Quote Originally Posted by overweightninja
Imho a phalanx is a phalanx, of course Argyspides and Sacred Bands are desirable, but if you use a Pantodapoi Phalangitai unit or something simmilar effectively, it'll do just as good a job for a hell of a lot less (just don't let them get flanked! ).
Cheers
Actually the huge difference in armor from a levy phalanx (p. phalangitai) to a medium phalanx makes a HUGE difference in combat, levy phalanxes will get chewed up, even from the front, if they don't receive help in a short period of time where with the medium and elite phalanxes you have a lot more time and flexibility to break enemies that are pinned on your phalanxes. The medium and elites lose a lot less men on average per battle too, compared to the p.phalangitai. It's much better to use at least the medium phalanxe, since these don't have more than 2 to 3 points of armor difference from the elites.