelm one of Alexander's formations in a head on fight and stood a better chance against elephants that became common in Sucessor Armies. However, they became increasingly immobile and unable to manuver. The result was that flank attacks were devastating, and soldiers often just fled when the threat of a flank attack occured, since their spears were so long and often were intertwined between the ranks of many of their peers in front of them that they had no way of turning to meet their enemy.
So the answer is quite complex. Over time they became increasingly heavier armed and armored, because when one nation increases ranks and spear length, all nations have to, because the phalanx with the deeper ranks, longer spears and heavier armor wins in a head to head fight. The result is that this left them vulnerable in other areas, and made them a very one dimensional unit, which led to the rise of many types of support units that surrounded their flanks. So the answer is that it really depends on what period you are looking at the phalanx. The earlier you go, the more mobile the unit is.
Last edited by fallen851; 03-11-2011 at 15:18.
"It's true that when it's looked at isolated, Rome II is a good game... but every time I sit down to play it, every battle, through every turn, I see how Rome I was better. Not unanimously, but ultimately." - Dr. Sane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6eaBtzqqFA#t=1h15m33s
Interesting, so there was perhaps, as time went on, a move away from quality of training towards quality of equipment?
It began on seven hills - an EB 1.1 Romani AAR with historical house-rules (now ceased)
Heirs to Lysimachos - an EB 1.1 Epeiros-as-Pergamon AAR with semi-historical houserules (now ceased)
Philetairos' Gift - a second EB 1.1 Epeiros-as-Pergamon AAR
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