So something that I need to re-learn after being gone so long is how to defeat long lines of pikemen.

Here was the scenario: I had just easily taken Patavium from the Gauls a couple turns before as the Julii with a nearly full stack of mostly hastati, a couple skirmishers, a general, and three units of light cavalry. Then a full stack of Germans comes down through the pass and besieges the city. Their main unit was the spear warband which have long pikes. Had I remembered this, I probably would not have sallied out, but I did and I got absolutely slaughtered because unlike in Rome 2, pike formations can re-form even when they are in combat, so fighting them is really hard.

The RTW AI is notorious for constantly repositioning their units, so I figured if I could exploit this by splitting up their lines as they repositioned I could disrupt their formations and make them not fight in phalanxes, while the cavalry would run around and hit them from behind. Classic tactics, right? Except when I did that, they just repositioned, reformed the phalanx, and proceeded to slaughter my guys. Even when flanked they seem to hold really well. Unlike my hastati.

So now I am left wondering how the hell do I go about fighting large formations of these guys. I sent out my spies to other Germanic settlements and armies, and most of their armies and garrisons are made up of these pikemen which will pose a problem when I decide to go on the offensive (thankfully a few turns after this disaster they asked for a ceasefire). I know that my first order of business is to upgrade my hastati to principes (a process currently ongoing), but on the actual battlefield Im not entirely sure how to beat them unless I wanted to just autoresolved everything (I dont).

Clearly Im not as good at this total war thing as I remembered.