COMPETITIVE TEAMS BATTLE IT OUT! - 3v3 Siege - Total War: Rome 2

COMPETITIVE TEAMS BATTLE IT OUT! - 3v3 Siege - Total War: Rome 2 - Here is a practice battle with two teams that are going to play in the upcoming Rome 2 Siege Tournament.
Teams -
Attacking - Spears of Ares
Defending - Storm Bringers
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[@lutherabel2618]

Pixelated's two favorite phrases, "sally-out" and "fiery balls". The day fiery balls do a sally-out will truly be his greatest commentary!

[@charliesmith4289]

Isnt it fiery balls of justice

[@lutherabel2618]

@@charliesmith4289that's what their full, official name is, yes. Fiery balls in shorthand.

[@antoinepallascio3944]

Luther Abel imagin 😂👍

[@wizdumb_and_valor]

you deserve them likes for that comment

[@joewalkerskateboarding]

I can just hear it now... "My fiery balls have sallied out into the rear of the enemy!!"

[@FlaccidToenail]

The thing that makes the stacking rule hard is exactly what we see at 1:06:16, its two different players controlling the pikes and the skirmishers, it requires a lot of communication and teamwork to push in those pikes and pull out the skirmishers at the same time to avoid stacking, it sounds as easy as just saying "Hey man pull out those skirmishers by the river, im moving in my pikes" but when your macro-ing entire armies in a siege battle like this and needing to pay attention to the micro work with flanks, arty, cav charges, and both players on the same team fighting in the same area, coordination with attacks becomes very confusing and can fluster many players. Im all for the No Stacking rule but I would also be very lenient on it and take it case by case because as we see here, its hard to coordinates pushing in pikes and pulling out troops especially if the skirmish unit as we see here is being played by a teammate.

[@nicholasschneidermadsen370]

This is solved easily by a simple pause and the opposite team writing: " Hey man, mind moving the skirm?" ^^

[@jacobspencer5295]

I agree with no stacking and pausing it to tell the other team but both of you do seem to agree it's on a case by case situation on where, when and how.

[@GirolamoZanchi_is_cool]

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:13

[@GirolamoZanchi_is_cool]

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. - John 3:16

[@GirolamoZanchi_is_cool]

@@jacobspencer5295 🦕

[@samrussell2244]

All of these Rome II videos have been getting me back into playing it lately. Very good content, thank you Apollo.

[@jakedcaccia255]

When you’re down to a couple units making your last stand defences, you reinforce your pikes with whatever you have left to stop your troops breaking, i personally feel that everyone should be allowed to reinforce their pike units as long as you stick to 2 max pikes

[@SHELLYBOY837]

Pike stacking was banned in that game mate

[@kostakatsoulis2922]

Sounds good to me, especially if you added in the thing that Apollo said about being allowed to do it if the pikes aren't deployed.

[@marvalking0577]

I know I was saying I agree with it and don't think yall should allow it in the tournament

[@Alexander-fl7ii]

If you can't stack pikes because realistically its hard to fit units inside other units, then stacking shouldn't be allowed for any heavy unit. Its going to be hard to enforce that during last stands. The main strategy is to stack troops in the final choke points. If you have two depleted units and you stick them on top of each other, does that count as stacking? how far apart do they need to be? its going to get difficult to enforce rules like this in the middle of gameplay while everyone is zoomed out to see the battlefield, and are quickly trying to move and set up units. Its seems like an unnecessarily complicated rule to me.

[@marvalking0577]

True I get dat

[@dakotadickerson93]

Love you apollo! Glad to have some good entertainment during quarantine.

[@FateIsInexorable124]

I would say don't implement the stacking rule. It's hard with everything going on to guarantee there is absolutely no stacking. It'll only lead to arguments between players. It's in the game, let it go. Players keep archers in reserve anyway. If they see the stacking they can use archers or artillery for mass effect. IMO.

[@SpineBreezer]

Plus i find it kind of boring to watch. At the most action packed moment of the battle instead of focusing on tactics and fighting you gotta focus whether pikes are stacked or not. Also u can change archer rules like 1 more archer unit allowed or something else.

