Quote Originally Posted by Red Harvest
And the mid pack Roman cav will tear up phalanx pikeman if the cav are heading downslope at them.
I believe this in due to the problem you mentioned about there being only one kill location for the spears of a phalanx, coupled with the animation for them being pointed straight ahead rather than parallel to local earth. If the phalanx is facing uphill, their spears are pointed 90 degrees to gravity, therefore into the hillside if the hill is steep enough, and any unit can charge over them without loss. This is most noticeable for cavalry because the center of mass of the horse rider combination is higher than for a man, so it takes less slope for the phalanx's weapons to be ineffective. Word to the wise: always use phalanx on relatively flat ground. Even when facing downhill, if the slope is great enough, an enemy can approach to inside their minimum range without passing through their kill zone. Of course, finding flat ground in Greece is a bit of a trick, but there you are.