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Thread: Best Defending Strategy - phalanxes only!

  1. #1
    Flogger's Avatar Senator
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    Default Best Defending Strategy - phalanxes only!

    Everyone probably already knows this, but, some may not, so:

    When defending a city, it is good to have about 5 (2 at minimum) phalanx units in your city. Why? Take some of your units, and block off one of the streets the enemy goes down. Take some more and then block off another road the enemy goes down. Even if you have militia hoplites, this strategy works 95% of the time, against however many enemies. I have never seen it fail. Try placing your general behind for morale, and some missile units for added damage.

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    Lord Agelmar's Avatar Tiro
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    This is what i do to defend my cities, its a little cheap but it gets the job done. Sometimes i can trap thier armys in the street and then its just a slaughter of the barbs.
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    The phalanx are nasty :wub: in the narrow streets of a city. Militia hoplites can easily sweep away your experienced legionnairs. My tactic is: retreat to open ground (near the walls), meanwhile covered by archers and/or slingers. If you're lucky, and unexperienced phalanx unit will rout because of the hundreds of arrows or little stones. When they're out of the narrow streets, it's a piece of cake: backstab them with your cavalry or infantry.

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    Bruticus the Steadfast's Avatar Civitate
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    You can also put more then one unit in the "same" spot when you are doing your deployment. Its kind of cheap, but rarely will a unit get past 4 units of Phalanx units right on top of eachother.
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  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bruticus the Steadfast
    You can also put more then one unit in the "same" spot when you are doing your deployment. Its kind of cheap, but rarely will a unit get past 4 units of Phalanx units right on top of eachother.
    Never tried it, but it sounds useless. One, or two, good Phalanx units can easily beat the enemy attacks, no matter what they send to you. You can better use the remaining falanx elsewhere.

    I always love to play as Macedonia against a barbarian faction on the Syrian Flats, costum battle. I always give Macedonia 5 experienced Phalanx units, and the barbarian a full stack of heavy infantry and cavalry. I put the units in a circle with the pikes on the outside, making it impossible to come into the circle. Start the battle, sit back and relax, watching 300 Phalanx winning from 2000 barbarians.

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    Bruticus the Steadfast's Avatar Civitate
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    Well, when you have to fight other phax, its better. I think, even if they are fairly low level ones, it can bock it off totally.
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    Redfoxx's Avatar Miles
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    what i do is take 3 phalanxes surround the gate with them in a \_/ formation and then as others ahve said block off streets easy win, also if they dont have archers or slingers atleast enough to do damge you can make a box around your general and pretty much be safe i did that with spartan hoplites and withstood alot o thracians

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    Darkragnar's Avatar Member of Ordo Malleus
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    well Bruticus the Steadfast is right i have been using 2 pikemen on top of each other, and never lost a battle ,to give you all an example i have 5 units of the lowerst levy pikemen , and a general the enemy Daci had a full stack army with 3 generals in it , i used the same stratagy and had like 3 dead on my side ,while i killed all of the Dacians , there army routed when 600 or so of them died in the streets and killed all the rest of em with my gen when they were running, i have been using this strat for like 5 months never ever has it failed and lost me a battle never. Its a really cheap strat that takes the fun out of def a city ,so i rarely use it nowdays.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bruticus the Steadfast
    You can also put more then one unit in the "same" spot when you are doing your deployment. Its kind of cheap, but rarely will a unit get past 4 units of Phalanx units right on top of eachother.
    I usually put them one behind the other.

  10. #10
    Redfoxx's Avatar Miles
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    if yer on an open field observe perfection
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    i find the greatest stragety for open field is lining up your phalanx in the cornor so your flanks are protected, and maybe some missle troops behind the phalanx. If you are using hoplites like spartans it gives them better defense against missles also because they can only shoot you from the front.


