First used by Homer to describe organised battle lines, as opposed to individual duels between heroes, the phalanx probably rose to prominence in Greece around the 7th century BC, together with the citizen-hoplite equipped with shield ( hoplon) and spear ( doru) as the primary combatant in wars between city-states. Phalanx comes from Greek word φάλαγξ (pronunciation in IPA notation /p ha.lanks/, and if you don't know what IPA is you should be ashamed of yourself), a word commonly used by Greek writers when referring to massed and ordered infantry formations, regardless of the equipment but generally comprised of heavy infantry armed with pole weapons.

If you do the quick math, it is highly likely that it is yourself the one who fields phalanxes in the first place: out of 20 factions, 9 (Makedonia, Koinon Hellenon, Epeiros, Pontos, Arche Seleukeia, Ptolemaioi, Hayasdan, Pahlava, Baktria) may and will consistently field phalanx-based armies. It's goddamn certain that you're going to meet a plethora of the pointy dudes during your campaign, and even in MP they are definitely frequent. Phalanxes are incredibly relevant for someone who plays EB. I'm specifically referring to the sarissa guys if you want to know more about the use of the Hoplite phalanx in EB, please refer to the guide on guard mode. 'Macedonian' is there for a reason: very important remark.

Yes, you guessed by the title: Macedonian phalanxes are the topic. Today I'm going to talk about something fairly important in EB.

Europa barbarorum 2 guide