- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Posted by: Ad_Hominum
Posted by: icefire89
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Posted by: Ad_Hominum
Phalanxes fell out of favor with the Romans rather quickly for two reasons.
The first was their lack of flexibleness. This could be a strenth under certain circumstances, like against a solid line of fighters, but modern warfare just doesn't work that way. In a situation with the weapons in H3, a phalanx would be forced into a last-ditch defensive role, as if one jackel falls, the whole group will die, due to that one exposed spot. Even the few seconds it would take to rotate a jackel form the next line in to the outer line would be enough to hurl a grenade in the hole or fill it with lead.
The second was that they were a -blam!- to hold together on uneven ground. If a phalanx crossed even a small hill, gaps formed between the lines due to the differences in elevation, allowing attackers- in this case, frag grenades- into the heart of the formation.
It would be useless as an offensive formation because in order to get a bead, the shields would have to be brought down enough to allow the jackels to clear their own shields and aim the weapon. One well-placed grenade here could kill the entire formation.
dude jackels have slots in the sheild to shoot out of...next time you play H2 try throwing a nade through one and see how well it works. and also, it wouldent be all jackels, they're would be elites and grunts inside to shoot over their heads. all in all, it would basicly be very challenging to get past....just the way i like it....
Think before you post, please. Those holes would have to be covered by the formation. Notice how the shields are round? To uncover the holes enough to allow a jackel to shoot out of them, a large portion of space would also have to be uncovered, opening the way to a bunch of dead jackels.
Elites would serve no purpose in the formation. They are too tall. Sticking up above the jackels, they might as well have a neon sign that says "SHOOT ME!" on it.
Dude, you didn't read my post. Not once did I mention the Greek phalanx; I compared my idea to the Roman tactics, I believe. As you obvoiusly know, the Roman Hastati were much more versatile than the phalanx (which led the Romans to early victories and dominance over the Greeks). The Hastati's versatility stemmed from the fact that they wore very light gear and could break formation to move quickly (across uneven ground, etc.) and take up new positions back in formation.
Last time I checked, Jackals wore no heavy gear, so they would be able to maintain that versatilitly. Secondly, I believe you stated that if one guy were to go down, the whole formation would crumble. I have no idea from where you got that. Another Jackal from behind steps up to take his place; as simple as that.
It is true that this fromation would be inappropriate for certain situations, but it would also work marvelously for other aforementioned situations (corridors, alleys, etc.). Also, you seem to think that I said the units would be tightly packed together, with overlapping shields. I did not. They would be only as close together as their shields would allow without impacting the shield's PP slots. There is another formation used by the Romans called the cabin formation (the guys in front would hold their shields forward and the rest would hold the shield above their heads) which could be emplyed by the Jackals to deter grenade throwers. And as for the elite's upper body sticking out like a sore thumb... well, that's better than being completely exposed like normal. And maybe the jackals shooting at you from the front might deter you from targeting the elites shooting from the back. The Grunts in the back could also throw grenades over the jackals at you and your allies.
Anyways, this formation would be employed when you needed to push your way into enemy territory to carve a path for more untis to follow from behind. You said this formation was outdated. SWAT teams and riot control use it.
Having the Jackals behave like this is a helluva lot better than just having 'em run and gun.