I am having trouble imaging how the actual Martial combat of phalanx warfare happened when two opposing armies met.
If both sides had spears pointed in rows then did they just run into each other and hope that the other side chickened out?
I know it wasn't like 300 where people would break formation and have these badass one on ones cause the shield was too cumbersome to allow for it, plus it renders the whole point of a phalanx moot.
So what actually went down?
Not to discourage further answers, but /u/Iphikrates has answered a lot of questions on hoplite warfare, you should check out these especially:
How were ancient open-field battles organised?
Did the people in the front lines of ancient armies basically know they are going to die?
What were the flanks of a phalanx like?
Why was the Greek phalanx so important and how has it influenced warfare today?
How was ancient Greek warfare different from Medieval warfare?