[@williamhammann3170]

I agree with that. Maybe just say no heavy infantry mixed right in the pike unit because that’ll actually prevent archers from getting hits. With artillery obviously it’s a juicy target but that’s why I’d want it to be a really loose rule and only really for a unit of heavy infantry mostly in a pike unit.

[@viraatkumar8980]

but imagine if in a last stand scenario u got pike stacking happening and u guys dont have the ammo to deal with the stacking even tho u miight have the numbers...it can be extremely frustrating in that case if people in the tournament decide to do it and so i think troop stacking in general should just be banned...

[@njjs447]

Historically different unit types were stacked together from time to time

[@OnlyKharnage]

Like the Spanish Tercio

[@Naraku-no-Hana-WE]

Yes but both of those came way, way after this time period. Completely different fighting style, equipment, and overall battle situations from this era. Neither Spain nor Switzerland even existed back then.

[@Locedamius]

I think the stacking rule is BS. For one, as this video shows, it is hard to enforce if so many units of multiple players are mixed in the frontline. Secondly, reinforcing pike units with other infantry to support them at close range was done historically. It's one of the reasons why the Macedonian army was so deadly. So why should the players not be allowed to use their soldiers the same way?

[@victorgibelli6871]

Infantry were never put directly in the pike phalanx as it would have disrupted the formation, instead the hypaspist units would have been placed on the flanks of the pike to keep it from getting surrounded. The only time something like what you mentioned was attempted occurred when the Aetolin League had an alternation line of pike segments and thureos, but they were never directly inside the other.

[@uneducatedisnotstupidlol1504]

@@victorgibelli6871 the Spanish had Pike squares with pikes swordsman and aquabasers so I wouldn't doubt that they would have swords inside the formation maybe not in front but standing behind.

[@wombat2552]

Victor is correct, but it becomes quite a hassel, and you need to be able to pay attention to many things at once, and then you add in having to worry about stacking and it can become too much.

[@jeao7115]

Infantry was never used within the phalanx, it compromises the wall created and instead was used on the flanks or as supporting units to support the pikes

[@maladroit5376]

Stacking pikes and swords is going go be difficult to stop in practice, especially if you have damaged units trying to hold a chokepoint. Limit pikes to 2 per army might be best compromise ?

[@tjpickering9330]

I've come up with a new version of rock, paper, scissors called cavalry, archers, pikemen. Cavalry beats archers, archers beat pikemen, and pikemen beat cavalry.

[@Jinisinsane]

Wow so revolutionary, you should totally work for CA.

[@spoonrust-wr]

I like

[@thalmoragent9344]

tj pickering Impressive!

[@levydondoyano7715]

What about swords and spears

[@arlissmith2446]

The wild cards?

[@16merrick]

The stacking rule is really dumb. Stacking is fine. For fairness sake though, units that can do shield wall, shield screen, or testudo should not be allowed to stack with pikes.

[@iceintheair]

wtf

[@nathanhull8302]

16merrick basically all infantry can do shield, spear, or hoplite wall. So yeah you pretty much just justified the stacking rule. I suppose skirmishers would still stack but yeah the main problem is infantry

[@midshipman8654]

To be fair Apollo, in Spanish tertios in the 16th/17th centuries, the Spanish wold have swordmen inside the pike formation for the very same reason of making them extremely hard to break. So at least the exploit in a way is a historical one!

[@PixelatedApollo1]

But this is a different era

[@midshipman8654]

Pixelated Apollo of course, but at least it shows the tactic has some theoretical merit. I’m not arguing for keeping it in for gameplay or context reasons, just observing some parallels irl.

[@kirito_v4338]

Me:Locked at home Appolo:Seige Tournaments is starting .... Me:Pheew!! I can enjoy your vids every day.Thanks Appolo.

