Time to beat a very old and honestly unimportant horse...how EB2's phalanxes work (note: more accurately, how to make phalanxes work FOR THE AI). Yes, it's my favorite topic, because aside from a finally completed trait list that is properly applied to all starting generals and have proper triggers for all new generals to come, and (a bit) more rewarding battles (in terms of giving positive traits to victorious generals, especially when said generals win 40+ battles - not exaggerating -one should expect plus 2 to 3 command stars and not...nothing), it's one of those little itches that prevent me from enjoying what is probably the best M2TW mod.
So, if you remember my old posts, I tried to (and in hindsight, arrogantly) suggest that getting rid of the defensive stance of all phalanx or phalanx type units would make them all work, and would actually allow both the ai and the player to PIN the enemy with their pike units (compared to defensive stance guys who passively let an enemy coming from the FRONT turn about and run away with little to no casualties). So, what happened was, yes, they do the pinning thing, and yes, they do actually push and grind their sarissa points into the foe. The caveat is that said better performance only applies to 3 UNITS: the agema phalanx, the regular phalanx, the mercenary phalanx. The rest of the phalanx (like the pantadapoi and machimoi) or phalanx-"like" roster (so including the german, anatolian, and illyrian "phalanxes") are poop. To capture the essence of the problem: whatever good things you try to evenly apply across all phalanx types positively effect the top three and never come close to capping the gaping hole of sad performance that is all the other pike wannabes. So the dilemma snowballs in that you continuously evenly apply your "fixes" across the whole "family" and the top 3 dangerously veer towards overpowered territory and the rest frustratingly remain poop.
Here's what I can kinda get why the ai's usage of the phalanx (across all of them, even the top 3 - makes them sad and laughable to fight against) has actually little to do with slight derivations on the unit stats the devs (and myself in my personal mods) slap on to them, but how the ai actually uses them (kinda inane and a bit obvious). The BEST way to use a phalanx is to turn OFF the defensive stance, order them to make a formation that more or less matches the width of the immediate opposing formation, park them RIGHT before the opposing foes charge, let them passively receive charging foes, and then when the foe stops charging and just fully commits to a melee slugfest, you right click. The way the ai uses them depends on whether it is defensive as a whole or is going on the attack - the former is passable to mediocre, the latter is a big FAIL. If they are defensive, then they don't do anything, and as the phalanxes are automatically at defensive stance, they become living walls. They don't fight as pikes should, but at least they make a pretty battle line that holds off the foe. If the ai is on the offensive, however, the coding makes them do blunder after blunder. The ai just makes the phalanxes right click whatever enemy is closest to them, then right before they come in to contact, get this...they NARROW their rectangles to squares, so even in a one on one fight they let the enemy front effectively envelop them. It's hilarious. Now, because ai doesn't ever turn off its defensive stance, do you know what happens when you or the ai commits them to attack?? They march right into the enemy formation, let them pass through their first few front ranks AND DON'T DAMAGE THE OR PUSH THE INTERLOPERS. So the ai gets a quarter of their men killed, then (I guess this is why the EB2 devs are so stubborn in keeping the defensive stance on), THEN the surviving back ranks rigidly lock into place (usually with their pikes facing the wrong direction because they are in defensive stance) and make a living scab that holds your wounded line. They look ugly and they don't damage the enemy, but they'll make a nice makeshift "anvil". Also, THEY STILL LOSE TO ALL AVERAGE (like of the same caliber as they are) INFANTRY. Defensive stance just makes them lose slower. Devs, I know the time period of EB2 was a decline of aggressive professionalism among phalangites, but this is just sad.
