Vaerama
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2019
- Messages
- 116
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- 43
When I watch my husband play through his Rome 2 (total war) battles, I believe I’ve grown over-fond of the phalanx supported by (light) cavalry, archers, and a few swordsmen on the flank.
Completely skipping the ‘skirmishing’ phase of a battle, just boxing and crushing from the flanks. It’s such a ruthlessly mighty system from a theory point of view, one where ‘when all numbers are equal’: it’s very hard to lose that fight.
That said, the swordsmen on the flank do actually turn it from a slow slog to a rapid collapse in morale (the real goal of the strategy). Part of me resists the idea that a bunch of guys with shortswords (of all things) should be able to somehow overcome the reach and formation of a phalanx...
But the Romans managed it somehow. What does it mean for me in particular? It means I have to research ‘how’ before I write chapter 20 xD Not because it’s important for a ‘battle’ (I don’t need traditional battles, but I absolutely do need to be able to believe the forces that are brought to bear).
I am guessing before I look any further into it that the dudes with shortswords also carried javelins, or that a gladius is so easy to carry that if a battle falls to such a range that it makes the long-spear carrying units rather devastating in an exchange that’s deteriorated on both sides (which isn’t unlikely, historically, given the losses among vanguard compared to the supporting force), or else war would be unsustainable, and it is usually decidedly not)).
Completely skipping the ‘skirmishing’ phase of a battle, just boxing and crushing from the flanks. It’s such a ruthlessly mighty system from a theory point of view, one where ‘when all numbers are equal’: it’s very hard to lose that fight.
That said, the swordsmen on the flank do actually turn it from a slow slog to a rapid collapse in morale (the real goal of the strategy). Part of me resists the idea that a bunch of guys with shortswords (of all things) should be able to somehow overcome the reach and formation of a phalanx...
But the Romans managed it somehow. What does it mean for me in particular? It means I have to research ‘how’ before I write chapter 20 xD Not because it’s important for a ‘battle’ (I don’t need traditional battles, but I absolutely do need to be able to believe the forces that are brought to bear).
I am guessing before I look any further into it that the dudes with shortswords also carried javelins, or that a gladius is so easy to carry that if a battle falls to such a range that it makes the long-spear carrying units rather devastating in an exchange that’s deteriorated on both sides (which isn’t unlikely, historically, given the losses among vanguard compared to the supporting force), or else war would be unsustainable, and it is usually decidedly not)).