[@djkapalofpkf7534]

Am so happy when you upload a new Rome 2 siege battle..the game aged so well and you make it even better with your commentary..best thing during quarantine

[@hayueshayu]

About the pikes... Game's mecanics, Like it or not exploiting this type of things is what makes good players stand out. All strats in Total war are kind of based on bugs and unit placement - knowing where and when is best. So i think Max X pikes and play like gentelman :)

[@matcrag916]

I don't think the "interdiction to stack pikes and swordsmen rule" is a good idea. This rule is going to bring to much problems I think. Like for exemple if your pikemen are in a fight you can't even charge your swordsmen to fight because they could stack with the pikemen and protect them from arrows. I really think it's going to bring a lot of problems in game to make this rule respected, of courses some rules are needed to balance things, but in my opinion the less rules there is, the better, and I think this rule would be to much. And for the historical part, pikes are too weak to archers in the game compared to real life. Pikemen were not that weak, in real life only a little part of the arrows were passing throught the wall the pikes were forming around pikemen, plus pikemen had shields (even if they were not big shields). Also bows and arrows of this time period were not that good, they weren't longbows or anything, they weren't going through leather armor like a knife through butter, a straight hit on a good spot was needed if you really wanted to seriously injured the person wearing the leather armor. In this battle, I found this rule more annoying than "balancing" (don't get me wrong, I loved this battle !). I think too much rules and this rule in particular encroaches too much on the game and the tactics. But again, this is just my opinion. I hope my english is not too bad and I hope what I say is understandable, if not, I am really sorry.

[@lucasbolda7133]

I agree with this 100%

[@WollongongWacko]

I agree

[@bonqueque2315]

I understand what you’re saying but you also have to think about the game it self. This game is very old and still needs a lot of work. The “stacking problem” didn’t come up when game came out. The problem was only recently addressed 2-3 years ago. There are still many problems that need to be addressed

[@caesarvi1803]

I agree

[@dav1539]

What do you think of my channel? kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6mVc6WwmtCSl6s

[@SHELLYBOY837]

Hello all I was the selucid player that was attacking it was a good battle

[@clementcartry6929]

The arty plays were cool to watch. Did you see the general flank coming?

[@SHELLYBOY837]

@@clementcartry6929 not till to late mate unfortunately had half ammo left

[@rickrussell8382]

That was a epic fight around the bridge and in the water, I just started playing Rome 2 this past November. Learning a lot from these games Thanks

[@jaco6971]

About that rule, here's my thought: Every single game will have exploits, and it's up to the players to be creative and find these and use these against opponents (the Olofmeister boost from csgo comes to mind here). Don't punish players for making certain decisions that might put them at a competitive advantage, it's the responsibility of devs to sort these things out. Players will have to be creative to find new ways to push through pikeformations and use archers/pila differently. Edit, maybe teams/players can ban civs or units pre-game?

[@solowingpixy8190]

Meshing troops / Pike stacking isn't an exploit. Some ppl might not like it but its not an exploit and makes no sense why it would be allowed on every other unit in the game.

[@billyblazes1135]

i agree that pike stacking's fine but i disagree with your argument why. push throughs are an exploit and it's considered blatant cheating

[@gastonjaillet9512]

@@billyblazes1135 I agree. Using exploits just because everyone can is a problem. I try to never use exploits, even if it gives me a disadvantage in battle. It's just more realistic and I feel ashamed when I use exploits

[@burakaskan9483]

Right-clicking a unit on top of another unit that destroys the cycle of the balance of the game "creative". They become practically arrow immune. Their only counter.

[@gizscocktailsandgames7715]

i always thought the sword and pike stack was part of the game i have been doing that since i first started playing

[@redmanrode8349]

Same here, it seemed like such an intuitive thing that calling it an exploit felt off, even if effectively speaking, it di be kinda broken

[@burakaskan9483]

Christ man its such a lowlife move. From just right-clicking another unit on top of another unit you make a near-unstoppable unstoppable kill fest. God forbid you don't have any angle on the stacked units then ur forced to use full archer ammo just to take care of the stacked unit. If they place another unit on top for another stack then you can just call it game.

[@annormal1414]

Well, in my opinion they are already balanced by the "max-two-pikes" rule. If u think they are still op it would be easier just to ban them from challenges ( not good idea)

[@randomzilla7310]

Although I appreciate the fact that it may be hard to referee, I think that in a historical narrative and strategy game like this, realism is very important. You should ban stacking swordsman on pikes- especially if the developers call it an exploit. It will make the tournament more enjoyable in the long run. P.S: if you're reading this, could you possibly like it so Apollo sees it? I'd like him to hear my opinion, but it's fine if you don't (:

[@heygus20]

Loving the Rome 2 content, but honestly all of your videos are dope. Shoutout as well to the Napoleon and LOTR videos! And I actually really like when you play new games as well. Yeah I like it all. Subbed. Edit: Also an advocate for no cheese. Don't sword stack on pikes.

