Martin:
> In the first age there was a significant development in phalanx warfare
> caused by the battles fought by the Bright Empire against the Westerners.
> There the DHs were exposed to heavy cavalry for the first time in serious
> numbers. They found that the hoplite style of combat (spear used overhand)
> was less than effective in stopping such a charge. Once the phalanx was
> broken, the cohesion loss was usually disasterous. Palangio and others
> learnt fromt his and via the institution of war known as the Daysenarus cult,
> they partly adopted a heavier phalanx, shoulder to shoulder, shield from the
> shoulder staps and using a sarissa like pike.
This is the distinction I was referring to as (perhaps too loosely)
as 'Greek vs. Macedonian'. However, I'm not clear what you're
saying about Dara Happa vs. Pelanda in such respects: are/were
Pelandan phalanxes of what you call the 'lighter' formation, or of
the heavier type?
My money is on the Pelandans (or maybe the Darsenites, if you want to be
_really_ picky...) were the 'inventors' of the sarissa and the associated
tactics, which the above DH formations having 'borrowed' it, but I'm
not saying how much money that actually is...
Cheers,
Alex.