Skirmish charge impacts enemy troops

[broeders]

A strange situation arose - MRR vs Carthaginians. My velites charged my opponents slingers - who evaded by turning 180 degrees and going straight back.

As the velites were not lined up directly with the slingers but had to charge forwards in a straight line, this meant the the left-most base of velites would hit a line of medium foot scutarii.

As skirmishers can't charge medium / heavy foot (although the scutarii were not the original target) it meant that they couldn't charge the slingers as a result. My opponent moved his slingers anyway, but my velites had to stay where they were.

Is this right? What should we have done?

[petedalby]

Always difficult without a diagram or picture but it sounds like you did it right.

LF can't contact non-skirmishers so halt 1MU away - see P60.

You can then throw javelins in the next turn - or evade away if you're charged.

[broeders]

Always difficult without a diagram or picture but it sounds like you did it right.

LF can't contact non-skirmishers so halt 1MU away - see P60.

You can then throw javelins in the next turn - or evade away if you're charged.

S = Scutarii, Sl = slingers, V = velites

So if the velites move forward, the slingers can swing past the scutarii as they evade, but the left side of the velites will hit the scutarii.

S S S

........Sl Sl Sl Sl

......V V V V

So they stop 1MU from the scutarii?

[hammy]

That looks right to me.

The velites could have included a wheel in their charge such that they would 'miss' the scutari but if they charged straight ahead then they would stop as soon as the scutari were 1 MU to their front