04-11-2018, 08:41 AM
Having done ECW reeenactment in the past I'm doubtful sarrissas could be easily used in that style, the left arm holding the weight is held around the chin/collar bone area while the right arm is acting as a counter and held along the top of the pike with the right hand covering the butt of the pike giving a reasonable amount of control.
The sarrissa has a whacking big sarauter at its butt which would be a real hazard to the guy behind and would be a big problem as it would limit what the pikeman could do with the business end as a result.
Pikes are also very tiring to hold in this position for any great length of time, they were only brought to the charge for actual fighting, so, (if I use the terms I know) to move towards the enemy at the 'advance' (pikes held vertical) or port (pikes held at an angle forward), the subsequent move to adopt the charge (pikes levelled in preparation to fight) would also have that sarauter arcing backwards and upwards past the ranks behind, the opportunity for chaos is enormous, especially at the suggested close order, I'd suggest that most sarrissas would entangle with the ranks behind before presenting an intimidating danger to the rear ranks.
I know the two styles may not be equivelent and while my opinion doesn't rule out a high fighting pose in the phalanx there are a few very practical reasons that it would just be more of a disordering factor than a benefit.
The sarrissa has a whacking big sarauter at its butt which would be a real hazard to the guy behind and would be a big problem as it would limit what the pikeman could do with the business end as a result.
Pikes are also very tiring to hold in this position for any great length of time, they were only brought to the charge for actual fighting, so, (if I use the terms I know) to move towards the enemy at the 'advance' (pikes held vertical) or port (pikes held at an angle forward), the subsequent move to adopt the charge (pikes levelled in preparation to fight) would also have that sarauter arcing backwards and upwards past the ranks behind, the opportunity for chaos is enormous, especially at the suggested close order, I'd suggest that most sarrissas would entangle with the ranks behind before presenting an intimidating danger to the rear ranks.
I know the two styles may not be equivelent and while my opinion doesn't rule out a high fighting pose in the phalanx there are a few very practical reasons that it would just be more of a disordering factor than a benefit.
