Upcoming Rifter submission needs your knowledge of Rifts

[Hotrod]

First off, modern combat absolutely uses formations. Granted, they tend to be more fluid affairs than the dress-right-dress parade-style formations of the Napoleonic wars, but they're still critically important. Armies still bring their troops into line formations to mass their firepower (Desert Storm was a large-scale example of this), units set up omnidirectional defensive positions when they halt in hostile territory, and flanking remains the dominant technique for assault.

The steppes of the Caucuses and Russia would be prime spots for open-field combat, and warlords would likely use formations to mass their big guns against large scale threats. Coalition operations against the Xiticix would also involve a lot of open-ground, formation-based combat with massed firepower.

England probably wouldn't be such a great spot for big formations. The heavy forests would impede them, and there's little standardization of equipment. Cyber-knights don't strike me as formation fighters; they seem far more focused on developing themselves as rugged individuals and knights-errant.

I would suggest checking out Triax 2's history and timeline section for some good material on big, dynamic battles.

[The Raven]

Just my opinion on this:

The Warlords of Russia wouldn't be into formation fighting. They are more of the horde mentality or swarming ants. There are far too few Cyber-Knights to engage in formations, the most you might get is something akin to a squad in my opinion. New Camelot would be the same thing, far too forces for them to be engaging in battles in set formations.

A fair number of battles would be open-field but not at the point-blank range of fantasy combat. A Rifts battle might start off with infiltrators from both sides trying to cause havoc, followed by barrages of missiles/spells, then squads moving up with fire support. All the while, flanking forces (fast powered-armor units or mystically enhanced troops) are engaging in their own dance of death between the sides. Any formations that may have existed beyond a squad break apart as the battle surges around them.

Most large battles in Rifts would be akin to WW2 and modern wars, with fluid lines and squad tactics as a focus. The NGR uses containment lines when assault Gargoyle Empire hatcheries but I wouldn't call that formation fighting. Only other large battle that I can think of is "Chalk's Folly" at the start of the CS-Tolkeen war (Siege on Tolkeen book 1, pg 105). If anything, Chalk's Folly showed that formation fighting doesn't work in Rifts. A foolish CS general marched his troops up to Tolkeen, tried to bombard the city and then pretty much line-marched his forces up to the walls for his 'easy victory' before noticing the forces swarming out to attack from inside the still intact walls of Tolkeen.