Depth of ranks: Did ancient commanders vary them? Should it be included?

[kvnrthr]

I'm not really well read on ancient warfare but I do recall reading some commanders reducing the ranks of their men based on the situation (e.g. Caesar at Pharsalus).

Would it make sense to implement this in game, maybe splitting a unit of 8 or 16 models into half that? Similar to the option of dismounting horsemen, it gives another interesting pre-battle decision to make.

If it was considered and rejected, I'd be interested to know why. Was this something done so rarely that it did not warrant inclusion? Always interested to hear historical/balance reasons for why things were/weren't done in some way.

[jomni]

One of the immortal fire scenarios depict this.

[TheGrayMouser]

I'm not really well read on ancient warfare but I do recall reading some commanders reducing the ranks of their men based on the situation (e.g. Caesar at Pharsalus).

Would it make sense to implement this in game, maybe splitting a unit of 8 or 16 models into half that? Similar to the option of dismounting horsemen, it gives another interesting pre-battle decision to make.

If it was considered and rejected, I'd be interested to know why. Was this something done so rarely that it did not warrant inclusion? Always interested to hear historical/balance reasons for why things were/weren't done in some way.

In practice this means units would simply divide in two, and depending on type , would have only mild to moderate reduction in combat power, yet you would get free maneuver units.