macedon royal pikeman

**Shqiponja_Hayabusa** · October 25, 2006, 05:16 AM

Maybe it's only me noticing this one:the royal pikeman are really overpowered,they simply dont die.
I ve noticed it twice,online I had left like 2 half units of pike man and the com gave me 25 chances of wining..and I won.
The other time we had to fight 2 vs 1 macedon with alot of pikemans and they simply didnt break nor die.And the thing is that even this time the ai gave the maced sth like 30% chances of wining and he won.

**roman_crusader** · October 25, 2006, 07:10 AM

The thing with royal pikemen is that they have extra long pikes. Hence, you can even get close enough to engage in hand to hand combat. They poke you to death.

What you have to do is get yourself lots and lots of archers, preferably Cretans, because they are much better than normal ones. Plus, use them well and after a few battles with the macedons you get 1 or 2 silver chevrons. Onagers deployed against them can also have a satisfying effect.

**legionari** · October 25, 2006, 07:32 AM

Missile or artilary should break them

**Flavius Silvanus** · October 25, 2006, 11:46 AM

Hit them in the flanks or in the rear.

Also, Velites do a good job if you don't have archers yet.

**Emcman333** · October 25, 2006, 03:36 PM

I distract with infantry from the front, then bring my cavalry around or behind them. Easy strategy but it works.

**Zipzopdippidybopbop** · October 25, 2006, 03:40 PM

use spartans or other hoplites - they manage to punch through the royal pikes sarissae and rip em apart. they do that in my game, or hold em in place with a light infantry unit (velites, iberian infantry etc) and use a cavalry unit to flank them from the rear. slaughter em to the man. other pike units may do damage also, depending on fatigue, morale, terrain etc.

**tFighterPilot** · October 25, 2006, 03:41 PM

I also noticed that they're really strong when I played online. I was Seleucid against Macedon, and his royal pikemen totally ripped my silver shield pikemen. Ever since then I stopped picking Seleucid. Their elephants are not worth it.

**Zipzopdippidybopbop** · October 25, 2006, 03:46 PM

my strategy is very effective, and the second strategy of mine works unbelievably well. i used it against a greek army at thermon , when i was the dacians (they had 4 spartan 3 bronze chevron, and 6 armored hoplite plus general) and i slaughtered em all. i lost 80 men, they lost 800 of their men, about 7 of theirs lived lol. wiped out

**Cpn.Rob** · October 25, 2006, 03:49 PM

aren't royal pikemen the strongest phalanx unit next to the spartans?

it's weird, cause i usually lose less phalanx pikemen than i do royal pikemen

**Zipzopdippidybopbop** · October 25, 2006, 03:51 PM

i dont think so. the sacred band is very powerful, and so is the silver shields, and the armored hoplites. u forget their power

**tFighterPilot** · October 25, 2006, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by Aristodemos The Great

i dont think so. the sacred band is very powerful, and so is the silver shields, and the armored hoplites. u forget their power

Silver shields have exactly as much attack as royals and less defence. So they're simply weaker.

**Zipzopdippidybopbop** · October 25, 2006, 04:06 PM

the main problem i think, is that in the game most people underestimate the power of the phalanx. if used correctly in union with other units, theyre unbeatable. theyre more flexible than the pike formation, and lose less men in arrowfire. only weakness is on the sides, but as i said if theyre covered by say a cavalry unit, then uv already won.

**Cpn.Rob** · October 25, 2006, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by Aristodemos The Great

the main problem i think, is that in the game most people underestimate the power of the phalanx. if used correctly in union with other units, theyre unbeatable. theyre more flexible than the pike formation, and lose less men in arrowfire. only weakness is on the sides, but as i said if theyre covered by say a cavalry unit, then uv already won.

exactly...as long as you micro-manage effectively and keep the phalanx strong and tight, while keeping protection on the flanks...almost nothing can break it

unless you use some fodder troops (useless skirmishers) to split the phalanx apart just a bit and then rush in some heavy swordsman

**Zipzopdippidybopbop** · October 25, 2006, 04:31 PM

then sacred band, their armor class is very high, higher than the armored hoplites i believe.

**Trajan** · October 25, 2006, 07:00 PM

Moved to the TW Battle Planning sub-forum.

**Shqiponja_Hayabusa** · October 27, 2006, 04:56 AM

I didnt mean on campaign cuz actually they re not,I dont recon that they were actually very strong when I used them in my macedonian campaign.but you have to try them online is really another thing.Propably the strongest unit in the game,even if you have them they wont break.
I mean 1 guy beat me and my ally 2 armies against one he must have had 10 royal pikemans and he killed us.

**Zipzopdippidybopbop** · October 30, 2006, 05:01 AM

hmm well thats a problem. id suggest if ur facing a macedonian online, use strong cavalry, and decent infantry. use the flank option, as the phalanx is too inflexible to swerve round and counter the charge. even if they do, ur infantry will flank them again! so its like being *sandwiched*.

**Flogger** · October 30, 2006, 05:13 AM

Hammer and anvil. Artillery to break up their formation. Try and force them to fight on rough terrain which will further break up their line. Also thankfully the AI in RTW can't hold a line together. Exploit the gaps in their line as much as possible.