Slitherine

Sorry if this is being a bit dim but I have seen on several threads the mention that to support 2 battle groups a unit must be in column at the juncture of the two units (appropriate distance to their rear).

I have been fielding Gauls with 8 strong BG. Why does it not comply to have an 8 strong BG in line at the mid point, providing support, with 4 stands behind each front unit?

Ta

Nick

I don't recall anyone saying you have to be in column to support, and if they did they were wrong. However if you want to use a BG of 4 bases to support 2 BGs of 8 bases then they need to be in column with the rear most base in support range to count.
If you use a BG of 8 then it can be 2 deep and 4 wide so long as the center line is less that a base width away from the join between the two front BGs. Or you could use a BG of 6 2 deep to support.

If the Gaul list permitts it you might be better moving some base arround as 10 + 8 + 6 is more effective than 8 + 8 + 8

njb2729 wrote:Sorry if this is being a bit dim but I have seen on several threads the mention that to support 2 battle groups a unit must be in column at the juncture of the two units (appropriate distance to their rear).

I have been fielding Gauls with 8 strong BG. Why does it not comply to have an 8 strong BG in line at the mid point, providing support, with 4 stands behind each front unit?

Ta

Nick

This is fine, from the standpoint of simply providing rear support. There may be other tactical issues to consider. For one, it is more efficient to use a single four base BG to support two eight base front line BGs than it is to use another eaight base BG. For two, you need to consider what happens should one of your front line BGs rout. The routers can shift up to one base width sideways to avoid bursting through friends. If the rear supporters are in line they risk getting burst through, dropping a cohesion level, and quickly following their colleagues toward the rear.

Marc

Yes - hadn't considered the routers etc. Thanks for the advice - good points.

Nick

sagji wrote:I don't recall anyone saying you have to be in column to support, and if they did they were wrong. However if you want to use a BG of 4 bases to support 2 BGs of 8 bases then they need to be in column with the rear most base in support range to count.

I think this is gamey, but totally correct within the rules. I could forsee a future revision saying a base can only be counted once per phase for the purposes of supporting a BG.

I don't think this is so big an issue while it has a big game impact before too long you don't have BGs in reserve in any case.