More on Phalanx tactics across history

The Greeks were the first to use the phalanx in warfare.   It was literally, a wall of shields and spears that stayed in formation throughout an engagement.  The Greek phalanx was composed of heavily armored Hoplites (over 70 lbs of armor) with 6 foot stabbing spear (not thrown).  They were formed in ranks six deep with overlapping wooden shields.  The method of warfare was direct:  the two sides charged each other with the victor being the phalanx that wasn't broken.  This was in your face warfare so intense that the Greeks were able to keep their independence intact despite two successive Persian invasions with much larger foces.  Philip of Macedon (Alexander the Great's father) improved on the Phalanx by tripling the spear length and increasing the depth of the formation from 12-16 ranks deep.  This wall of spears was virtually impossible to penetrate and was able to provide the Macedonians a solid base within a fluid battlefield to defeat much larger Persian mobile formations. 

Across history, the phalanx has been used to effect.  In the age of Musketeers, the phalanx morphed into pikemen (the famous Swiss mercenaries are a prime example).  Later, in the 18th through 19th century the British "thin red line" and infantry square provided a way to capture the benefits of a phalanx defense with bullets instead of spears.  This later morphed into the paralyzing defensive tactics of the First World War's trench defense -- again another phalanx that stretche for hundreds of miles.

The rise and fall of phalanx-like formations have been in constant tension with highly mobile, armored forces.  Since the onset of armor in WW2, few defensive phalanxes have emerged that withstand the impact of a well trained armored force.  The only exception to this is urban combat -- with examples from Stalingrad to Grozny.