Beating a phalanx

[boblloyd91]

When playing as a Roman faction, what do you feel is the best way to beat a Phalanx formation?

[boblloyd91]

Heh, I just saw a good answer posted a few days ago

[Myrmidon]

Phalanxes are vulnerable from the flanks and rear.

[Laiders72]

Get round them and hit or shoot them in the rear with everything you have. Personally, as I like to play eastern or nomand factions in EB and thus face lots of Diadochi Sucessor kingdoms such as the Seleucids, I prefer to pin a phalanx with some crappy expendable infantry and then watch the phalanx collapse as heavy cataphracts charge the rear. Alternatively, shooting them apart with horse archers is always fun.

The basic strategy is always the same: pin with either an expendable unit or another phalanx, circle round to flanks or rear with a shock unit, charge in the shock unit (remember to ensure you are charging with cavalry and that you correctly charge cycle the cavalry for best results), watch phalanx collapse and run down the cowards as they rout for the hills.

[Hurtman]

As the Romans? Use both vollies of Pila (the javelins that your infantry throw). That can net you around 60-70 kills. If we're talking Pre-Marian units, Hastati, Principes, then you're going to either need to flank around with infantry, or hit them in the rear with your general/equites. Post-Marian, just shoot them to death with Archer Auxila, and finish them off with your Legionaries.

[76561198322384215]

Originally posted by Hurtman:

Post-Marian, just shoot them to death with Archer Auxila, and finish them off with your Legionaries.

Well if you shoot them to death first, then there's really no need to finish them off is there?

Sorry, couldn't resist. Yes, I know where the door is.

[Myrmidon]

Early hoplites and pikeman can be locked with Princepes and Hastati. Don't expect them to be pulling off miracles unit-to-unit but they can reasonably lock them for flankers. Once you start getting into the upper tier phalanx units like Spartans, Armoured Hoplites, Sacred Band, Pharoahs Guard, Silver Shield etc your Triarii are the only pre-marian units that can lock them comfortably (I always disable Marian Reforms). Also when you start facing these upper tier pike/spear phalanxes with heavy armour and morale pila from the front will do virtually nothing, they'll drop a couple of men from a full volley at most. Javelins and arrows will also mostly bounce off.

[Shrubb]

arrows

[LovelyRoo]

Archers, or Pila. If distracted you can charge cavalry into the rear, but you will lose a fair bit of that unit just due to the bonus pike units get against cav.

[Xautos]

Originally posted by ☽ClintEastwood☾:

Archers, or Pila. If distracted you can charge cavalry into the rear, but you will lose a fair bit of that unit just due to the bonus pike units get against cav.

doesn't always happen for me when fighting spearmen with horses, if you get the exact right angle you take no lossess or almost no losses at all and then if you see the spearmen reforming you already won that fight regardless if they have most of their men, so long as they can't turn their spears on your horses but are forced to look out to the side, you have the advantage. you wouldn't think one general unit up against several lines of spearmen and other barbarians and another general would be a fair fight. but if you know your way around the game, you can defeat that without incident, it's just about weaknesses and not getting caught in an obvious ai ambush.

[Ëvïlnïck8 ゴゴゴ]

Originally posted by Xautos:

Originally posted by ☽ClintEastwood☾:

Archers, or Pila. If distracted you can charge cavalry into the rear, but you will lose a fair bit of that unit just due to the bonus pike units get against cav.

doesn't always happen for me when fighting spearmen with horses, if you get the exact right angle you take no lossess or almost no losses at all and then if you see the spearmen reforming you already won that fight regardless if they have most of their men, so long as they can't turn their spears on your horses but are forced to look out to the side, you have the advantage. you wouldn't think one general unit up against several lines of spearmen and other barbarians and another general would be a fair fight. but if you know your way around the game, you can defeat that without incident, it's just about weaknesses and not getting caught in an obvious ai ambush.

Be carefull with chargin cav behind pikes.
Higher tier phalanx units will be able to withstand an cav charge in the rear and then just reform.
Only charge the back of pikes if there either already engaged, the pike unit is very weak, (miltia hoplites or levy pikemen) or the units has very few men left and has low morale.

[Xautos]

you know those spartan phalanx's the greeks have at Sparta at the start of the game? those are two of the best units the greeks can get no matter what, a couple of units of horsemen can cut them down easily enough like anything else so long as you flank these pikemen enough, they can't come back from it.

[ballpoint202]

I move hastati up to them in guard (?) formation to pin them in place. Then crush the enemy's flanks and take the phalanxes in the rear.

[[LYF]Levi o Lusitano]

Depends on what units you play best as and also on the enemy strenght. if they have a 20 unit army of phalanxes i would suggest using some archers or skirmishers and thining them out on one flank and work your way from there. if they are from 8-10 phalanxes in 1 army i would suggest cavalry,altough its a tricky progress.

You would have to have supporting infantry in the front and either engage them or make them folllow you,thus separating the enemy units.and allowing you to strike with cav in its flanks. hammer and hanvil ftw. Its hard but i wiped out entire armies like this,altough im used to play as a cavalry commander.

[Armchair Civilian]

Cretan archer spam + quincunux ftw ;)

[Richon]

Don't try fighting those naked-back German phalanxes in Vanilla. Last time I charged them with heavy cavalry, their naked backs wiped out all my horsemen... I honestly think their backs are stronger than their spears...