Slitherine

Never had to actually form Orb yet with my pikes but been considered a few times which makes me wonder, in combat do the pikes in orb still get + for being steady pikes and + for 4th rank?
figured I will get it cleared up now in case I actually do it and the question of POA's arises

They get no plusses because they are no longer counting as 3+ ranks deep. as long as they are steady though, opponents can't claim lance or sword POAs against them. They also don't suffer penalties for being charged in the flank, or for fighting in more than one direction. They do only get to use 1/4 of their dice in any given direction.

Also remember that if you are running your pike in a 12 pack you cannot go into orb if you are pinned unless you are 2 x 6.
The first step of going into orb is to contract into a 2 wide formation and you cannot contract while pinned.

Gino
SMAC...ABB

Good thing I always stick to 8 packs on the pikes, never tried and not likely to start with a 12. I prefer more battlegroups over larger numbers in each battlegroup.
Thanks for clearing that up for me