[@toatsmcgoats727]

i don't feel like making a rule to ban pike men stacking will be good. someone might accidentally stack units when they are trying to make another maneuver ending in a faulty penalty on that team.

[@gercasey4766]

Here's a problem with the no stacking pike rule say if you had a pike unit holding the street and you saw archers out of position they were near your pikes according with the rules you wouldn't be able to rush up infantry to kill the archers. I hope the tournament goes well.

[@1stva159]

I always found it so easy to defend, I'm not sure why anyone would need to cheat. That said, part of the strength of pikeman was blocking arrows with the pikes.

[@Naraku-no-Hana-WE]

This. The game doesn't accurately represent the difficulty of hitting pikemen with arrows. But tbf it's a conscious decision by CA for balance purposes.

[@rhysdbooth]

Thanks for the hard work Apollo, I think we all appreciate it very much.

[@jay-arsimbaco1745]

I been Waiting for this! Thankyouuuuuuu Keep Safe Apollo!

[@crose1466]

“Can’t fit swordsmen in a group of pikemen.” Spanish Tercio: Am I a joke to you?

[@martinmcdonnell8583]

2 ways to look at it; 1 - it's an exploit so no 2 - cloud they do it in real life? But the that messes the push through up because it's an exploit, BUT soldiers COULD push through back in the day

[@juliusromanick2363]

Hey, that’s me as Massilia

[@jayd8091]

Gaugamela. The battle you're thinking about was Gaugamela where Alexander defeated Darius for the second time. But there were skirmishers in front of and amongst the sarissa pike phalanxes I thought, to counter the chariots by throwing stones, spears and shooting arrows at the chariots and their horses?

[@thenegasus6542]

Battle starts at 6:04

[@joeybatto2543]

The Negasus cum

[@joeybatto2543]

Cum

[@roenyap2132]

Cum

[@dav1539]

Look at my channel, please kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6mVc6WwmtCSl6s

[@99IronDuke]

No stacking on pikes seems most historical and fairest way to go. I also think no deployables and only two Tortoises per faction.

[@Wickwok]

This is the only game I play anymore. I love the game and these videos. Every time I sally out I think of Apollo saying “EPIC. CAV. SALLY. OUT” Love it!!!!

[@levibogee2535]

I have been watching u since u were at 88K and i love your vids. you will always be my fav youtuber for i long time so keep uploading and never stop doing what u love

[@jacobspencer5295]

I saw the questionable stack at the hr mark, i think it was a team miscommunication and awareness issue and I think PA was right about it being quickly fixed. The whole battle was even and the tqctics were thoughtful and expedient. Good coverage PA

[@anjalisalvi8888]

My parents : don't you have anything to do than playing games (Apollo's uploads video ) Me: 😈 yes then do

[@piyushjaiswal280]

Same here 😁😁

[@tannerdenny5430]

You need to add a rule that makes it so that each player can only have 1 Tortoise. 16 breaches is absurd.

[@RichyRich2607]

so true lol, also looks really stupid seeing all these tortoises

[@SHELLYBOY837]

1 tortoise ? What happens when the enemy artillery destroys it? That suggestion is crap

[@colbycoolby1592]

Have to agree with Craig. If you do that might as well ban tortoises outright or, not.

[@RichyRich2607]

@@SHELLYBOY837 You have siege towers, artillery yourself, rams and ladders.. you are pretending like there is no other way to get behind walls without tortoise. Having that many makes it not even worth to destroy at least one. They had so many breaches, the attackers didn't even used them all lol

[@clementcartry6929]

Too many breaches can work against you, as we saw with the Pergamon player rushing out on the attackers.

[@mythic7424]

stopping stacking is hard and hasnt been to much of a problem but i thing just try not do it when holding a point but if they are in a moshpit then there is nothing you can do

[@heinzklaus7635]

48:00 what just happend to that guy on the Right 😂

[@vikingdoomer86]

That was one helluva fun battle! I cant wait to do it again soon. The attackers were tough but we held and with a bit of grace from the gods we made it happen. GG!

