A few years ago I read a bunch of Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe's" series of historical novels set in the wars against Napoleon. In the major battles, there was a sort of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" thing going on. If the infantry formed up into a tight-packed square, it was invulnerable to cavalry charges; but it was then much more vulnerable to cannon fire. If the infantry was spread out in a loose formation, it was pretty safe from cannon fire, but could get wiped out easily by a cavalry charge.
A sort of similar thing has been evidence in our D&D game. If a party or group of monsters spreads out, then they can get swarmed, ganged up and royally bitch-slapped. If the group goes all tight-formation, then they are a lot safer in melee, but much more vulnerable to spell attacks.
I just read a warhammer novel last night, where the bad guys were attacking a bunch of pikemen in formation. The barbarians really screwed with the pikemen, by sending in a bunch of war dogs into the middle of the formation. The dogs were low enough that they got in under the pikes. They didn't do a lot of damage, but the formation broke up when a few of the guys got attacked and panicked, turning, and basically disrupting the coordination involved in trying to maneuver the whole bunch. It was just enough for them to be screwed when the enemy cavalry arrived shortly afterward.
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