Greek Phalangites

Summary
Phalangites are a late-game infantry brigade available to the Greek faction group. They are defensive spearmen with the ability to enter phalanx formation to further boost their defenses in pitched battles. They benefit from having a very long reach in combat thanks to their long pikes, allowing them to perform much better than their stats would suggest.

"Armed with extremely long sarissas, phalangites are highly disciplined infantry that fight in a dense phalanx formation. This method of fighting was first developed in Macedonia by Philip II and his son Alexander the Great."

- In-game Description

History
Phalangites were a development of the hoplites with smaller shields and extra long spears, originating in Macedonia in the 4th Century BC. Several Greek city-states began experimenting with phalangite formations of their own in the 3rd Century BC, but it is unknown if and to what extent they were adopted by any of the city-states in Magna Graecia.

Tactics
Phalangites are individually rather weak for a late-game infantry unit, with lower stats but a higher cost than the basic Greek Hoplites available from the start of the game. However, phalangites have a very powerful hidden benefit in the long reach of their attack animations, allowing soldiers that would otherwise be idly standing by to contribute damage to the enemy as well, such as those in the back rows of the formation.

In an even fight with full-strength brigades and no flanking maneuvers, this effect can be extremely powerful and allows phalangites to overcome statistically much stronger brigades such as Heavy Hoplites. However, their reach bonus is of little benefit in situations where there would normally be few idle soldiers anyway, such as when the brigade is not at full strength or attacked on multiple sides. The effectiveness of phalangites is therefore very variable, and it is extra important to ensure the brigade is at full strength and not outflanked.

Due to their low missile resistance, phalangites are also not very good at tanking missile fire or maintaining sieges, which is better left to hoplites and hypaspists.