08-22-2016, 06:28 PM
no, i said you can keep enemy at bay by pressing the spear agaisnt his shield and block him.. same way as phalangites did this to Romans - by fixing sarrissa against Scutum so he couldn't get to them... its even mentioned by Ancient historians that they did that, and Romans tried to chop off the pike head with their swords, but for no avail, because they could still push the shield with the remaining of the pike even after head was chopped off (whch would be quite problematic in the first place)
All im telling from day 1 was that it sounds stupid to me using 2.5m long spear and holding it in the middle, and sounds very suicidal getting into pushing match against second group of men doing the same... especially when we know that actual casualties in ancient battles were relatively small, not over 5% of initial force, and large majority of losses happened AFTER one side routed and ran away... with pushing against each other, those who would panic first - men in front rank - had nowhere to run, but would be crushed or would suffocate or even if they managed to survive, they would have no means to get away from that place...
All im telling from day 1 was that it sounds stupid to me using 2.5m long spear and holding it in the middle, and sounds very suicidal getting into pushing match against second group of men doing the same... especially when we know that actual casualties in ancient battles were relatively small, not over 5% of initial force, and large majority of losses happened AFTER one side routed and ran away... with pushing against each other, those who would panic first - men in front rank - had nowhere to run, but would be crushed or would suffocate or even if they managed to survive, they would have no means to get away from that place...
Jaroslav Jakubov
