Hoplitai and Shield Wall ability

[Dreamwest]

Hi everyone. First I want to say this is an awesome mod.

I'm playing RTRPE using BI.exe. This is my first campaign and I choose the Macedonians cos I love Alexander's legacy. I've noticed that the mercenary Hoplitai recruitable in the area around the Macedonian capital have unit description that says they can use the Phalanx formation, but in battle, their special ability is empty/greyed out. However they do lower their spears when they are in ready stance but they can still charge and run if I give the order. Not sure if this is how it's scripted or a bug.

A question I have is about Shield Wall. Does it help defending in close combat or is it like a less effective testudo formation? The Barbarian Invasion tutorial never hinted on its use and I'm a bit buffled.

Anyway they are just small issues as the mod is so good.

[Quinn Inuit]

That's weird. Did they leave hoplitai with just the short_pike attribute in 1.9? That acts much like shield wall once a unit gets in combat...it's why I make hoplite levies more expensive than Gauls, even though the stats are the same.

Shield wall is extremely good at defending, and it's also quite effective offensively. I've given it to a bunch of ExRM units, and it's made them pretty useful.

[Jamey]

Shield wall is extremely good at defending, and it's also quite effective offensively. I've given it to a bunch of ExRM units, and it's made them pretty useful.

What he said. I've become very fond of using shield wall for city assault units heading to the town square. The keys to using the formation effectively are (1) keep your flanks secure, preferably with impassible terrain and (2) keep your lines straight - units in shield wall tend to push against opponents and break up your formation.

[Dreamwest]

Oh I see. Thanks for the info!