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[Titus]

To continue to answer the questions raised by TheGrayMouser -

Combat Response –
A cavalry unit armed with a lance (12’ kontos / xyston) during the 1st melee period** of contact will have added factors for the initial impact. Thereafter such a cavalry unit would have no better factors than a standard cavalry unit armed with a sword as the momentum is lost after the initial contact. Similarly, a legionary unit has added combat factors during the 1st melee period in recognition of the pilum but thereafter resorts to the standard infantry unit with sword.
Game testing has shown that this approach does not give the specialised units described above sufficient benefit in multiple turns of combat. Recreating the effects of historical battles has been found to be most accurately represented by allowing these special units to regain the added factors at the start of each new turn. Special units do not regain the added factors at the time when a fresh enemy unit makes contact with them if they are already in combat with an enemy unit; only at the start of a new turn.
** Note each turn has 4 periods (rounds) of combat and the number of combat rounds (up to 4) between two specific units will depend when during the turn these two units made contact. Combat can continue the following turn if the two units remain in contact at the end of the first turn of contact.
Use of multiple units in one hex –
The game identifies which is the largest unit at the moment of combat between two groups during each melee period (round) and this unit is the one that suffers the losses. Consequently, two similar sized units (e.g. 2 Legionary units of 100 men each) would each suffer losses as the larger unit varied from one combat to another in one melee period given they were in contact with multiple enemy hexes. However, only one of the units (the larger) would make an attack during each melee period.
This gives benefits to various strategies a player may use. By using two similar units on the same hex they can share the losses and therefore share the inflicted battle fatigue. This means the stack of two units will not rout as quickly as one unit of the same total strength. However, you do tie down your army’s potentially limited units in the same hex and this prevents an effective mobile reserve as both units in the same hex once adjacent to an enemy unit are difficult to extract from the line of combat. Also two units on the same hex do not get the morale benefit gained from one unit being near-by, protecting the flank or rear of the other unit.
Combat Tactics -
Although micro-mechanics of the game are complex and provide all sorts of opportunities and variations, I find that keeping play at the macro level is the most effective way of winning a battle. The key to winning an Ancient Warfare battle is to apply the tactics of that period and use the historical strengths of famous units in your army. Do not apply WW2 tactics to Ancient Warfare – it does not work. Always seek to keep your army line intact and avoid being outflanked. Keep a mobile reserve ready to exploit an opportunity in the enemy line or fill a gap in your line. Protect the flanks and rear of your slow moving infantry and keep your light infantry in skirmish mode to fire their missiles and avoid hand-to-hand combat.
I hope you find the above clears up a few matters.

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For combat we are told once orders are given, action plays out in an EVENT PHASE.
Then for each ¼ turn there can be 4 combat ROUNDS
Then in the charts to see how effective a unit/weapon is, I learn a Lance/Kontos does x damage on the ist combat MELEE PERIOD, light spears 1 2 and 3rd MELEE PERIOD

To clarify the above - they all mean the same thing - An Event Phase or Action Phase is the same as a combat round (assuming your unit is adjacent to an enemy unit at the start of the event phase). A melee period is the same as a combat round.