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    John I Tzimisces's Avatar Get born again.
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    This doesn't work in MP. Why? Catapults. In almost any seige assault, you will be sure to encounter catapults, and they will burn your city to the ground if they have to. One good flaming catapult hit on those stacked phalanxes would not be pretty.

    ^ why i do not play MP anymore.

  13. #13
    Zuwxiv's Avatar Bear Claus
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    All those spartans fully upgraded against normal warbands and you only lost two?

    Geeze, you should have lost none.

    But I find the largest weakness of the phalanx is its immobility. It just can't move around much. If it is in an O formation, then missile units can destroy it; if it is in a line, it is easy to flank and destroy.

    That is the reason why the Romans managed to beat the phalanx most of the time: they were very mobile and could adapt to any sort of terrain, weather, visibility, battlefield changes, ect. (Although that is another subject entirely, as the great Greek generals weren't around when the Romans were there...)

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    Redfoxx's Avatar Miles
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    the warbands were fully upgraded too!!! ...

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    lowbaccaus's Avatar Tiro
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    Thats kinda cheap. You're using a video game exploit, not your superiour skill to defeat your enemy; good job!
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    Goose's Avatar Civis
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    i recently did the same as greece.

    Pontus seiged Pergamum with an army of almost 1600
    i had barely 800 men. 2 generals. 5 or so militia and maybe 4 or 5 hoplites.

    i set up to defend the gates as they came through, but lol stupid me was fooled. they set up to attack the OTHER SIDE of my city. i panicked and retreated all my men to the town squard.

    using my hoplites i blocked off all 4 entrances to the square. the 2 closest to the enemy with 3 units and the others with 2. i had one spare unit so i deployed it out infron of one area with 3 men.

    the pontics attacked. that lone unit in the street suffered maybe 20 casulties. NO ONE got close to passing them. heavy cav charged. waves of infantry. everything. none came close. when the entire army was routing my generals rode out and killed all but about 10 men. the rest were slaughtered. for the loss of maybe 25 men total.

    i was proud lol

  17. #17
    Goose's Avatar Civis
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    that was the second time they attacked. i had stone walls then.

    the first time. very similar. 1600 pontics 600 greeks. wodden pasilade.
    i held them at the breaches they made with their battering rams. all militia hoplites that time. 5 of them maybe. same 2 generals.

    same end result.

    got to love defending as greeks

  18. #18

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    It's also fun to defend one bridge with a single unit of Levy Pikemen. One unit blocked the bridge, against a full stack of Egyptian archers, infantry and Desert cavalry. The Levy Pikemen didn't lost a single men (6)

  19. #19
    Laetus
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    Quote Originally Posted by lowbaccaus
    Thats kinda cheap. You're using a video game exploit, not your superiour skill to defeat your enemy; good job!
    The city defense is more of a 'cheat', although it could equally be seen as using the units well against a stupid enemy who doesn't think to stand off and pepper your troops with missiles.

    In the open field, they're simply using a tactic that hadn't been invented yet (as far as I know): forming a defensive square. Modern tactics in ancients games will often win.

    Personally, I've seen the defensive square and the city defense fail, although it only really happens when severely outnumbered troops are led by an inexperienced general and they're facing a formidable enemy (morale, numbers and leadership).

    Anyone have a good tactic for defending forts, by the way? Very annoying places, especially when the enemy builds 6 rams... grrr...
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  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by SpikeTheLobster
    Anyone have a good tactic for defending forts, by the way? Very annoying places, especially when the enemy builds 6 rams... grrr...
    Forts suck. Never build them, unless you have your army standing in your own territory (when you're building a massive army of more than 1 stack), cus an army destroys your farms and trade when they aren't in a fort or settlement. I also use them to block a narrow passage: just put some troops in it, and the enemy won't be able to pass unless they want to fight for it.

    A fort is hard to defend. You can't deploy your men when you start (if you choose to attack them): you have get your men out of the fort, that takes time and makes you vulnerable. Besides, destroying the enemy roads, trade and farms isn't a bad thing, hm?

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