Campaign map low res screens...

[Lord Adherbal]

That the front rank always fight while the rest just stands there thingy that has plagued the previous games isn't very realistic.
Now the entire unit gets "stuck in" which is alot better.

I'm afraid you watched too much Braveheart.

[TB666]

I'm afraid you watched too much Braveheart.

And you played too much TW.
All the TW-games has had a serious anti-climax when ever a unit charges because only the front rank do anything. I seriously doubt the others behind just sat there and waited for the guy in front to die before they got some action.
I seriously doubt that after they picking up such speed when they charge that the ones in the back would just stop and wait in line like they do in TW.
And I seriously doubt the front rank would form a neat straight line and just poke their swords and spears at the enemies front ranks.
While yes the front rank shouldn't run past the enemies front rank like that(atleast not all of them) and should start fighting the moment the collision happens but the others behind shouldn't wait like in previous game but pick out their own targets as well and start fighting as well. MTW2 is heading there and fighting itself seems to get better and better.
If we have a time machine and go back and see a medieval battle I think this is pretty much what we will see, a mess of troops.

[Geoffrey S]

I seriously doubt the others behind just sat there and waited for the guy in front to die before they got some action.
I seriously doubt that after they picking up such speed when they charge that the ones in the back would just stop and wait in line like they do in TW.
And I seriously doubt the front rank would form a neat straight line and just poke their swords and spears at the enemies front ranks.

Funnily enough, that's exactly what would happen. Mainly armies would push at each other; usually the flight would start at the rear, if troops thought they were getting pushed back too far and got worried, yet couldn't see the main fighting properly. There were far more advantages to sticking with the group than going it alone.

Usually, even after charging, only the first two ranks would be directly involved in the fighting, with the second rank covering the person in front. Further back it'd be almost impossible to see what was going on, let alone attack effectively; it would be here that nervousness would set in and flight may start.

Remember, battles would last hours, unlike the minutes of the TW series. There'd be very few casualties until the final rout, and fighting would be very tentative a lot of the time (poking swords and spears at the enemies front ranks, as you put it).

Don't be fooled by TW. It's a very different beast from the way such warfare truly functioned, which is why such high movement speeds and quickly resolved battles are such an issue with many people interested in the facts behind the fiction.