Slitherine

Another NEWBIE question.

In a recent game my opponent's CAV declared a charge on my LH which within 3MU directly to the front of the CAV. I evaded, rolled normal (3) and he rolled normal (4) as well. Seeing me "uncatchable", he then moved 2MU of his charge distance and wheeled 45 degrees to his left into another unit which was not prevously within his original "charge zone, i.e. directly to his front.

Was such a change of direction and target permissible in a charge?

My understanding is that it is not.

As long as you evade in the direction of the charge then the charger should follow as best as possible.

It is only when you evade out of the charge direction that he is allowed to continue after other battle groups.

A bit late otherwise I would quote something from the books.

Rob

Okay grabbed the book.

Check out the first paragraph on the right of page 68.

Hope it helps.

Rob

Thanks for that citation Robert. That is actually the paragraph my opponent used to justify his position that he could deviate from a straight-ahead charge.

Re-reading it now, rather than in the middle of the game, I interpret it to say that a wheel is permissible in an attempt to follow an evader. In our case no wheel was necessary to pursue the evader. The evade was directly away from the charge.

Is that your understanding?

That's right: the charger can deviate from his charge path only if the target evades out of the path.

Marc

The charger had to pick an angle of charge before the variable rolls were done.

This had to be a legal charge that assumed the evaders stood still.

Then after the evader moves the charger can either follow the original course or follow in the direction of the evaders.

Yes, so he could have declared his original charge direction so that it would contact the other unit when the LH evaded. Although the wheel would have to be at the start of the move and the angle of wheel might be restricted if either the LH are very close, or the wheel would result in less bases contacting the LH if they stood.

I appreciate the input. Just to be clear. This was not a case of the secondary choice being UNCOVERED. The secondary target was not an eligible target for the CAV to charge at the beginning of the turn due to orientation of the charger and relative placement of the units in question. In effect, this was an attempt to reposition the charger by declaring a charge on a target he knew would evade out of reach, and then midway into the charge (having gained an extra two inches) then wheeling mid charge to hit a previously ineligible target.

Based on your collective responses I now believe that to have been an incorrect move.

Thanks again for taking the time to help sort it out.