Now this might be a semi-rant/semi-strategy section, but hopefully it'll be entertaining and useful.

I wonder now, how many of us consider yourselves brilliant military strategist?

I personally am not. Onceupon a time, I believed that I was, and now I realized that I was wrong. On paper, I could draw up formations, deep anti-phalanx/anti-legion strategies, and they would work terrifically in battle.

I now noticed a few things, each time, before the battle even started, I would have an advantage.

Now who among you would say that you would win a battle when you're out numbered 3:1 with equal troops and even terrain? I dare say not 1.

So there is no brilliant military strategies to be had. It's all obvious and simple stuff.

IE, flank from the side, rush cav from behind, divide and conquer, etc...

I once read this thread where some people described the perfect anti-phalanx formations/tatics.

Most of them said this, move your armies behind the enemy. Or bring your cav to attack the phalanxes rear so that the phalanxes will turn around to fight the cav at which point your infantry can hit them from the front.

Let me see, to do this, you would either
1. have to OUTNUMBER THE PHALANXES, or
2. be in a situation where you have cav and the phalanxes do not.

Now obviously, if you have more units than the enemy, you should win, if you have cav when fighting phalanxes and the enemy do not, you should win. IN BOTH situations, you have the upper hand... So how to beat phalanxes when you have LESS, lower quality men? You CAN"T!

Now of course you can do things like physcological warfare, but the game doesn't really let you do innovative things. (for example, in ROTK, there was a general with an unguarded city, an enemy army outside it. the general opened the city gates and allowed the enemy to march in. The city appeared deserted and the enemy army fearing a trap, escaped. Thus the city was saved).

So folks, there's no military strategy. Only military doctrine, if you can follow it, if you can read a textbook, you're good.

The rest is just monkey bullsh*t.