What to do agains phalanx in the circle??

[Sitarus Originalus PM-30+]

lol ... i wonder what do you guys/girls do when you are fighting on net and there is a guy who is playing defence and he makes all phalanx to hold position in a smal circle?? i know archers wont kill them and if he is using a very strong phalanx unit they wont break! wha can i do to win that match withought using catapults ?
for instatnce: he is using the best phalanx unit of the chartage and he makes a small circle on the hill. he doesnt use any other unit. i know in real war the best thing to do would be to wait and starve army to death on that hill lol, but when playing online i see no way to win that fight. what can i do or use to win the game?

thx, Sitarus

[GambleFish]

If you're playing with siege or elephants, use them to punch a whole and then follow up with more troops... if not, use archers to attack the backs of each unit. For instance

_hhh_
h___h
h___h
_hhh_


_aaa_


h = hopilite
a = archer

The archers should attack the top row of hopilites, which would hit them in the back.

[Gunno_Desk]

Well if you dun use catapults against the formation, try using cataphrat elephants (armour) and concentrate the attack on a cornor of the square. The formation should break with your eles in the middle of the formation where all hell breaks loose. You can also charge your cavalry and chariots into the gap and attack their flanks and rears (infantries also help too). Beware not be have all of ya troops in the middle of the circle or the phalanx could turn on you, get you surrounded, and even eles will turn to minch meat against good phalanxes. Head into the gap and just rip their flanks and rear apart. I usuaslly win with that tactic (some backfired) but hey, I've only fought a handful of games with those people that uses these formations, Maybe because I'm the one whos only phaying the Hellenistic factions

[Sitarus Originalus PM-30+]

hmmm i know what you are saying should work... but... what to do if there is no gaps or flanks?? i mean.. 20 phalanx units in a circle and that units are not really easily to kill with archers...6 archer units killed only 4% of his army and it was no way for my roman units to get them. also cavalry was not even close to break them =(
i know i wont do same mistakes... too many men died because of my attemp to win! i prefer a draw then ... maybe anemy will get nervous and he will try to vin the battle and i will have the chance to use strategy instead of brute force.

[Sidus Preclarum]

. what can i do or use to win the game?

#1 send a few light units and/or cavalry to the opposite side of the map from where you deployed (ie to where he's supposed to come from)
#2 if he doesn't move, wait a few minutes,
#3 withdraw them to you lines.
#4 announce via chat that, thanks to his passivity you have plundered his camp, and his army is now devoid of any mean of subsitance and will disintegrate in a matter of days, unless he attacks now.
#5 if he doesn't , claim victory, and disconect. Brag online about how you starved an enemy to death, who was stupid enough to deny combat while *outside* his camp.

[Lord Kal]

Use phalanx units of your own, Macedonian-style ones, as you'll punch through his lines better, and concentrate your entire army on one section. You'll eventually break through and then it's slaughter.

[Sitarus Originalus PM-30+]

hehe Sidus =) good one =))

and Lord Kal, is macedonian phalanx really better then cartagin?

[Darth Wong]

Several possible suggestions:

1. Bring legionaries and large numbers of peltasts instead of archers. March them up in waves and pepper one corner of his phalanx circle with pila, which are much more effective against armoured phalanx units than archery. When that corner has been sufficiently decimated by the waves of pila assaults, charge it with your legionaries.
   
2. If you want to use archers, bring them up close to his phalanx circle with auto-fire off, and then manually order them to fire over the heads of the nearest phalanx, at the opposite side of the circle. This will put your archer fire into the backs of his men, where it is far more effective.
   
3. As others have suggested, simply bring siege weapons. Is there some reason why you don't bring siege weapons? Surely it can't be some sort of ground rules, because if it was, then I would argue that you insist upon a further ground rule that he can't go totally defensive and ignore the fact that in real-life you could just starve him out.

[tomdidiot]

20 Urban Cohorts.

Or Onagers. Lots and LOTS of Onagers.

[Slimshoom]

use any type of archer or siege equipment to tear him up, elephants to smash him, or other phalanxes

[bestantreas]

I fought him, he put his army on a hill in Macedonian ruins isn't he?

[Sitarus Originalus PM-30+]

maybe but more people do this... i usually see cartage use this strategy

[PyrrhusIV]

I just take some infantry and cavalry and start marching them forward, then I attack two opposite corners of the Phalanx with charging elephants. After that I rush my infantry and Cavalry in and hope for a win, which If I have 1 unit of Legionaires or equivalent, I usually do.

[LordSaradain]

Use javelins!

[Gogoas]

Let me guess, his name is AxCxHxIxLxLxExS or something like that right? just ignore him, it's no fun fighting a spartan spam.

[guyyug]

the only way i can think of is concentrat on 1 unit and if it breaks look at wat the circle has in the middle a full stack of roman legionaries. not even spartans could withstand it once the circle is broken

[Sitarus Originalus PM-30+]

well the important thing with that circle is that there are more then 1 unit on the same place. since people use 20 phalanx units to make a small circle, they usually use more then 1 unit to hold on specific area. there wouldnt be a problem if 1 unit would broke, but since there are 3 or 4 units to make a gap... it isnt easy... =/
i think the best way to win is to use catapults or to starve them out or to wait and see if he will move.

[Lord Kal]

Can't you just charge armoured elephants into his lines and pour into the gap?

[guyyug]

rtw is a bit unbalanced when it comes 2 elephants as they die most of the time when they hit a phlanx spear 4 me if u want 2 do that play rtr mod

[Zuwxiv]

Or, just sit around his phalanx and wait. Walk away from your computer. Eventually he will have to attack or leave.

Or just raid his camp like Sidus said. That's a good one there.