anyway, back to physics of such push.. i did not tried it, but my base knowledge of physics (i was manufacturing engineer major, with university level of Statics, Dynamics and Physics, but its been like 20 years i didnt used that stuff) i can tell that amount of force you generate with two blocks pushing against each other would be about 2x of what a single force can do against a solid object. Yet in this case, you have shields locked together in overlapping manner, therefore force from another file would add to yours, while certain amount of a force in third file, would also apply indirectly (pushing at the shield next to you, it would transfer some kinetic energy to yours) so all in all, overall pressure against single shield would be 2x what you got *2 for the enemy formation. (guessing its the same 8 ranks) or practically 4x what you achieved by pushing against the tree with single file of 8 men.
not exactly.. its not the pushing that gives you support, but the mere presence of them, having somebody behind you that improves your morale... the knowledge you are not alone..
remember reading this at Gary Brugemman page:
http://romanarmy.info/spacing/spacing.html
(sorry for so many edits)
on a side note, i think the best way how to assess these things would be a computer simulation.. not a PC game, they don't usually have realistic physics and are usually made to be fun and not to be accurate.. but some sort of a simulation, that would take all these things into account and would allow you to play the combat scenario, so you can see result of it.. Of course, you would need to have full human skeleton modeled etc, but that is something that is not that hard to get these days.. many modern game engines can easily serve as simulation overlays, as they use full Physics in them (be it Unity or Unreal Engine or anything else)
Main advantage of such modeling would be so you can simulate actual combat.. with its morale effects, with people hesitant to go into danger, material strength etc etc.. but of course, it would all depend on quality of input. (sorry if i got a bit carried away..)
not exactly.. its not the pushing that gives you support, but the mere presence of them, having somebody behind you that improves your morale... the knowledge you are not alone..
remember reading this at Gary Brugemman page:
Quote:The Society for Creative Anachronism holds full contact battles with wooden weapons. They have little to teach about the Roman legion but one participant who is a "Roman" soldier did have one useful comment. He noted that even in their mock battles it is very important psychologically to know who is next to you and behind you. The support and protection of those around you is critical to one’s ability to fight. If this is true in a mock battle, it must have been more so in real ones. This would seem to argue in favor of a closer spacing. Given the considerations above, a lateral spacing of three feet seems appropriate.
http://romanarmy.info/spacing/spacing.html
(sorry for so many edits)
on a side note, i think the best way how to assess these things would be a computer simulation.. not a PC game, they don't usually have realistic physics and are usually made to be fun and not to be accurate.. but some sort of a simulation, that would take all these things into account and would allow you to play the combat scenario, so you can see result of it.. Of course, you would need to have full human skeleton modeled etc, but that is something that is not that hard to get these days.. many modern game engines can easily serve as simulation overlays, as they use full Physics in them (be it Unity or Unreal Engine or anything else)
Main advantage of such modeling would be so you can simulate actual combat.. with its morale effects, with people hesitant to go into danger, material strength etc etc.. but of course, it would all depend on quality of input. (sorry if i got a bit carried away..)
Jaroslav Jakubov
