Slitherine

hello, new to fog and I'm painting up a Pyrrhic army. I've noticed some debate as to what is the optimal size for phalanx units is
8 or 12 bases. what is your take on it? Any one have lists for their armies to give me inspiration. cheers for any help.

there's a list here and some thoughts on army usage. but to be honest just buy at least 24 bases of pikemen and try them as 3x 8's or 2 x 12's - its down to personal taste and style in many ways

I would use superior pikes in 8s and poor pikes in 12s.
Average pikes can be used in either size, however, my preference is for 8s. 3 BGs of 8 can act just like 2 BGs of 12 and then can peel 1 BG off to protect a flank or move round to get a flank charge which is much more of a problem with only 2 BGs of 12. I prefer the flexibility which a greater number of BGs of 8 give.

With both Alexandrian Macedonian and Later Seleucid I try to run at least 32 bases of pikes. I've run them as both 1x8 Superior and 3x8 average and as 1x8 Superior and 2x12 Average and both seem to work, but I probably tend to favor the former by a bit. In a lot of ways, the biggest requirement is having enough critical mass of pikes. I would be hesitant to go with less than 23 bases or less than 3 BGs if you expect the pikes to be the decisive force of your army.

Chris

DavidT wrote:I would use superior pikes in 8s and poor pikes in 12s.
Average pikes can be used in either size, however, my preference is for 8s. 3 BGs of 8 can act just like 2 BGs of 12 and then can peel 1 BG off to protect a flank or move round to get a flank charge which is much more of a problem with only 2 BGs of 12. I prefer the flexibility which a greater number of BGs of 8 give.

I actually prefer superiors in 12s and poor pikes as 8s. The Superiors need to be able to stand up and fight, often for long periods of time. The poor pikes skulk around and try to frighten enemy cavalry, while being 8's they also make smaller targets and are easier to protect.

oriss wrote:hello, new to fog and I'm painting up a Pyrrhic army. I've noticed some debate as to what is the optimal size for phalanx units is
8 or 12 bases. what is your take on it? Any one have lists for their armies to give me inspiration. cheers for any help.

There are advantages and disadvantages for both.

A BG of 8 turns 90 degrees 2 wide and 4 deep, yet the same is not true of a BG of 12.
A BG of 12 can convert to 4 wide 3 deep vs mounted, where this is more difficult with BG of 8.

Personally, I think there is a place for Pike in 10's. It means you have 'casualties' ready without affecting your fighting performance. They can go into 3's and you still have a casualty... but that might also mean that you limit your choices when it comes to some armies (Bactrians can only have 24 pike for example, which makes 2 BG's instead of 3 etc).

Hope this helps.

How does that list get away with a FC c-in-c ? I thought they had to have an IC ?

yeah put more restrictions on an already restcricted list maybe people dont agree with pyrrhus being an ic or maybe it could represent the armt under another general .Why are there not Sicilian allies of any kind?why must you take tarentine pike with samnites . why does this army have one of the highest cavalry minimums for the hellenistic armies .No one knows .and mostly no one cares. I had better stop now it was all in good fun .no seriousness at all . Its just a generic list thats why you can have different generals