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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 260507" data-attributes="member: 1645">Unless I'm mistaken, that's exactly what the ancient Greeks did: grab men, stick them in phalanges, and expect them to fight.  They'd train for a few weeks, like any militia, then face combat.  Certainly the Spartans were professional soldiers, but they weren't the only ones to use a phalanx.The Romans didn't fight in the phalanx.  They fought in tight formation, but not in a phalanx.  A phalanx consists of men with spears and shields.  (Interestingly, Alexander's men used 12- to 15-foot pikes with a small shield, and the Spartans used 8-foot spears overhand with a large shield.  Neither of those options is legal in D&D.)The Romans found that they could out-maneuver pikemen in phalanges, and if they lured them into uneven terrain, the phalanx would break up, allowing them to find the cracks and exploit them in close combat -- where their huge shields and short swords beat small shields and useless spears.The Phalanx Fighting feat, now that I've taken a quick look at Lords of Darkness, should be Legionary Fighting.  It offers +1 AC if you use a large shield and a light weapon (e.g. shortsword), and one quarter cover (+2 AC, +1 Ref) if you form a shield wall with an adjacent Phalanx Fighter.</blockquote>