Realistic Army Formations

[antisocialmunky]

Ya know, whenever referencing one of Alexander's formations, we should remember that he used what worked for that specific set piece battle.

[Watchman]

...which said, all the three big pitched battles in Persia actually used pretty much the exact same basic plan. No wonder by Gaugamela Dareios was massing all of his heaviest close-combat cavalry on his left...

[antisocialmunky]

...which said, all the three big pitched battles in Persia actually used pretty much the exact same basic plan. No wonder by Gaugamela Dareios was massing all of his heaviest close-combat cavalry on his left...

... but some people get a strange idea that the refused flank with a heavy cavalry wing on the right is the best phalanx strategy ever.... which is bad and wrong since every situation needs to be sized up according to its context so you can figure out the most efficient way to incapacitate your foe.

[Watchman]

Well, obviously. Alex just seems to have - correctly as it turned out - judged the right wing to be where the corps de rupture were best placed.

The Diadochi apparently spent quite a bit of energy trying to second-guess each others' cavalry-deployement scheme in any major pitched battle...

[pezhetairoi]

It's argued that Alex's refused left flank is more of an advanced right flank, because of Alex's tremendous energy and the fact that he was leading from the front and setting the pace, the proof being the complete dislocation of the Makedonian left and right during Gaugamela because the right was going so fast they could not maintain connection. And anyhow, the mass de rupture would have done just as well on the left as on the right, because either way Darius was at the centre, and both cavalry wings had departed to envelop the Makedonian box formation. So there would have been gaps on -either- side of Darius.

Recall also that at Chaeronea Philip's order of battle (and we do not deny that Alex got his war schooling from good ol' dad) placed Alex on the left.

I think Alex always took the right wing mainly because in ancient armies, that was always the weaker wing (recall elite-troop placements on the right).

[Watchman]

Aye, there was no doubt a fair bit of "king must be on the right and lead from the front" thing in it too. Basically feudal cavalry and all. The other cavalry wing's job was defensive anyway, usually also with the Diadochi AFAIK although they were more flexible about where the monarch and shock troops went.