formations

well most celtic -stock armies  had warrior bands.   I think in ancient china there were really no standard formation,  i read somewhere that each general would train his men as he saw fit.  the japanese didnt have formations as the samurai fought semi-indevidually.  the greeks had their phalanxs and the  romans their legions. 

btw isnt the 3 line formation wh at the Romans used in ther early armies?  what did they use after that?

Swedish cavalry of the line war period used slight wedge where every man had their knee in contact with other man's knee. Formation had horrible punch in charge. Size of the formation was usually few hundred men if my memory serves me right.

Spanish had their tercios that were squares formed of pikemen.

The scottish had schiltrons, pikemen in circle

major hindrance to romans please give an example

Nobody, reffered to the most famous Roman formation, the Testudo, the first tank of history.

Hispanics used Sheild walls with short swords?

wedge, square

 Rome used its Legionnaries in Maniple formations,each 80 man Century could move independably of the rest of the host or stick together to form a wall, making for very manuverable units.
These units formed themselves into a 'saw' shaped line in Britain and annilated the British tribes with very few casualties to the Romans.The 'Celt' warriors were stuck in the teath of the 'Saw' unable to move because of the press of 'Celtic' warrior's behind them,all they could do was spit at the Romans then die!
The maniples were allso very good for getting behind Phalanxes,once your behind a Phalanx,there finnished .

The Saxon shield wall was a favoured formation,shields interlocked with warriors armed with Spear,Axe,Sword but most importantly, Saex.A shield wall with good warriors can hold all day,as long as the flanks are protected.But its very immobile,only really good for holding a postion until some one runs or there all dead.
Another Saxon formation is the Hoggs head,the warriors form a arrow shaped shield wall and advance into the enemy rank,much like a Cavalry Wedge.

Norman cavalry used Conrois,10-20 mounted men at arms (not everyone was a Knight) would form up Knee to Knee with each other,Lower lances and charge into the enemy infantry.After the initial blow the Lance would be dropped and the secondary weapon used (axe,sword,mace) to cause havoc in the ranks.The Conrois worked in waves so the onslaught was pretty consisitent.

The English civil war saw the 'Push and Pike' tactic,two units of Pikemen with Musketters on each flank.The Musketeer's would fire a few volleys into the opposing Pikes then the main lines would meet.This is were the Push and Pike part comes in,each sides try's to push the other back until one runs or falls in on itself.

Square and line Formations of the Redcoats.The soldiers could form into lines to pour consistent fire into the enemy whilst not taking too much cannon damage (brave buggers).The Squares were formed when Cavalry was too close,the soldiers form up into dense squares with Bayonets fixed.The Bayonets protect the men from the horses whilst the infantry can pour fire on them.

Originally posted by Gavriel The Squares were formed when Cavalry was too close,the soldiers form up into dense squares with Bayonets fixed.The Bayonets protect the men from the horses whilst the infantry can pour fire on them.

Strangely, during the Battle of Balaclava, the 93rd Highlanders got into a thin line only two-men deep(instead of getting into a square formation), and they were able to fight off the 2,000 Russian Cavalry. Also, the square formation worked very good at Waterloo for the British.


Edited by Emperor Barbarossa - 15-Oct-2006 at 10:05

Originally posted by Gavriel Was it three lines?i thought it was only two deep. The commander of the Highlanders must of wanted to hit the entire cavalry front rank in one go,the only way to do that was to streatch his line very thin.The convention would of been to form Square but that would be done as a defensive action,he obviously was attacking the Russians,brave those Highlanders.

Yes, I did mean two lines deep. Also, the Highlanders did come out of the fortification onto the road. They were the last line of defense, since the British marine and Turkish soldiers fled at the site of the Russian cavalry.