In need of a fresh start

[antisocialmunky]

Well they were relying on the Phalanx to totally annihilate everything infront of it. The other parts of the Alexandrian system suffered from neglect due to emphasis on phalangites and constant warfare. And by 'flanking,' people mean getting in between the blocks of phalangites (16x16 square of men), not the whole round trip of around the sides and rolling up the line.

I believe in the case of Cynoscephalae, the Romans literally ran into the Macedonian Camp in the fog and end up fighting up a mountain. The ensuing confusion caused part of the Macedonian Left to be disorganized. The Macedonian right formed up well and managed to push the Romans back. Infact, the right ended up throwing away their long pikes and going to their swords because the Romans were pushed onto some broken ground. The left however were in marching formation and the Roman elephants routed part of it. Then that Roman Tribune took those 20maniples behind the right and encircled them.

At Pydna, the phalanx hit broken terrain after initially driving the Romans off the field and gaps opened up. At that point the Romans just poured through the gaps and hit the phalanx from the side and behind.

Really it was a lack of cavalry to decisively win battles and reserve of more flexible infantry to plug gaps and defend the flanks of each phalangite block that caused the system to break down.

[HunGeneral]

Yes HG I meant the street fighting, although I can see a use for it, abandon the walls and block all roads to central square with Plangites (that in itself tells me that something is wrong with the city victory system).

Yes that is one way. However i use it (very often) when besieging a city. Till now it hasn't failed my generals - best score till now was about 10 -15 Phalangites + about 10 more soldiers lost altogether on my side while 80% of the other side was "put to rest" in the first 10 minutes of the battle. I could explain the tactic more detailed but I would do it later (short on time) and I woulnd't want to hijack the thread

Really it was a lack of cavalry to decisively win battles and reserve of more flexible infantry to plug gaps and defend the flanks of each phalangite block that caused the system to break down.

Thats just a I see it. The post Alexander Successor armies failed mostly because of the lack of support troops (and lack of generals capabilities).

[Indomenos]

Which one was it where Perseus put elephants behind each block of phalangites and then ran off after that plan totally failed?

you may be confusing something with the deployment of Antiochos III at Magnesia. the phalanx was deployed 32-ranks deep, and in the gaps he deployed pairs of war elephants. i suppose it was one way to prevent the more mobile Roman infantry from exploiting the gaps. in the end, however, the elephants inevitably panicked, and that, in combination with the return of the Roman cavalry upon the flanks, broke the line.

[antisocialmunky]

Yeah, that was the one. That just seems like a really bad idea to put something so unrealiable between each of your phalangites to GUARD THEIR FLANKS. Such a weird deployment.