Slitherine

A BG of battle troops finds itself in side to side edge contact with a BG of skirmishers. As per section 10-9, it turns 90 degrees to face and melee the skirmishers. The skirmishers choose to evade. Do they make a VMD roll or evade a normal move?

TERRYFROMSPOKANE wrote:A BG of battle troops finds itself in side to side edge contact with a BG of skirmishers. As per section 10-9, it turns 90 degrees to face and melee the skirmishers. The skirmishers choose to evade. Do they make a VMD roll or evade a normal move?

Evades are a response to a charge. Charges only occur in the Impact Phase. If the battle troops turn 90 degrees in the manoeuvre phase they have not charged the skirmishers and therefore the skirmishers are not permitted to evade.You can't turn 90 degrees as a charge move.

Turning 90 degrees does not create a close combat so there is no melee even though the two opposing bgs appear to be touching. You can't turn into close combat.

You are wrong steve. The BG so contacted can evade directly away or to its rear and does roll a VMD

philqw78 wrote:You are wrong steve. The BG so contacted can evade directly away or to its rear and does roll a VMD

It does specifically mention you are allowed to evade in the movement section where it talks about turning to make contact.

To restate, the rules say a VMD roll is necessary when evading a charge in the Impact Phase. 10-9 says a BG in side edge to side edge contact can initiate combat in the Melee Phase by turning 90 degrees to contact an enemy BG in the Maneuver Phase. Troops capable of evading are allowed to do so. Since this is melee combat and not charge combat, should the evading BG take a normal move or roll a VMD.

An evade move always uses the procedures described in the Impact Phase, regardless of when the evade move is made. Potential for an evade move exists in the Impact Phase, Maneuver Phase, Melee Phase, and Joint Action Phase. In effect, any time evade capable troops will be contacted by moving enemy. In all cases the evade capable BG follows the evade procedure described in the Impact phase.

OK, if the paradigm is "evading troops roll a VMD any time they would be contacted by the enemy", what happens to BG's within 6MU of an arriving flank marchers? Let's say I have a BG just less than 6MU from an enemy flank marcher moving straight at them. If the enemy BG was Light Horse, it could move 7 MU so could contact them so my BG evades with a VMD roll? But if the enemy BG was cavalry who only move 5 MU my BG would make an evade move without a VMD because the cavalry could not reach them?

Flank marchers cannot move into contact as they arrive in the manouever phase

TERRYFROMSPOKANE wrote:OK, if the paradigm is "evading troops roll a VMD any time they would be contacted by the enemy...

The paradigm is that troops take a VMD every time they evade, for whatever reason, and in whatever phase it occurs.