Yeah I think you're right. The second protesters become effective at employing the phalanx, it will immediately become obsoleted by escalation to the use of rifles or armored vehicles. These tactics have been obsolete for a millennium and a half. The only reason we are seeing them being used to any effect is the state's reluctance to resort to mass murder on livestream. This reluctance is dwindling though. The reactionaries are working overtime to demonize the protests and make martyrs of the police and white nationalist paramilitaries.