Hoplite (RTW Unit)
The hoplites were the backbone of hellenic warfare, just as the legionaries would become that of the romans.
As such, they play an important role in Rome: Total War.
Contents
Historical Overview
Hoplites were citizen-militia, probably first appearing in the late 600s BCE. Hoplites generally consisted of middle-class greeks, as they could afford their own equipment. As Ancient Greece was an agriculture-based society, most states could not afford a standing professional army (with the exception of Sparta), so as a result, warfare in Greece was intended to be decisive. Most wars were concluded with surprisingly few deaths, sometimes in even one pitched battle. However, hoplites began to decline over the centuries. With the Peloponnesian war, more focus went onto peltasts (light skirmishers), navies, mercenaries, and siege-engines. This also had the effect of greatly increasing the death toll. Consequently, this war and the wars that followed it greatly depleted Greece's limited soldiers, enough to facilitate a relatively easy conquest by Macedonia 66 years later. After this, hoplite warfare began to die-out and be replaced with the more-flexible macedonian variety of warfare.
Gameplay
All hoplites have the ability to form the phalanx formation. They are nearly impervious to frontal assaults. However, they are generally slow and cumbersome, and their rigid formation can easily be exploited with attacks to the side or the rear. Generally, hoplites shoud be used in the hammer-and-anvil tactic which Alexander The Great employed. In that tactic, the hoplites (which are symbolized by the anvil) hold the enemy, while another force (be it cavalry or more-manouverable infantry, which are symbolized by the hammer) destroys the enemy from the rear. It is wise to always support a hoplite-line with lighter infantry, in case of flanking manouvers.