[@daylanthegreay]

Pretty hard to determine. What if half the pike unit is dead? Can you stack then? Too hard to make a rule on that I think. You do what you have to to win. Dont worry about realistic. It's a game

[@theduckbandit3980]

As a player I think you could modify the no stacking rule, so that if the pike unit is engaged in melee then you should be able to stack but if its just sitting there then you should not be able to stack

[@LaneS-gq8dd]

i don't think I will ever get bored of these

[@solowingpixy8190]

Wheres the Link to CA comments regarding Pike stacking? My issue is that its only an exploit when it relates to Pikes but not any other unit. Stacking Units works much better with Sacred Band, Royal Spartans Ect.

[@elbeto191291]

What a defense! They held their ground when they had to, were aggressive when needed and dealt a hevy blow at the end (Tylis' general taking out the enemy artillery). That won them the game IMO

[@gavinmoeding2098]

You should definitely make the rule where swords can’t go into pike man, it makes you use your brain a little more on how to defend them

[@leopantig6360]

Finally!!! Another epic Total War: Rome 2 siege battle. Been waiting for this for some time.

[@flaminfury0420]

The “push through” should be illegal, however putting swordsmen in front of the pikemen should be legal at least from a viewers POV because at least from the majority of the battles I’ve seen that “mechanic” can play a major role in the battle and I think removing that would not be right. Simply because the game devs have said its an exploit, that doesn’t mean its not a significant part of many battle tactics in game. And that’s not to mention arguments among players and all the other smaller issues that come with a rule like this.

[@elishirazi2403]

actually the thing about the pikes, historically some pple actually did that, just for the sake of close quarter engagements so if by any chance anyone was able to get pass the pikes they`d meet the swordsmen in combat protecting the pikes

[@davedudeip]

Personally i dont mind the stacking, ive watched a lot of your videos where defenders stack there units and still lost. Maybe limit the pikes, so if units do stack, its only 2-3 units of pikes? Anyways, keep up the videos bud, i love to watch them!

[@jaketaylor3901]

Is desert Rome allowed in the tournament?? This tournament is about to be awesome, and most of us could use good content now more than ever. Can’t wait!

[@gamingengine9499]

Finally i thought of going through KZbin and guess what Apollo has posted an epic video and I’m not that late time to watch !

[@noobeclus8311]

I need snacks this battle is gonna he lit

[@clayfirenza7112]

As long as it's max 2 pikes you should be able to reinforce the pikes with swords!

[@darrenmceneaney474]

I would err on the side of allowing the stacking and increasing archer cap. What does and doesn't count as stacking might become too fine a line and lead to arguments. And the last thing you need in a large siege is to be checking your pikemen every few moments to make sure teammates haven't gone near them.

[@kase3176]

Spanish pyke square had swordsmen in them.

[@sonicfear4472]

The enforcement is going to be a nightmare if you decide to implement a No Stacking rule. That said as long as the number of Pikemen units is limited, so as to avoid stacking saturation across the board. Just my two coppers worth of insight.

[@robinbe615]

it's sad to see how the walls are useless in this total war :(

[@Naraku-no-Hana-WE]

Walls are far from useless, but it depends on what faction is defending. For instance hoplite heavy factions will prefer to defend the streets. Defenders can choose to defend the walls with armored swordsmen, or use cheap throwaway troops that can hold enemies on the walls for your missiles to shred them, or wait down in the streets but risk letting the attacking troops rain missiles down from the walls. There are plenty of siege battles where the majority of damage is done up on and around the walls.

[@nocontent4908]

Time to get some 4K content, Apollo. So much detail in this game.

[@kostakatsoulis2922]

The idea where you can only use the exploit if the pikemen aren't "deployed" sounds pretty good to me.

[@Labis-uk9ne]

Well if you play a friendly match rules don't matter but in a competitive tournament rules should be respected. No exploits!

[@anjalisalvi8888]

At last Apollo what took u so long To relive us from boredom amidst the china virus.pls upload more Rome and medival battles. Your videos are entertaining 😉

[@anthonykrecic2536]

Honestly I love that stacking exploit because when I'm playing as Rome. If the enemy has archers and there firing on my archers, I'll put my archers in my legionary's and they'll be fine:)

[@Naraku-no-Hana-WE]

Archers and Legionaries are allowed to stack. The rule only applies to stacking with pikemen, to protect pikes from missile fire.

