Light horse charging evading light foot

[mceochaidh]

Light horse charges light archers who evade through heavy cavalry. What is obligation of LH since they do not catch LF? Do they stop right in front of CV? Can they choose where to stop? I inch? 1 MM?

EL have enemy HF 3 MU in front and also have enemy CV 4 MU from EL far flank. Can the EL choose to wheel across the path of the enemy HF, coming less than 2 MU from the HF, in order to charge the enemy CV or is it prevented by the wheel coming within 2 MU of the enemy foot?

[petedalby]

Light horse charges light archers who evade through heavy cavalry. What is obligation of LH since they do not catch LF? Do they stop right in front of CV? Can they choose where to stop? I inch? 1 MM?

See Page 64 - must halt 1 MU away from the cavalry.

EL have enemy HF 3 MU in front and also have enemy CV 4 MU from EL far flank. Can the EL choose to wheel across the path of the enemy HF, coming less than 2 MU from the HF, in order to charge the enemy CV or is it prevented by the wheel coming within 2 MU of the enemy foot?

Possibly...it depends upon the situation. Firstly - you can only wheel provided it will not result in less combat dice being thrown - Page 57. Since the Cavalry will be disordered by the Elephants, they may have less impact dice than if the El charge straight ahead into the HF.

If you are referring to the 2 MU restricted area - this does not apply in the impact phase - only in the manoeuvre phase - page 80. You could also be referring to the 2 MU intercept zone?

On balance you probably cannot charge the enemy cav because of the restriction on wheeling in a charge.

[zoltan]

It's not clear whether the OP is talking about the Els charging across the face of the HF to try and reach the cavalry or manouevering across the face of the HF with a view to charging the Cav in a subsequent turn.

If at the start the Cav are '4 MU from El far flank' my guess is that any wheel by the El's in a charge is going to eat into their total movement distance of 4 MUs resulting in them not reaching the Cav. Thus, if they have no hope of reaching the Cav it is not a legal charge. Perhaps they can hit the HF first and might be able to echelon forward into the Cav. But from the OP description it seems unlikely that the El's can wheel so hard as to completely miss the HF yet reach the Cav.

[mceochaidh]

If I remember correctly, the EL could wheel 3 MU and then move forward 1 MU to contact CV with one base; then the other base could contact by moving directly forward another 1 MU. This brought the EL to within 2 MU of the HF before such contact, as the CV were positioned slightly ahead of the HF. At the point of the EL being at 2 MU, could the HF intercept? If so, since the intercept move takes place before the charge by the EL, I presume that the EL would declare the charge path, then the HF would move forward 2 MU and then the EL would contact the HF at that point? In this case, the EL would contact with the left front edge of one base. Could the other base then continue into the CV?

[petedalby]

TBH without a picture it is very difficult to give you a clear answer - sorry.

[zoltan]

If I remember correctly, the EL could wheel 3 MU and then move forward 1 MU to contact CV with one base; then the other base could contact by moving directly forward another 1 MU. This brought the EL to within 2 MU of the HF before such contact, as the CV were positioned slightly ahead of the HF. At the point of the EL being at 2 MU, could the HF intercept? If so, since the intercept move takes place before the charge by the EL, I presume that the EL would declare the charge path, then the HF would move forward 2 MU and then the EL would contact the HF at that point? In this case, the EL would contact with the left front edge of one base. Could the other base then continue into the CV?

As Pete says a diagram would be helpful but from what you have described above:
- sounds like the Cav are only 1MU as the crow flies from the Els at the start (not the 4 MU stated in the OP)
- yes the HF have the option to intercept charge because the Els are going to cross their path. In this case we are talking about the HF's 2MU Intercept Zone and not the 2MU Restricted Area.
- yes it may be possible for one El to hit the HF and then the second El echelon forward into the Cav. This may be a double-edged sword because the El BG will end up double overlapped in the melee phase (7 dice versus 4 dice)

[grahambriggs]

Light horse charges light archers who evade through heavy cavalry. What is obligation of LH since they do not catch LF? Do they stop right in front of CV? Can they choose where to stop? I inch? 1 MM?

See Page 64 - must halt 1 MU away from the cavalry.

EL have enemy HF 3 MU in front and also have enemy CV 4 MU from EL far flank. Can the EL choose to wheel across the path of the enemy HF, coming less than 2 MU from the HF, in order to charge the enemy CV or is it prevented by the wheel coming within 2 MU of the enemy foot?

Possibly...it depends upon the situation. Firstly - you can only wheel provided it will not result in less combat dice being thrown - Page 57. Since the Cavalry will be disordered by the Elephants, they may have less impact dice than if the El charge straight ahead into the HF.

If you are referring to the 2 MU restricted area - this does not apply in the impact phase - only in the manoeuvre phase - page 80. You could also be referring to the 2 MU intercept zone?

On balance you probably cannot charge the enemy cav because of the restriction on wheeling in a charge.

The "throw less dice" issue only applies to the charging BG Pete. So, as long as the elephants can still count their 6 dice, they can charge anyone in reach. The "restricted area" rules, by definition on P80 are: "For normal movement only..." so do not apply in the impact phase.