Ah yes, Illyrioi Paraktioi (Illyrian Coastal Levies) with their armour-piercing maces.....they're evil, armour is no protection against them. AP trait is a bit too effective sometimes in EB.
Close-order Hoplites are at their best when used in conjuction with other units to help protect their flanks. One on one, they're fine against other hoplites, not so good against units which are large enough to overlap their flanks.
I use my best hoplites on the right hand end of a levy hoplite line, where they are less likely to break when attacked on their unshielded right sides. I use them in the same four-man depth as my levy hoplite line, not in a less deep formation because there are fewer of them. It's not their killing ability that's useful, it's their ability to take relatively higher losses before routing. They buy you time to get some help over to the threatened flank.
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