Quote Originally Posted by Dayve
I think the phalanx would never have become obsolete... I know it didn't in fact become obsolete, just the tactics that were employed with it became obsolete... But i think the phalanx would have continued to dominate the battlefield right up until the gunpowder era... Because a phalanx' worst enemy is the cavalry... Once you pin it down the cavalry hits the back and that's goodnight... Unless they started training men to be super fast runners and armed them with spears... Or maybe the west would have been archer dependant like the east... I don't know...

Why am i asking this? I don't know... It just came into my head out of nowhere and i thought it would be fun to discuss.
You are aware, of course, of the resurgence of pike-block based tactics in the 16th century, and the so-called "pike and shot" era?

Have a read if you aren't, early-modern warfare is quite interesting in a lot of ways.