Ties are locked in combat except for some rare exceptions. Usually the loser recoils its depth if it is beaten or destroyed if doubled. Some troops types will destroy particular opponents by simply beating them. Elements that don't have room to recoil because friends behind them are facing in other directions or enemey are behind die instead. Elements that are killed in close combat sweep away friends within an element depth behind them in the panic.
Impetuous winners have to follow up their depth but other winners stand their ground.
Superior troops are harder to recoil and kill and inferior troops crumble quickly. Then the demoralized elements begin to flee, though some can sometimes still be held or used usefully with good PIP dice. All opposing elements nearer to demoralized enemies than undemoralized enemies become impetuous, which can often be very hazardous to the victors, as they are often rather broken up form their original formations by the combat. Victory is determined by demoralizing or destroying half of the opponent's army before he does the same to you. It gives an ancient or medieval battle that can be completed in a reasonable amount of time, using troops that mostly work the way you would expect their historical counterparts to, without dwelling on the minutiae of armaments too much.