Destroyed if beaten by flanking?

[Rod]

DK had it right.
I was asking about the front element being unable to turn leading to its destruction.

My main problem was in my own internal "vision" about what is happening on the battlefield.
I see warriors and light spear receiving rear support as simply deeper formations rather than elements being "in column." Therefore I wondered why a deep formation of warriors would suffer greater penalties than, say, an element of heavy foot. The penalties for any unit being attacked in the flank (loss of any rear support and a combat factor penalty) seemed harsh enough.

However, when viewed as a penalty for being attacked on the flank while in column, the harse penalties seem appropriate. Also, pike were notoriously bad at dealing with flank attacks, so that also seems good. Having one rule to cover all such situations is also probably better from a game design standpoint.

I imagine that I will get over the cognitive dissonance between the game and my internal "vision" eventually...

I really like the new flank rules.... this was something that bothered me in previous systems where a single element was essentially "flankless" because there was no penalty and a free turn to face.

The more I have played with them the more I like them.

[Kontos]

Coupled with the wider map, all this provides a more realistic battle experience and lets mounted armies be competitive where they were not in legacy rules. Much improved.

[JonathanJ]

Don't get me wrong. The only problem I had with the flanking rules was their heavy penalties against deep units of warrior and light spear.

Overall, I think the way flanking is handled is fantastic just like pretty much everything else in the game. I've been enjoying it immensely