Quote Originally Posted by Dayve
A full unit of 160 Greek classical hoplites will get butchered by a unit of akontistai... If all volleys are thrown, the hoplites will take over 1/4 losses, sometimes more, even Spartans... Whereas a mediocre unit of phalangites, if all volleys are thrown, will take around 1/20 damage, if that... The better phalangites don't take any damage at all frontally from skirmishers, or if they do it's just one or two men.

Is there no way to make the phalangites weaker to missles while still retaining their current defence valued in hand to hand?
The bolded part is almost certainly an exaggeration. I've seen Akontisai cause some nasty casualties against armoured troops but that's a rare, random occurrence.

I agree that phalangites are a little to durable, most probably due to their high shield bonuses. Shield points are more effective against missiles then armour points, especially slingers. These shields would be pretty durable (I understand they're partly bronze, just like argive shields) but they're fairly small and only protect the torso.

Try editing the EDU and give phalangites -1 on the shield bonuses and hoplites +1, you'll see a noticable difference in missile casualties. If you want you can compensate this loss/gain with the armour or defense skill values.