Lights and Blocking Fallbacks

[SnuggleBunnies]

I think this issue needs to be revisited, as I have had it used against me in two different ways recently in two different games, neither of which felt plausible for the game.

1) Parking lights behind an enemy non-light unit in melee, so it cannot fall back. This seems wrong to me, as, for example, you can have a unit of light javelin horse just sitting behind, say, a disrupted unit of cataphracts. I really don't see how a thin screen of light horse would prevent the movement of a unit of cataphracts. As things stand, instead of getting to fall back and possibly get a breather to rally or have reinforcements move in, the disrupted unit is trapped in place by lights.

2) Use two light units to force an enemy into melee. My opponent moved a unit of slingers two tilles away from my camels. Then, he charged in a unit of light javelin horse, and parked a unit of pikemen off to the side. Whereas, ordinarily, the light javelin horse would bounce off of a direct counter like camels, it was forced to stay in contact by the presence of the friendly slingers behind, giving the phalanx time to charge into the camels, who then could not evade. This seemed pretty damn ridiculous to me. In reality, such an assault would lead to confusion, as the light javelin horse attempted to flee through the ranks of friendlies.

Potential solutions:

1) The unit falls back. If a friendly unit is behind, one or both of them take cohesion tests, and both units move back a tile.
2) The unit that cannot fall back takes a cohesion test with severe negative modifiers. Wouldn't solve the pinning/attacking problem, but would make it riskier.
3) The unit 'falls back in place,' a mechanic that existed in Pike and Shot. The unit would disengage, even if it did not physically withdraw a space. Can be rationalized by the large size of squares.
4) The lights withdraw through the friendly unit behind, with one or both taking cohesion tests.

I realize that any of these changes could cause substantial changes to the clashes on main battle line troops. Thus, I largely envisioned these options as applying to light troops, as it makes sense that non lights would form solid lines difficult to fall back into.

Thoughts?

[MVP7]

Another side of the same issue was discussed earlier this year. viewtopic.php?f=477&t=82471

Currently I think that involving cohesion checks would be too exploitable and/or unnecessary. My suggestion is that light units that are blocking evading non-light unit (friend of foe) should give way for the evader (as in they would evade before the non-light moves into the square). Maybe light units should also give way for evading friendly light units?

[Ludendorf]

3 makes a great deal of sense and is elegantly simple, and I'm surprised no one suggested it sooner. A square represents a big area of land, and unless the blocking lights were somehow ordered to point their spears (if they even have them) at the engaged lights and refuse to let them disengage (which would cause pandemonium and probably a rout unless both units were extremely disciplined) a 'fall back in place' would be a good representation and IMO good from a gaming perspective. It would still have allowed Snugglebunnies' camels to escape without unduly punishing the light horse.