>>2050170
On the whole, not really? But it definitely gives you an advantage.
I mostly play Rome 2 with Divide Et Impera mod. DEI slows down battles a lot and the battle AI is pretty good, random cavalry suicide charges into phalanxes notwithstanding. Recently I've been playing the Alexander campaign where you are hugely outnumbered in most battles. The AI is quick to exploit gaps in your line or exposed flanks. On top of this the Persians like to field a lot of missile cavalry. I approach most battles the way Alexander did in real life, with pike phalanxes in the center, and elite hoplites and light infantry auxiliaries covering the flanks. All arranged in oblique formations to avoid being surrounded like Alexander did at Gaugamela. The AI never uses tactics like this and you can shred thousands of enemies just doing what he did.
DEI also has a population class system which further encourages you to use real life tactics. You can't throw away your elite units because not only are they expensive, the noble population you recruit them from tends to be very low and regenerates slowly compared to the lower classes and foreigner classes. So I end up relying on expendable auxiliaries for a lot of the fighting, just as Alexander did.
Don't have a screen of the formation so here's one of Alexander's marshals.