Quote Originally Posted by TiberiusClaudiusMarcellus View Post
How I read the action being portrayed was that the front line troops either were killed and the next guy in line stepped up to take his place, or he killed the enemy in front of him, sidestepped (not turned around) and then backed up to the rear of his formation.
I am afraid I don't buy that. Killing another person was never that easy. Not if that other person is shielded, facing you, and has had at least some training.

It's very probable that there was a rotation of warriors, otherwise the front ranks would be dead meat and the hind ranks would be dead weight. However, I doubt it was as mechanical as that. You can't ignore what the warrior opposing you is doing; nor should you assume he'll go down quickly and easily. More likely the rotation was fluid and occurred during lulls in the fighting.

Rigid formations and mechanical movement-patterns worked for Napoleonic armies; but that's a very different kind of fighting.