Offensive Phalanx Tactics

[Proletariat]

Do they exist? Playing as the Seleucid I have a very hard time attacking anything with my Phalanx units. They simply move too slow. When being attacked, my SS Pikemen are devastating, but on offense usually I just end up using my cavalry and the occasional elephant unit.


Does anyone know of any solutions at all? Their speed is frustrating.

[Chelifer]

I think they are just a wall. But a good one :)
Walls are not supposed to attack, they are built to hold the enemy, so other units can kick their... back and flanks.

This is how I think of them. I could be wrong as I am only beginnig to get the game.

[sapi]

yep - pin them down and flank with cavalry

[Proletariat]

yep - pin them down and flank with cavalry

Oh well. I guess that's what they mean by 'anvil & hammer' approach. Thanks guys.

[Akka]

I routinely act agressive with my phalanxes.

Like Chelifer said, think that they are a wall. But unlike he said, know you can attack with a wall. You can crash it against the face of someone, or crush someone between two of them :)

An offensive phalanx is a moving wall of spear. Just push it against the enemy front-line. As long as it's not flanked, it's devastating.

[Octavius Julius]

I've just realised that Phalanx units are crap versus the Romans. (well I suppose that's historically correct also!)

Just march up your hastati close to them and lob in your pilums, and since they cant manouver that well, flank them with velites to lob more pilums at them. It's cheap and powerful. You don't need cavalry!

[Wishazu]

i have no problems destroying roman units with my phalanx. the best way to use a phalanx is put all of em in one line, keep the formations deep if you going up against lots of cav otherwise make em about 4 ranks deep then order the entire line to advance to a point behind the center of the enemy army. as long as you keep moving forward and have some kind of cav or light troops to cover your flanks you should be ok. remember a phalanx can only do one thing offensively and that is to push its spears into the faces of the enemy. It does that very well indeed

[Watchman]

I try to make a point of keeping some looser-order units behind the phalanx line (usually the general and some theoretically meleeworthy javelineers and archers, but assorted close-combat merc units -even the lowly Eastern Infantry- are fine too) to fill any gaps that ineviatbly turn up when you tell the phalanxes to actually attack something. Phalanxes don't pursue worth crap either, so when an enemy unit routs it's better to tell the phalanx to start helping out its neighbor and let the faster-moving backup guys do the chasing.

[The_Emperor]

A Phalanx can be really agressive when you need it to be.

The best way to do this is to set them off "Guard Mode" which is their default setting, this will make them turn their spears towards the nearby enemy rather than just standing there like mellons.

I did this with a group of Spartans when raiding a Large Roman City and they cut up everyone in front of them leaving a carpet of bodies in the streets. So the Phalanx can be used to really grind down your enemies while your cavalry come around to strike...

Historically the successor states used the Phalanx as the decider in battle as they didn't have Alexander's level of Cavalry, this is in part why the Romans were so effective against them. They had fought the Phalanx many times before and their military was designed to counter it.

[Herakleitos]

A Phalanx can be really agressive when you need it to be.

The best way to do this is to set them off "Guard Mode" which is their default setting, this will make them turn their spears towards the nearby enemy rather than just standing there like mellons.

I also set "Phalanx Mode" off; this way they can run. Than just before impact I make sure I have all phalanx-units selected and push ' f '...

'The final annihilation of the lifeform known as "Roman"... Let the attack begin!'

[Wishazu]

i never actually use the attack order on my phalanx units it really slows em down as they constantly try to manouvre(spelling?) to face the usually moving enemy unit, instead do as i said in my post before, just use your phalanx in a long line and keep moving forward. as you break through the enemy battle line wheel ur phalanx`s round to hit engaged enemy units in the rear or flanks. the only time i actually tell them to attack is when the unit they are trying to engage is allready fixed in combat by another of my units. my rear line is usually a couple of militia phalanx`s set to standard formation who can quickly rush through gaps and support faultering attacks etc.