Good party for a phalanx?

[jazzymantis]

So I am trying to design a possible one shot campaign and I came across the idea of having a party be a phalanx with the goal of just holding a location as hordes of enemies come forward. (Inspired by that one battle in Memories of Ice).

So I am thinking of having 4-5 PC's of levels 3-5, I haven't decided yet. I am looking for combinations of abilities that allow a group to essentially just stand there and deal with whatever comes at them, ideally with abilities that work really well together.

My basic idea was to get battle-master Fighters with the protection fighting style, if an enemy attacks, your buddy imposes disadvantage on them, and when they can't hit you, you use your BM dice to riposte for an extra attack. Things like that.

If you can think of any other particularly good combo's that would be great. Other things I have thought of would be protection fighting style paladin's that could smite and heal, clerics with spiritual weapon/ spirit, tieflings/etc with hellish rebuke.

Also should there be a back row? with 3-4 shield members and 1-2 ranged characters behind them helping weaken the incomers? How would they deal with arrow fire/etc over a prolonged encounter?

Please discuss if an ability score or feat would be more worthwhile, and what spells players could get more mileage out of (like spirit guardians, or possibly conjure animals)

TL/DR So to sum it up this party should be able to: 1) take a beating over a long encounter

2) Be able to kill/stop the forces coming at them

3)Handle encounters with a higher CR than average for typical party (lots of weaker dudes most likely)

4) Hold the position (a gate, hallway, etc)

[Eragon123]

This isn't exactly what you want but our party did hold off a few waves of enemies and we never lost ground.

Front line:

Abjuration wizard with good AC and decent hp. Was able to reliably tank and could shoot burning hands, shocking grasp and such.

Battlemaster fighter: double feat sentinel and pole master feat combo. Helped buy stopping, goading, menacing, and otherwise manipulating the front line of enemies. Amazing when the fighter can push enemies so they fit nicely into a cone.

Middle rank: disciple of life cleric. Decent AC and hp also used shield of faith on wizard and healed the fighter when needed. Otherwise shot off cantrips.

Back rank: warlock3 /sorcerer2. I was definitely the blaster I hexed and eldrich blasted priority targets. Focusing on weak mooks as to trigger temp hp per fiend patron. Also with armor of agathys I was able to fend off reinforcements from the back.

We were all level 5.

[jaydubs]

If they're going to be level 5 or higher, and have time to prepare, I'd definitely include a wizard or bard with Leomund's Tiny Hut. Just have everyone gather inside the radius before casting, and you have an impenetrable (without some sort of dispelling magic) fortress at a point on the map. Load it down with stockpiles of arrows, and you can shoot out, but they can't shoot in. The way I read it, you could swing melee weapons out as well, without fear of counterattack.

That kind of strategy would probably run counter to the dramatic last stand scenario you're going for - but it's a very effective way to run a static defense, if you have time to prepare.

Edit: Requires caster to remain inside, so you can't throw up dozens of the things.

[VoxRationis]

A phalanx, huh? So the party is completely composed of fighters with Polearm Mastery and either attack or shove as their complete assortment of tactics?

Kind of boring, if you ask me.

[Naanomi]

A paladin (for aura) and someone with protection combat style/shield mastery would be useful. Especially standing next to that battlemaster polearm/sentinel

[Gwendol]

I made a thread discussing how to represent spartan hoplites in the game. I'm sure it will provide you with some food for thought.

My recommendation is BM fighter with protection style and the shield master feat for the front row. For the back row you can use whatever with range, and/or cleric/paladin support packing reach weapons.

Hoplite thread: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?405127-Hoplite