Wow Equites!

[pezhetairoi]

Chosen axemen is a two-edged sword here, as they have a tremendous charge bonus, and lose that if they stand still, so it's not entirely certain they'll gain from standing still. Of course, making the axeman formation deeper than the standard 3 rows is in my experience a good idea vs cavalry. I believe I had most success when I waited with the charge until last moment, so the axemen still kept a good, tight line formation but still got the charge bonus.

Nay, I was speaking of normal axemen. When I was fighting Gaul I wasn't advanced enough yet to build anything more remarkable (that was my first Germanic campaign, before I changed my strategy to the charge-to-Rome). My axemen lost 60 men to destroy a 60-horse General's bodyguard.

Craterus, what are you doing with axemen in Scythian armies? :-p The only use I make of Scythian axemen is as a last line of defence for my onagri...speaking of the future, of course. My first archery range just got completed yesterday.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I would use axemen, need someone to man the siege weapons. I always use towers, partly to defend myself if they sally...

The double dense formation works really well for any pure-melee-non-phalanx units.