So, if one applies my earlier "fix-all" "solution" (no defensive stance), the top 3 become proper, grindy, in-your-face, battle-winning (after a long slugfest and not against marian legionnaires) sarissa users. The rest of the pike roster don't become living scabs that'll not rout too early and somewhat hold your battle line, BUT they actually try to push/kill the interlopers, will LOOK like they're fighting and rack more casualties against foes. So, in summary, all pikemen on defensive stance and whether ordered to just stand or right clicked against enemy will make living walls. No damage or very little to opposing enemies, will hold them off, but won't pin anyone (enemy can retreat from battle line with impunity). Now, when defensive stance is off, top 3 become battle winners, the rest will STILL LOSE, they'll lose a bit quicker actually, but the trade off is that they can kill more enemies while at it, WAY MORE (than before which was near 0, but still). I actually think turning off defensive stance for everyone is still valid, because the lesser phalanxes actually FIGHT, but I have to agree with the devs that their performance as a whole is still very very bad.
My next quick fix it was to give all pike users armor piercing. Haha, guys please don't follow this. It just made the top 3 op (agema phalangites, no defensive stance, can obliterate an entire hastati unit from the front with no support faster than normal in EB, only suffered 30 casualties - the problem though was the speed, I didn't mind the low casualty rate actually). The rest were still poop, either with defensive stance on or off. The ai usage of them kinda ruins whatever advantage ap gave them. My rational was that a gigantic pogo stick with a huge spearhead wielded with two hands and the weight of the entire phalangite behind it coupled with the momentum of a charging infantryman against it should be the one melee weapon most appropriate for ap qualities. Balance(in-game) says otherwise.
Now, on to the present. I'm seriously thinking of redoing the stats of all pike users with an emphasis on their defense, BUT I want to STRICTLY base my redoing of their stats on the internal rules the devs set when assigning stats. What I mean is, what value does a sword have, professional training, or nobility in determining an attack stat? I know the primary attribute of this unit (for eg) is 8,but break down that 8 according to EB2 rules. Is is possible to ask for three, ONLY three (pleaaasse) breakdowns for these three units: hoplitai haploi, hoplitai, and bodyguard hoplites. Once I understand the values assigned to the subcomponents of their stats (like why is their defense 12, what part of that 12 is the shield, what part is training), I can recalculate stats for all pikemen.
P.S. Why am I so anal about the performance of phalanxes in general? Why can't I accept that phalanxes were poop post-Alexander, and that they somehow were even more defensive in their role despite becoming (in some areas) the sole arm of decision (as some Hellenistic kingdoms became less ordered and unable to recruit the same numbers and quality of cavalry)? Why can't I move on to less stressful nomadic or nomadic type factions and enjoy cavalry supremacy and leave infantry to be dominated by the copy-cat Romans? Because if I see in EB2 a regular band of regular hoplites fight a regular band of regular deuteroi phalangites head-on and on even ground, I expect the deuteroi phalangites to win, relatively decisively. Why (again)? Because not only are both units composed of men of the same wealth/social standing, and therefore have the same amount of time to train, and both have the same quality of arms and armor (though the hoplites have better coverage), but because of math and reach. The deuteroi phalangites have longer (way longer) weapons and can bring 3 or so spearpoints (in-game), or 5 (historically) spearpoints PER hoplite on the front rank of the opposing force. And they have a weapon that is wielded with two hands with the weight of their entire body behind it and has incredible penetrating power. And that those 4 spearpoints (behind the spearpoint of the first rank) don't even have to worry about getting hit because the enemy is so far off and they can keep thrusting and thrusting. And that most of the time those phalangites aren't going to passively wait for some cavalry force to save the day and they have nothing to gain by passively staying in perfect formation and gently prodding the opposing foe. No amount of lack of professionalism and decline of skill compared to the previous generation's veterans is going to stop a pikemen from THRUSTING. It's all they can do (albeit sloppily compared to Philip's and Alexander's men....and no fast marches, and no in-battle redeployments...so thrusting and staying in formation is all they have left really).
P.P.S. Ultimately, this is asking for EB2 stat rules so I can make a personal mod grounded in EB2 (no op units no fantasy abilities). It has a side objective of appealing to the devs to rework pikemen, but most are fine with it, and there's just me. Eagerly awaiting next patch!!!!