How to use Phalanx units?

**Basileus** · 10-03-2004, 22:36

Well i did some tests my self and the difficulty makes the diffrence a huge one aswell, i guess i´ll go down to hard instead cause it sucks to see your Armored Hoplites get trashed by velites heh.

**Mr. Juice** · 10-03-2004, 22:52

If only you could enable hard tactics with medium unit statistics....

**Thoros of Myr** · 10-03-2004, 23:24

Armenia's combination of phalanx and horse archers is one of the most deadly in the game.

**Steppe Merc** · 10-04-2004, 00:15

Indeed, I'm going to try out Armenia now... but I though they just had heavy spears, not actual phanlaxs...

**Basileus** · 10-04-2004, 01:52

Well Armenias Heavy inf can preform phalanx but it will lose against good pontic or selucid phalanx.

**Morindin** · 10-04-2004, 02:27

I seriously think a lot of the "issues" people have with this game might be tied to difficulty level.

I have charged Macedonian Phalanx's with Roman cavalry a few times and your horses die like the Phalanx spears have a poisoned tip. Ive seen horses jump into the formation and before but they dont last long.

On the same account, playing multiplayer (Egyptians vs Numidians - where difficultly doesnt count I guess) I've had a enemy unit of elephants charge straight into a set Pharaohs guard Phalanx and the guard didnt flinch, yet somewhere else another group of Elephants charge into an un-set group and they got flung everywhere like bowling pins.

That same game my Pharaohs guard ripped up heaps of camels and cavalry, and they're hardly the strongest phalanx unit.

**Akka** · 10-04-2004, 15:07

Originally Posted by Morindin

I seriously think a lot of the "issues" people have with this game might be tied to difficulty level.

I have charged Macedonian Phalanx's with Roman cavalry a few times and your horses die like the Phalanx spears have a poisoned tip. Ive seen horses jump into the formation and before but they dont last long.

I agree.

I'm currently playing a Greek Cities game, and when I hear people saying that phalanxes are weak against full-frontal cavalry charge, I wonder if they play the game as I do...

I'm always playing in medium (I hate when there is different rules for a side), and a phalanx is simply a WALL. Cavalry charging phalanx is simply ice that crashes on red-hot metal - it disappears in a blink.

The charge makes some hoplites move, and perhaps even a few being killed, but all the frontline of the cavalry simply evaporate, and the rest is reduced to grinded meat in a span of a few seconds if they don't disengage.

The worst ennemy of the phalanx so far, except being flanked/sourrounded of course, is the roman army with their heavy infantrymen able to come to close contact. If they ever encircle you, you're dead. But even them are totally unable to pierce a phalanx wall.

The only unit that I ever see breaking a phalanx head-on, is a better-armoured/trained phalanx.

**Praylak** · 10-04-2004, 00:12

Originally Posted by Mr. Juice

If only you could enable hard tactics with medium unit statistics....

Thats the whole point in the difficulty level above medium. It's made more difficult by taking the average stat for any given unit and increasing to a degree that it no longer reflects its true value. Now the unit in question is no longer a typical cavalry unit or typical infantry unit, it is a SUPER unit.

Nothing goes through a Phalanx. Nothing ever did, never will. Flank it, sure. Shoot it, that works too. On default, the game accurately models this.