[@vosemgarwatchman5650]

I think archers and other skirmisher units that have no shields should be allowed to stack with pikemen as they would still be easy to kill by archer fire but still screen the pikemen from incoming projectiles by just a little bit.

[@Naraku-no-Hana-WE]

Oh man the attackers did so much right until the final stand. They just got tunnel visioned into that middle street and gave up the flanks. That said brilliant defensive play, they were so close to collapsing in key points so many times and just always managed to get reinforcements where they were needed or get out in time.

[@Chove121]

Love this channel thanks apollo

[@kennethlevy983]

i think in the choas of a battle it will get down to semantics and judgement calls if you do not allow stacking. It should be agreed upon that it should not be utilized as a tactic but no repercussions should come from it. Make it known not to do it but have it more as a silent rule than ground rule.

[@Johnlilly252]

Should use the mod that gives the factions that aren’t strong in the base game be able to be as good as the others

[@tylorfrazier5678]

"THE MEAT GRINDER BABY.......... meat grinder"

[@codypruett1530]

Love the videos watch them all day all night love your tactics

[@nogodsnomasters7669]

My 2 cents is that limiting 2 pike units is enough, there counter is skirmishes which the normal limit is 4 which should even things out. Also you find in hard to break a pike/swordsman bring your own pikes you still have a say in who you play!

[@jamesdashwood6162]

The defenders for this match were fucking lit 💥💥💥 Hats off to both sides

[@darthali2732]

So happy that there's a new tournament

[@tomo-gq2tq]

TW should try giving pikes a unit attachment ability, click on a unit for the pikes to stand right behind and use the long pikes to reach the front and support the fighting for limited time.

[@gabrielsandstrom2834]

The stacking rule seems a bit pedantic precisely because of what happened at 1:06:35-ish when Pontus advanced his pikes forward.

[@aaronluisdelacruz4212]

i'd say i'm fine with stacking, especially during the climax of the battle where both sides are heated and would sometimes forgets the rules of the game.

[@LevCallahan]

If I had a nickel for every "fightin' the good fight" and "there you have it", I'd have 30 dollars.

[@michaeledwards9630]

I think the pikeman/sword combo i think should be allowed. From what ive seen the sword units dont block that much damage from archer units furthermore that would stop players from attacking through pike units as well. At least how i understand the rule in a choke point situation the pike unit would have to completely die before sending another unit in since technically if the support unit goes in early than it could be blocking skirmish damage to pike units.

[@1stva159]

The siege battles are stunning, but to determine the best generals, battles on the open plain would be far superior.

[@PixelatedApollo1]

Negative.

[@1stva159]

I must be out of competitive strategy gaming too long then. Doesn't seem like a lot of tactical options. Just a lot of choke points. Not much flanking, enfilade missile attacks, double envelopments, multiple artillery angles of fire.

[@lucienmillman2700]

personally I think that we should allow the stack pikes because otherwise the pikemen aren't going to be effective at all purely because the enemy will save their ammo until the last just to focus down the pikes

[@dxcfgvbhjnkmdtrfygtvjbhk713]

I say don’t add the stacking rule. It can be hard not to stack in certain situations, like when you have infantry fighting and you send pikes in to reinforce them. Additionally, any infantry units used to protect pikes through stacking will be unable to go and do something else, so instead of getting the full value of a sword unit you’re just getting anti-arrow protection for a pike unit. This trade off means that stacking on pikes isn’t that powerful. A better move would be to stack hoplites on pikes rather than swordsmen on pikes, as hoplites give better protection from arrows and aren’t that good for much else. However, they can make juicy artillery targets and the more you stack units the less streets you can defend and the fewer free reserves you’ll have.

[@dxcfgvbhjnkmdtrfygtvjbhk713]

Just to add one more thing: hoplites in Rome 2 are horrendously underpowered. Stacking them with pikes brings them up to a level where they’re actually useful.

