Rally in melee

[mceochaidh]

I have noticed that disrupted units can recover to normal state while in melee. I am trying to remember, but I also think a fragmented unit can recover to disrupted while in melee also. In the FOG tabletop rules, at least in the ancient and medieval rules, I believe a battle group must be a certain distance away from any enemy in order to be eligible to be bolstered and recover a morale level. Is this the same in the FOG Renaissance miniature rules or are these rules different? If so, why?

It does seem to me that it would be historically very difficult to recover morale while in melee, yet it seems to happen frequently enough to be noticed. What are the criteria the computer uses to allow this to occur? Does it take into account rear support or flank support?

Enjoying the game very much. The erratic pursuits do cause some excitement! In a recent game, a keil pursued a light crossbow unit all the way across the battlefield. The crossbow unit would evade, then the keil would chase and catch up causing the crossbows to evade again, only to be followed by the keil, until finally after 3 or 4 such movements, the keil caught the crossbows and hit them in the rear! And the keil was not even Swiss!

Thanks for any response.

[TheGrayMouser]

I have noticed that disrupted units can recover to normal state while in melee. I am trying to remember, but I also think a fragmented unit can recover to disrupted while in melee also. In the FOG tabletop rules, at least in the ancient and medieval rules, I believe a battle group must be a certain distance away from any enemy in order to be eligible to be bolstered and recover a morale level. Is this the same in the FOG Renaissance miniature rules or are these rules different? If so, why?

It does seem to me that it would be historically very difficult to recover morale while in melee, yet it seems to happen frequently enough to be noticed. What are the criteria the computer uses to allow this to occur? Does it take into account rear support or flank support?

Enjoying the game very much. The erratic pursuits do cause some excitement! In a recent game, a keil pursued a light crossbow unit all the way across the battlefield. The crossbow unit would evade, then the keil would chase and catch up causing the crossbows to evade again, only to be followed by the keil, until finally after 3 or 4 such movements, the keil caught the crossbows and hit them in the rear! And the keil was not even Swiss!

Thanks for any response.

Hello, I don't believe either the TT or PC FOGAM (or TT ren) have any rules about not being able to rally when in melee. The manual has a chart that show all the rallying modifiers. There is no modifier for rear or flank support (although infantry that shoots at other infantry is given a penalty if they themselves have a threatened flank)
Cheers!

[rbodleyscott]

In FOGR routed units cannot rally when the enemy is within a certain distance, but fragmented and disrupted units can indeed be bolstered while in melee, provided that they have not dropped cohesion in the same turn.

Pursuing too far is a bug which will be corrected in the next patch.

[mceochaidh]

Thanks for response; I was remembering the FOGAM rule for rallying routed. I will look forward to the next update. Will the approach to evading/pursuing be similar in concept to the variable movement distance rule in the TT games, in which the distance is limited to +2 or -2 MU?

Another question I have regarding pursuit is the situation in which the pursuing unit, at times, seems to pass right by and even avoid unbroken enemy in its path to turn and pursue broken enemy. At other times pursuing troops seem to actually turn away from broken enemy to charge unbroken enemy in flank. Is this decision based on chance? If so, are there modifiers that the computer uses to influence the choice?

[rbodleyscott]

Thanks for response; I was remembering the FOGAM rule for rallying routed. I will look forward to the next update. Will the approach to evading/pursuing be similar in concept to the variable movement distance rule in the TT games, in which the distance is limited to +2 or -2 MU?

Yes, when charging/pursuing evaders, there is a 1 in 4 chance of +4 AP, 1 in 4 chance of -4 AP. But this happens for each pursuit, so if a unit charges a unit that evades, then switches to another enemy during the pursuit, and that enemy also evades, it is possible (1 in 16 chance) for the +4 AP VMD to be applied twice. Also mounted units pursuing routers automatically get +4 AP rather than a random VMD.

This is not what was happening in the bugged version, which was instead guaranteeing that the chargers would catch the second unit, which could lead to much longer moves.

Another question I have regarding pursuit is the situation in which the pursuing unit, at times, seems to pass right by and even avoid unbroken enemy in its path to turn and pursue broken enemy. At other times pursuing troops seem to actually turn away from broken enemy to charge unbroken enemy in flank. Is this decision based on chance? If so, are there modifiers that the computer uses to influence the choice?

The chance of the unit switching to charge the new enemy depends on the AI's estimate of the unit's chance of winning against that new enemy unit. If the new target is particularly vulnerable, like a flank, this might result in a 90% chance of charging, but there would still be a 10% chance of ignoring the fresh enemy and continuing the pursuit.