Slitherine

I play Nikephorian byzantine and use a mixed unit with 4 base mf archers and 4 base hf def spears.
When i move the unit can i rearrange all the bases ?, i found no rule that i can't.

E.g. if the spears are all 1st and all the mf 2nd rank, can i take in a move the spears to the
2nd rank and the mf beside (half/half). This is to react to a charge of enemy def spears.

Currently we played that i cannot rearrange.

dragongate wrote:I play Nikephorian byzantine and use a mixed unit with 4 base mf archers and 4 base hf def spears.
When i move the unit can i rearrange all the bases ?, i found no rule that i can't.

E.g. if the spears are all 1st and all the mf 2nd rank, can i take in a move the spears to the
2nd rank and the mf beside (half/half). This is to react to a charge of enemy def spears.

Currently we played that i cannot rearrange.

Effectively no you can't. You have to do it by formation changes. For example, you could contract to a one element wide column and then expand again into three elements wide and put two archers to the front beside one spear, then contract again putting the spear in the rear then expand again and presto you've now got spear in the rear and bow in the front.

Not something you do quickly when charged in the flank or rear.

Ian

I would ask why you would want to move up your bows? In a charge situation a second or third rank of bows can shoot at impact as long as they are being charged. They can shoot over the heads of the up front spears if that is your concern. You will get better POA's in melee from your spears than your bows I would assume.
MF bows can not shoot if they charge during impact, to shoot at chargers they have to be receiving the charge.

We can also add that a formation is something more loose than troop type, you can choose in some cases to deploy a BG either as HF or MF but you cannot change it during game, but not so loose you can change at will. When you choose a formation for one of your BG you should have in mind a plan and a role for such BG in your plan which require a particular formation. During game you can change your mind, but to adapt to your new plan you must wait your unit change formation, otherwise result would be unhistorical.