[@claysimpkins7490]

I thought i was the only person on earth that knew about stacking swords on pikes... 😂😂😂

[@WollongongWacko]

I was also thinking no horses, or helmets or swords, because muh balancing

[@daylanthegreay]

Plus a big juicy pike stack is great for artillery

[@TheSmallsGaming]

I’m not sure if anyone has brought up this point but I feel like it’s valid. I feel like the no stack rule is fair. However, there are certain situations in games that it accidentally happens. I’ve seen people breaching walls and pushing through with units, and when they want to ensure they can win, they move in pikes behind the units and somewhat push in and end up stacking. I’ve seen it in game AND watching your videos. It’s a good tactic, however, I could see that being a problem in terms of enforcing that rule.

[@ABonjorno25]

Hey Apollo i'm just watching the videos of the siege tones of Roma II you could do that with other Total war like Empire or shogun for example Very cool to see you communicating to learn the strategies I love your videos

[@IT-xv4mh]

I just started watching your channel but your amazing keep it up!! This looks like a fun fun game

[@fruithopper5118]

At least i can re-watch all your videos being quarantine

[@AegonTheUnlikely]

Awesome battle, I couldn’t help but notice though the quality or resolution looks slightly lower than normally even though I have the video set at 1080p60 like I usually do

[@mufasa1188]

Pikemen get wasted when the archers just obliterate them, they did have some swordsmen when the enemy slipped through the formation

[@nathanhull8302]

Stacking rule is dumb for two reasons. One is that often a unit from another player will stack on them so it’s difficult to control the stacking without constant communication between teammates about such a small thing. Second, in reality you could put infantry in pikes. I’m sure in history they’ve gotten some infantry to mix in with pikes which would be extremely effective at close range combat because the infantry can engage while pikes are there to support and do all the killing, or pikes can fight while having regular infantry to protect them if enemy swordsmen ever get passed the pikes and try to fight hand to hand. It all makes sense

[@---js9qz]

I feel like it would get much more boring if stacking is allowed. Only positive is that as long as the rear is attacked no matter how many stacks there are, it'll cause morale debuff. On the other hand trying to enforce it in every game would be a hassle especially in moshpit fights. You could try to go for 5 Archer stacking allowed rule, or 4 Archer + 1 skirmisher stacking allowed. Best results if you can test those to see if it's too op first though.

[@greek_8613]

Our version of April madness Siege Madness

[@madcow1326]

What if you did it so units with a curtain shield value or maybe it is only infantry that can't stack. The first thing will probably be a bit complicated in though

[@vikingstormo4812]

Many factors lean either for or against. My opinion is do it as a case by case basis. Such as not all factions are made equal. EX. Barbarians vs Roman vs Kush vs Greek faction. If barbarians are defending they want extra protection and pikes will be vital to there defence. If they are attacking and Sparta is defending they do not want to face a tough enemy that will be made even harder to defeat. I say look at the factions and decide which can use the pike cheat and which can not, or only allow defending factions to use it or only attacking factions can use it

[@SkiourosTimmy]

I think it is really hard to prevent troop stacking from happening. Just imagine a pike unit is trying to hold a choke point and is about to get surrounded due to gaps, naturally you would send in reinforcements to try and counter that, which would by this logic mean stacking and therefore not allowed just because it is a pike unit. A deliberate placement of the pike unit inside a regular unit while both being idle is the real problem I think the rule is meant for and I get that, thats really unsporty. But then again you can just place stakes in a choke point and put the pikes or any other unit for that matter inside the stakes and it will have the same or even greater effect of deflecting missiles, so one might as well take a look at that. Also, historically speaking there were many occasions in which Macedonian phalanx formations were mixed with lighter infantary, Pyrrhus did just that against the Romans.

[@movableatrocity3901]

Regarding the pike/sword exploit goes, since you said that it is a exploit then it should be banned, as with any exploit like it.

[@nickname192837465]

but is it really an exploit? as an ancient general you could have just ordered some swordsman to intermix with the pikemen to confuse the enemy and create a versatile unit that combines the threngths of the troop types. thats called military innovation

[@solowingpixy8190]

yep its not an exploit and it would be weird for it to be a unit specific exploit thats allowed on every other unit in the game. Its something thats being pushed by 2-3 mods that are making the rules and not the views of the community.

[@ancientelixir1311]

The staking rule should be explained (like you said in the video) of what should and shouldn't be in the pikemen unit and when they don't have out the pikes then sword units can be in it.

[@007JackBourne]

Keep the stacking! especially because you need to be able to protect them from archers somehow!