Charging without orders - charge distance?

[mchappory]

Hi all,

Could someone please clarify the charging without orders charge distance.

I'm uncertain at what range shock troops would be forced to charge, or take a test not too, versus troops capable of evading. The rules seem to add an additional 2MUs to a units charge distance to account for the evade move of opponents. Does this mean that Cavalry would be forced to charge troops capable of evading if they were within or at 7MUs?

This would mean that if a battle line of cavalry advanced covered by skirmishers, who were 5MU's in front, the cavalry would be forced to charge if the enemy came within 7MUs of their battleline, not 5MUs - which I accept.

Surely, I must be having a stupid moment and reading this section of the rules (p.58) incorrectly.

I have a Nikephorian Byzantine army and am unused to seeing my drilled superior cavalry get overly keen to charge the enemy especially as the Byzantine manuals emphasize keeping the lines steady - of course, reckless charges by the Tagma units may well be the reason that the manuals harp on about a controlled advance! It seems a shame though that the rules deny quality re-rolls on this CMT.

Many thanks in advance for your replies.

Matthew

[gozerius]

BGs that are subject to charging without orders test if there are any eligible targets within their normal charge range. If there are more than one target the BG's path must be such that it could hit all of them, or if that is impossible the charge path that is most directly ahead. If something that would exempt the BG from needing to test lies along the charge path and would be contacted by the BG either stepping forward, pursuing evaders or both, the BG does not test, and does not charge without orders.

In your example, The cav would test to charge the skirmishers within 5 MUs. However, if the LF were screening elephants that were within 7 MUs of the cav, the cav would not need to check, and would not charge without orders.

[zoltan]

From memory v2 will make it explicit that it is only the 'normal' move distance that is taken into account when determining whether or not a test is required.

[bbotus]

The cav would test to charge the skirmishers within 5 MUs.

Since the skirmishers are capable of evading, add 2 MU to your charge distance. If this total distance would meet any of the requirements not to charge on page 58, then you do not have to test not to charge. This is explained a little better in FAQ 4ii. The parenthetical paragraph towards the top of page 58 about adding the 2 MUs is to see if you meet any requirements not to charge.

RBS explained that there was an editing oversight requiring the FAQ in this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=43&t=8825

[mchappory]

Thanks guys - I'm grateful for the clarification and the thread link