Slitherine

Our group has a disagreement on reading the RAW. Page 28 says that when a BG is in close combat, the commander can elect to either fight in the front rank or to encourage the BG from the rear. In the next paragraph and also on page 49 it says a commander with a BG must be in edge to edge and corner to corner contact with a base of this one BG. The question is: Would 'encouraging from the rear' mean the commander must be placed behind the BG or can it be place on the flank of the BG? Assume no other friendly unit is nearby.

Would 'encouraging from the rear' mean the commander must be placed behind the BG or can it be place on the flank of the BG?

FWIW I've always treated the term 'encouraging from the rear' as descriptive rather than a requirement - I'd have no problem with the Commander being on the flank of the BG.

I've never played anyone who has raised this as an issue.

A strict reading of p28 appears to suggest that when a BG (which a commander has joined) is in close combat, the commander must do one of 2 things:

1. move into the front rank
2. move to the rear (if not already there)

In practice, we play that a commander who is lined up to the side of the BG need only decide whether or not he is moving into the front rank.

zoltan wrote:A strict reading of p28 appears to suggest that when a BG (which a commander has joined) is in close combat, the commander must do one of 2 things:

1. move into the front rank
2. move to the rear (if not already there)

In practice, we play that a commander who is lined up to the side of the BG need only decide whether or not he is moving into the front rank.

This is universally how I have found it played - as long as the commander is in "legal" contact with the BG he can influence it.

Is it possible that a commander is thrown out of contact with a BG by the enemy?
We had it happen last game when a commander with a battlegroup of elephants, that was surrounded by two 2-deep BGs of MF left and right and one friendly BG contacting their rear and then got contacted by the enemy. There was no room left for the commanders who were in front of the elephants until then.

Mehrunes wrote:Is it possible that a commander is thrown out of contact with a BG by the enemy?
We had it happen last game when a commander with a battlegroup of elephants, that was surrounded by two 2-deep BGs of MF left and right and one friendly BG contacting their rear and then got contacted by the enemy. There was no room left for the commanders who were in front of the elephants until then.

IIRC it is covered in the rules somewhere. If the commander is with a BG and there isno room for him, his base is temporarily removed and replaced by a marker placed on one of the bases of the BG. His own base pops back into existence as soon as there is room.

lawrenceg wrote:

Mehrunes wrote:Is it possible that a commander is thrown out of contact with a BG by the enemy?
We had it happen last game when a commander with a battlegroup of elephants, that was surrounded by two 2-deep BGs of MF left and right and one friendly BG contacting their rear and then got contacted by the enemy. There was no room left for the commanders who were in front of the elephants until then.

IIRC it is covered in the rules somewhere. If the commander is with a BG and there is no room for him, his base is temporarily removed and replaced by a marker placed on one of the bases of the BG. His own base pops back into existence as soon as there is room.

agreed

Thank you!