stepping forward

[lawrenceg]

It seems to me that the current (5.01/6.01) stepping forward rule does not achieve what was intended.

Stepping forward is allowed if :

All stepped forward bases contact enemy to their front.

As all non-front rank bases will have friends to their front, and hence will be unable to contact enemy, they will never be able to step forward. Therefore a pike block stepping forward will be fighting with only a single rank in the impact phase. Or maybe all ranks still count, as I can't find anything to say all ranks must be in contact with each other, or even facing the same direction.

All stepped forward bases remain in at least corner to corner contact with another base of their battle group.

This rule changes the ability to step forward according to base depth. This seems hard to justify when we consider that base depths are not to-scale. It also causes an inconsistency between 15 mm and 25 mm scales.

This rule also allows two or more bases to step forward together and become isolated from the rest of their BG, provided they all contact enemy to their front and they end in contact with each other. A single base cannot become isolated by stepping forward, but could be isolated if all other bases of its BG step forward.

If enemy are not lined up exactly opposite the chargers, then more bases can step forward than if they were exactly lined up (step forward into corner-corner contact with enemy not allowed).


What I'd like to see:

• Clarification that rear ranks step forward to stay in contact with front ranks.
  
  Removal of requirement to stay in contact with another element of the BG. (Let them fight if they can. They'll have to reform anyway once the combat sorts itself out.)
  
  Compel step forward into corner-to-corner contact with enemy if another element of the BG steps forward into front edge contact with it. (Ensures there is no chance of missing out on overlaps in the following melee phase.)
  
  Compel step forward without contacting enemy, to remain in line with another element of the BG that steps forward into contact. (Why would they stop charging if their neighbour keeps going?)

[rbodleyscott]

We are working on this. The rear rank thing is already in the next iteration. The rest is under discussion.

However, we really need to issue an update this week so it can be used at Ascot. We are finalising it now, so the update won't address all your issues. They will get addressed in due course.

[lawrenceg]

We are working on this. The rear rank thing is already in the next iteration. The rest is under discussion.

However, we really need to issue an update this week so it can be used at Ascot. We are finalising it now, so the update won't address all your issues. They will get addressed in due course.

Thanks for the acknowledgement. In general I wouldn't expect all issues to be addressed in the next update as it depends on where you are in the update cycle at the time they are raised and the resources available to address them.