Phalanxes, phalanxes, phalanxes

[Lemur]

Can't watch, must attend to "work," but here's CA's video response to all of the questions about phalanxes.

[quadalpha]

30": Damn it, those guys are back. Had my hopes up.

Edit: Start watching at 1'35 for Jack Lusted and actual information. The elephant is kind of cute.

[The Outsider]

That didnt look so bad. Especially the rear cavalry charge looked really good. Thank god no flying units and you could see the shock of the impact. Also the animations of the formation looked quite good in my opinion but than again I have never been an expert of phalanx..

[Barkhorn1x]

Now that looked good - but - my big question about the phalanx is still not answered:

Will multiple phalanx units manuever in a line when grouped or will they move in the totally daft fashion they did in RTW? That is the question!

Other bits:
- Brian Blessed - great to see him. Funniest Augustus ever
- How does one get to partner with Adriana in the animation dept.?
- "Those two" - and now they're drunk. Grreeaaatttt.

[Arjos]

Only three sarissai engaged? ...why?

[quadalpha]

Now that looked good - but - my big question about the phalanx is still not answered:

Will multiple phalanx units manuever in a line when grouped or will they move in the totally daft fashion they did in RTW? That is the question!

Other bits:
- Brian Blessed - great to see him. Funniest Augustus ever
- How does one get to partner with Adriana in the animation dept.?
- "Those two" - and now they're drunk. Grreeaaatttt.

She sounded American. Do CA have offices in the States?

The good news is that this is the last we'll have to hear of them before the game is out.

[Ca Putt]

Brian blessed, now that was unexpected :)
@Arjos: because R2 can't afford having 2*256 men per unit for Phalangites. having five rows fully engaged at this scale would look odd. I agree It's wrong but so is having such small units.

My biggest question however has been answered: will Phalanxes be usefull when advancing?

[Arjos]

Meh, depleted Phalangitai would still fight according to their training. Like saying that depicting a full car is too much, so it was downsized and 2 wheels were removed: what? XD
The length of the sarissa isn't up for debate: five sticks out, that's it :P
They actually did it, but put em in the air at an angle...

Anyway it doesn't matter, that is what we are going to get...

By the looks of it, there'll still also be the slow walk to engage. Because that's the stereotype ingrained in everybody's mind lol

[fallen851]

When the two "Pike units" fight each other, the battle is over really, really quickly, pretty much every hit from one of the "Pike units" is lethal. It certainly isn't nice prolonged combat. Literally as soon he finishes saying that, he talks about how the fight is over. And as Arjos mentioned, the phalanx still cannot engage with any speed apparently...

I also don't understand why it is a "tough fight that could go either way" when the cavalry hit the phalanx in the side, and the phalanx is pinned down up front by infantry. They are pretty much just as vulnerable from the side as the rear, it certainly shouldn't be close.

Well, this sealed the deal for me, this isn't a game for me. I'll wait for EB II, continue playing EB I for now, and buy Rome 2 when it hits the bargain bin. I still feel like Rome 1 was left unfinished.

[BroskiDerpman]

Dang that was fast... Almost as fast as vanilla RTW. I believe Phalanxes get this ability which makes them move faster in formation. (Hint speculation)

Sure push of pike ends up in a meat grinder (Can be one sided) but this is just ridiculous. Oh they still hold the pikes one handed sometimes too...

Waiting for EB2 then.

[HopAlongBunny]

Will have to see what the EB team can do with it...that's the real question after all

[CaptainCrunch]

Only three sarissai engaged? ...why?

So far this game has been a parade of compromises, I expected no less here. Personally I thought the animations looked pretty good overall.

Will multiple phalanx units manuever in a line when grouped or will they move in the totally daft fashion they did in RTW? That is the question!

This ^

The fact that they haven't demonstrated something to that effect leads me to conclude that the feature is absent from the game yet again. Let's be honest, if something like that was in there's a very high probability they'd be showing it off every chance they got.

Engagement speed is abysmal.

Will have to see what the EB team can do with it...that's the real question after all

Sadly I don't see this happening in our lifetime... but we can always dream, err pray.

[BroskiDerpman]

Lets just sum it up with: Don't expect much from CA.

Though it's probably going to be a fun game.

[Barkhorn1x]

Lets just sum it up with: Don't expect much from CA.

Though it's probably going to be a fun game.

True on both counts.

[fallen851]

Pong is fun too man.

[Splenyi]

DAMN! Those levy died quick, I'm not sure I like that...

[The Stranger]

im quite sure they buffed the attack to keep the movie short.