Quote Originally Posted by Count Belisarius
Yes, it would, but that was the way of the world in the time in which the game is set. It would make the game that much more realistic. Barbarian hordes had a much less sophisticated command hierarchy than civilized armies, especially the Romans. Therefore, civilized command and control is going to be better. Not that the barbarians didn't enjoy successes, and not that they didn't produce some great generals. I am referring to generalities. I think it's a great idea to adapt this concept into the game, or, if it is already present, to make it more pronounced.
The barbarian armies were probably not as unsophisticated as some suggest. The "barbarians" used a war trumpet called the carnyx for issuing commands. They also tended to have standards. And they most certainly had tribal leaders and were fighting beside their relations and closely associated tribesmen. These weren't just large mobs. They formed up rather well at Telamon facing both ways to face two armies simultaneously--just the sort of situation in which many armies would instead falter, flee, or melt away. That's not a horde in action. Unfortunately the Celts/Gauls were not preserving their history in written form at the time, so we are forced to rely on cultures that did for our information about them.

And horse archer armies and light skirmisher types (some Iberians, Numidians, etc) might paradoxically prove to have some advantage since they tended to act as independent entities that would strike and withdraw without needing detailed control. It was a different fighting style. Where they would lack would be in full force coordination once their initial group orders were given.