All the problems with phalanxes...

[Kraxis]

Yes this is a thread all about all that you or I consider wrong with phalanxes. Be this gameplay, historical or just feel. But mind you some issues were attempted but cut by CA.

What I hate:
The phalanx drift... I hate to see a unit bunched into a wall or drown ina river because of this. Especially if they are expensive Silver Shields. But there are many other reason as to why I hate it.
The impossiblity to attack properly... I can't simply rightclick on an enemy to send my phalanx to attack them. They will just end up standing there shufling about, sometimes not even moving. GAH!
When the hoplites/phalangites lift their spears/pikes in the last instance... Given we more or less have to march the unit through the enemy formation I often suffer from my phalanx dropping its weapons. Would they just keep their pikes/spears if they are not exactly in danger of a guy stabbing them? Of course I press halt, but sometimes it is too late.
That the phalanx is very much beatable by heavy cavalry to the front... Those jumping horses! GAH!
That a long thin phalanx is the best way to set them up... Needs little explaination.

What I dislike:
That both hoplites and phalangite fight the same way. But it has at least been explained by a dev.
That the phalangites don't get any protection out of their pikes into the air (if they did it would perhapd warrent a deeper formation), neither against missiles nor jumping horses.

And that is it.
These are still my most beloved troops in the game, but they could be so much better.

[Fridge]

Mine too, and yes, they could!

As for the jumping horses, Vercingetorix's patch works fine, though since it stops horses jumping full stop, it works for all infantry units, not just phalanxes. If you're playing as the Seleucids, it's almost mandatory, considering you'll be facing the cavalry heavy factions in the north and east. I found I could barely defend a siege against cataphracts before I stopped the horses playing leapfrog with my phalanxes;now those pointy hedges are almost impassable to all but the very best cav.

[frogbeastegg]

The impossiblity to attack properly... I can't simply rightclick on an enemy to send my phalanx to attack them. They will just end up standing there shufling about, sometimes not even moving. GAH!

Have you tried taking the unit off guard mode? That does help considerably; I tested it with Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe in MP and we found this was the most reliable way of getting phalanxes to engage properly. You can find the results here somewhere ... end of the last page, beginning of the second. I forget; it was a while ago. It's still too unreliable for my happiness, but some improvement.

Otherwise good list; I agree with it. I do prefer other troop types to phalanx though.

[Proletariat]

My battle lines always go all to hell whenever I use phalanx units. I'll have three or four phalanx units in the center, and usually one unit of whatever other infantry is available on each side to protect the phalanx's flank.

I give the order to attack and my units on the sides are off to the races while the phalanx units are suffering from the old 'hey, someone tied all of our shoe-laces together' trick.

Is there any way to keep my line synchronized?

I've thought of
1) sending all my phalanx units out to attack maybe 45 seconds before the other quicker units and hope they are at about the right position when the initial clash occurs,
2)smashing my monitor with a hammer out of frustration.


Without being a historian I do understand that a phalanx formation would probably be pretty slow, when advancing forward... But why the hell would the units that are supposed to be covering their flanks just charge off?

I can imagine what they must be saying during all of this.


Silver Shield Pikeman in center: Where the hell are they off to? Are those Head Hunting Maidens far to our left?

Silver Shield Legionaries that were supposed be guarding the flank: Christ, these Pikemen characters are slower than molasses in winter. C'mon boys, let's show 'em how a real son of Seleuca wins a foot race!


I hope I'm not the only one having this problem, but it's coming to the point where I truly hate offensive battles. The phalanx units are great in defense, of course. To clarify, I'm single clicking so it's not a question of the flank units charging...

[Zorn]

Shuffeling is really absurd - I have seen a unit shuffeling off the city square. Of course, once it was off, it imedeately routed I had won.
But I read a very easy way to stop shuffeling here in this forum: When a Phalanx starts to move to the right, hit stop. They will sthen just stand still and fight as they should. It needs to be done only once per fight.
I have forgoten who has posted it first, so I cannot give him proper credits, but it works like a charm.

[Spino]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. CA should remove the phalanx shuffle step. It's more of a nuisance than a welcome feature.

[Kraxis]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. CA should remove the phalanx shuffle step. It's more of a nuisance than a welcome feature.

Yes... It becomes more tedious to control phalanxes than it ever to control Horse Archers in STW and MTW. I don't know about MP, but if I find it harder in SP I can't believe it is easier in MP.

I always have my phalanxes out of Guard. But almost everytime I set them to attack normally they break formation (a big NO-NO) or simply stop in front of the enemy never really engaging (having perhaps two or three men engaging).
Guard off certainly helps with the drift, but it doesn't eleminate it, and I still find my Levy Pikemen smashed up into walls.
The worst almost always happens at squares. When I try to take one with my pikes, it usually ends up in disaster. They form up nice outside the square (great care must be taken here) but when I try to move them in they drop the pikes and formation, then the enemy comes charging as I desperately tries to get them back in formation and Phalanx. I nearly lost an entire unit of Silver Shields to a lousy unit of Militia Hoplites... That can't be right. I can't believe that they can't keep their formation when taking a square.

All in all I think the phalanx is too brittle.

And I forgot one thing I dislike:
I can't use the pike's chargebonus... The phalanx can only walk, and slowly. Thus the quite hefty chargebonus that some pikemen and hoplites have is completely lost. And no, charging with the swords only gives you the sword's bonus, which is 2, which in turn is added to the much weaker swordattack.