Well, recently i was hiring alot of Hoplite mercenaries to use them vs the Julii (me Brutii). It looked to me that they still would suffer rather high casualties from enemy Legionary Cohorts. So i arranged one custom battle: my 4 units of Legionary Cohorts vs 4 units of Armored Hoplites, all units with 3 copper chevrons, and copper weapon/armor upgrade, reflects more-less my early Brutii games with awesome Temple of Mars available, while the enemy has less exp, but oh well.

In all the experiments the hoplites were badly mauled by the Legionaries. Without pila-launch they managed to do some damage, but WITH pila-launch they simply were stomped. No flanking, no charging from the rear. The Hoplites would start to melt more and more and rout.
Now i am puzzled, what did i wrong? The only thing i can think of is that the Legionaries must have more Attack and even more defense, thats why they win. Now i use the Hoplites only vs. peoples who are heavy on Horses, camels and chariots. For all the other uses my Legionary cohorts are more than enough. Where is the catch here??

Y.