PyrrhicVictoryGuy

all and good but then you realize macedon is severly cripled by the lack of CS swordsman and cavalry swordsman to kill rams. True you have your own rams but you'll need them to keep pressure and making them fight other rams is bad since you know elelphants are probably coming too. And you can't support both xbows and swords.

Specially when up against someone who competent and agressive.

The thing about the champ xbow is that setting up an eco that supports champs takes time that macedon doesn't have I think.

Ps: I am not looking for tips like mix pikes and skirms or make merc archer and skirms , rather i would like some insight from those who play or have played macedon a lot

Making skirms is good and all since pikemen slow down eco, but even when pumping out these guys i feel like meh. In the military department is where i feel the lack of options really.

True but in a game , a unit's appearance must match their role and their cost/quality, the crisp white pauldrons and clean musculata chest piece gives them a more professional air, only thing missing is the neat laurel crown. I use the profile of the macedonian CS spear cav because it is the same as ther merc we are talking about.

well the spear cav available at the military colony right now is also named as a companion but it is a spear cav. Ironically , after rank 3 these look more elite than the macedonian champ cav.

wedge formation was not used to charge head on , rather it was used for maneuvering around the battlefield and due to it's increased turn rate it was ideal to exploit gaps in enemy lines to get behind the enemy and go for softer targets or to just hammer and anvil , that's the "penetrating" quality that most people often misunderstand. Of course they didn't use wedge to charge head on, that would be suicidal for the first ranks and specially the the leader of the formation, that is to say alexander.

I guess everyday is a school day

Well this sounds much like AOM to me and i am not opposed

well i think sword cav already performs better than spear cav against ranged units and i am not in favor of this.

We can compare what i have drawn this situation(although it is a bit extreme) to this video below , just imagine that the janissaries were javelineers, if the lancers didn't have the stats they have like melee resist and bonus vs inf this fight would be a disaster.Even so you can clearly see the problems that i posted before too.

I see your point and that strategy for making them effective at countering ranged units would certainly work if this were a total war like game were a clean charge would disable the group of ranged units from fighting back effectively and can quickly retreat with minimal casualties. But this is a AOE type game were the cavalry will attack the first thing they see leading to collision problems when switching targets or when charging and them overkilling individual units , so what happens ? Sure you kill the guys on the front of the formation but you bet that the other 20 or so guys in the back are going to have a field day with your imobilized cav that you commited. These losses are really bad , not only did you make cav which does not benefit your eco( depends on map but cav that is hunting is not battle ready) but costs a lot when compared to ranged inf and what do you have to show for it? So cav becomes more efficient in theory only.

I too have my two cents on Thorfinn's comment ,his proposals for the melee cavalry aren't that great as the game already implements these to an extent. Instead i would see an overlap in the functions of both melee variants: all cav should specialize in dealing with ranged infantry period, then sword cav could soft counter artillery much like their foot counterpart and spear cav could keep being a softcounter to cavalry in general. My reasoning for this is that while sword cav civilizations usually also have spear cav, spear cav civs don't normally have sword cav. Also @ChronA sword cav generally have a shield so i think them being a sponge for arrows makes sense.

Does this mean you are bringing Delenda Est to A25 already?

What's the period why are talking about? Lysimachus' hellenic thrace or the Odrysians? Th Ardiaei for the illyrians?

they look like regular sarissaphoroi

----> Point 3 <-- ---

oh well we'll see in A25

Is it just me who thinks the stone thrower ballista feels meh, even bad?

I give a perfect score of 10/10 for the flying acrobactics made the persian(archer) atheleets , truly a wonderous display of skill and sportmanship , we some beautifull rolls here today. Also you can clearly see that they stay on groung until the video maybe for dramatic effect. #CavSupremacy

Honestly i see no reason to not nerf ranged units to the ground, don't take this the wrong way as i am not ranting, but because ranged units will always have range ( duh) and will always be good in defending something and even better when in large groups. But right now i feel it is very difficult to exploit and punish a ranged army( not even an archer based army , even a 65 skirms and 20 spears army) for being out of position but this may also be to due to the fact that setting up defenses is rather easy and you aint gonna do jack **** to defensive buildings without siege.

oh well, back to being a pincushion for A25 then hehehe. @BreakfastBurrito_007 I don't think antiochus iii is a good cav hero, indibil is way better since he cuts both the cost and opportunity cost of making cav.

God bless your heart my good man

But you have to be really early , which is easier with ptol. I think it could against slow civs like the greeks