Slitherine

in fog-a if the bg is shock troops there is a chance they with charge without orders is this the same in fog-r?

grandad wrote:in fog-a if the bg is shock troops there is a chance they with charge without orders is this the same in fog-r?

No.

what is the thinking behind this

Taking a wild stab in the dark here, possibly because the authors don't think Renaissance era troops were as prone to uncontrolled charges as ancient ones, based on some sort of examination of historical evidence, so the mechanic is not needed in FoGR ?

grandad wrote:what is the thinking behind this

There is much more information available on battles in this era than those of earlier times, and mad charges are judged less common (though it may be of course that a lot of the mad charges reported in ancient battles are mis-reported).

Additionally, in FOGR compared to FOGAM, the other rule mechanics, particularly those of gunpowder shooting, mean that those troop types that did get stuck in historically have a reason to do so. Hence less need for a games mechanic to produce uncontrolled charges.

For example, take Swiss pikes. In the 15th century, using FOGAM, they might want to wait a bit in front of the enemy while you get enough in range to get the best charge in. They are not very likely to lose bases to shooting and if a unit does charge in on it's own it is likely to be overlapped on both sides which is worse in FOGAM. Hence there is a need for a mechanism to prompt their historic behavious of charging immediately.

In FOGR though, troops who wait around get shot down by artillery and firearms. Plus, troops who charge in despite the overlaps aren't too badly off (only one dice per overlap) so it'd usually a good idea for the Swiss to get stuck in. Hence you don't need a rules mechanism since a sensible player will charge anyway.

grahambriggs wrote: Plus, troops who charge in despite the overlaps aren't too badly off (only one dice per overlap) so it'd usually a good idea for the Swiss to get stuck in.

But not always

rbodleyscott wrote:

grahambriggs wrote: Plus, troops who charge in despite the overlaps aren't too badly off (only one dice per overlap) so it'd usually a good idea for the Swiss to get stuck in.

But not always

often ends badly granted but I always find all the other options would be worse! I would say the general is at fault but they're a collective so I blame them!