08-22-2016, 06:26 PM
(08-22-2016, 05:57 PM)Bryan Wrote: You can't do a local feint when fighting in close combat with an enemy, within a phalanx, especially with one that has overlapping shields. To do so breaks the integrity of the line.
Bryan brings up an excellent point which I stress in the book. When in a phalanx you do not have the mobility to simply move out of the shield wall to exploit gaps in the enemy line without disrupting your own formation. Mathew for example shows spears being held out to keep the enemy phalanx at a distance, but this is not needed. As long as enough men are jabbing at any given time to keep some of the men at distance, those beside them cannot close without breaking formation. The reverse is true as well. If a some men move to shield on shield, then they are within the reach of the promachoi dorys, and unless the second rankers can keep them back, the whole taxis probably collapses into close range fighting like a zipper closing.
