Combat

Charge

Any unit which declared they were charging a specific foe in the Movement phase may now charge. When charging, you may move a total distance up to twice your M value. During this movement, any number of Maneouvres may be made without stopping on a failed Leadership test - though there are restrictions.

• A charging unit may not enter within 4" of a target unit's facing they do not intend to charge, such as when trying to move in order to strike the flank instead of the front.
• Maneouvres other than Wheel and Move Forwards may not be made while within 4" of an enemy unit.
• If a charging unit Wheels while within 4" of the target, they do not gain any bonuses for charging.
• If a charging unit fails the Leadership test for a maneouvre, it is Unformed for the first round of combat and loses all charge bonuses.

If a charging unit fails to align themselves into frontal base-to-base contact, with both corners attached (or at least within a small deviation), then they are Unformed for the first round of combat.

If any units are left enungaged after a charge, they may continue moving up to their Movement, allowing them to wrap around or to engage other units. In this case, they must still remain within base to base contact with the side of another model of their unit.

Unformed Units

If a unit is unformed, several penalties apply.

• If Charged, they must recieve at the halt or turn to the attackers.
• The unit is automatically Routed if pushed back.
• Any Ld, Int, Cl, or Wp tests made before the controller's next Movement phase suffer a penalty of 1.

Receiving a Charge

There are several options to recieve a charge, and each are presented here in the order that their actions occur. Note that if the defender is charged while crossing an obstacle, they must make a Panic test.

Shooting

• Requires that the charging unit started more than half their maximum Charge distance away.
• The shooting unit must pass a successful Leadership test.
• Shoot the enemy as described in Shooting.

Running Away

• The fleeing unit must make a Leadership test.
• On a failure, the unit is Routed.
• On a success, the unit turns and moves at double rate directly away from the charge, and the charging unit uses their remaining Movement to try and catch up, following the same rules as the Maneouvres during the charge - this being a continuation, they still may not make more than three maneouvres during the charge.
• If the charger comes into contact with other enemy units during the chase, they may change targets to those units, though failing to Wheel will cause them to complete their original charge.

Receiving at the Halt

The charged unit meets the enemy head-on.

Turning to Face the Enemy

Charged models may turn 90 or 180 degrees to face the enemy. This may result in models in the unit facing in different tirections to the rest of the unit. If a model turns, it may not fire missiles at its attackers. A unit engaged in melee may turn any unengaged models to meet an incoming charge.

Failing to complete a Charge

If the unit fails to meet the foe or only partially meets the foe, they are Unformed. Any models in the unit that do not have sufficient movement to meet the enemy are staggered in a line rotating up to their allotted movement, and may pile in on later turns.

A unit may instead choose to retire, causing them to turn 180 degrees and move their full movement distance. They may then be turned to face any direction. The following turn, the controlling player may opt to continue retiring or to reform. This can continue any number of turns.

Striking a Blow

Striking the foe in hand-to-hand combat works much the same as in ranged combat, though there are more defined forms of attack. Units must be in direct base to base contact with an enemy in order to attack.

Weapon attacks must be made in direct base-to-base contact with their front. Most models only possess weapon attacks, and weapon attacks from one model must typically be made using the same weapon.

Stomp attacks may be made against side of the model that is in base-to-base contact.

Bite and Gore attacks may be made from the front of the model.

Claw attacks may be made from the front or sides of the model.

Lash attacks may be made from the sides or rear of the model.

While in combat, the opposing forces attack in the order of the highest Initiative value, acting outside of their own turns. If units have the same Intiative, then a small chart determines who attacks first, with the first applicable statement being the one followed:

• The unit charged this turn.
• The unit won the previous combat round.

If neither are accurate, then the units strike simultaneously - casualties are only removed after bpth have struck, allowing them to deal damage before being removed.

Targeting a Leader or Character

The leader of a squad must be in the front rank, and thus is vulnerable to attack. Any model in base to base contact with the leader or any characters may target it, or may choose not to if other targets are available. If the leader or character is targeted, attacks targeting them are rolled seperately.

Personal Combat

The leader or attached character of a squad may issue a challenge to the leader of their opposing squad. Any associated character may accept the challenge in the leader's place. If accepted, their combat is rolled seperately to the rest of the combat, though its results still count towards the victory. If the leader is slain its model is removed.

If the challengee refuses the challenge, they may not fight, while the challenger continues combat as normal. If the challenger is less than 10' tall, the challengee and their unit suffer a penalty of 1 to Leadership for the rest of the battle as a penalty for refusal. Should the entire front rank of the challengee be wiped out in one turn, the challenging leader may fight as though a challenge occured regardless.

After the Leader has been issued a challenge, Characters may be issued challenges, though any character model in the unit may accept the challenge once issued. This follows the same rules, though refusal removes the character from the front rank rather than applying -1 Leadership.

In either instance, if the challenger is over 10' tall, the challenge may be answered by a group of Characters that are under 10' tall, alongside any unengaged troops from the front rank who are also less than 10' tall.

Roll to Hit

Before rolling, check if the opponent can defend themselves. If they cannot strike back, then the attacker hits automatically. The Attacker's weapon skill is represented by the rows, while the Defender's is represented by the Columns. As can be seen, it can be very hard for both sides if evenly matched.

Where the table lists +X, then the attacker must score a six or higher, and then score equal to or higher than X on a second roll in order to hit.

Like Ranged attacks, there are modifiers that can apply to your roll, making it easier or harder to hit. They are presented as follows:

The number of hits now calculated, you move on to the rest of the damage rolls. Take note of how many models fell from blows in this round of combat, and do not use that amount of models when they fight later in the turn - the front rank was slain, but later ranks simply pushed forward, though not in time to strike themselves.

Combat Results

Total a number of points for each side, consisting of the sum of the following:

• Each wound the unit caused this turn.
• One point if the unit Charged this turn.
• One point if the unit Followed Up in the previous round of combat.
• Each complete Rank beyond the first the unit possessed at the start of the round that consists of at least four models.

Whichever force has the higher points is the victor of the round of combat.

The losing side may Rout. After this is tested for, they are Pushed Back, forcing them to move directly backwards by 2". If a unit is Pushed Back and had more unengaged models than models that fought in the fighting phase, then both units involved are pivoted 45 degrees around the centre of the fight before the push back occurs. If engaged with multiple units, it is pushed back in a direction directly opposite all units.

The winning side may choose to Follow Up, moving 2" forward to meet the retreating defenders. While following up a unit that is pushed back, the following unit may adjust formation as described in Movement, and may be used to wrap around the sides or even rear of a smaller unit so long as they maintain contact with the rest of their unit, being automatically turned up to 90 or 180 degrees to face their foe. If the enemy have no unengaged models that may rotate to meet the new direction of attack, the unit must take a Panic test. Note that this leaves the unit wrapping around vulnerable to enemy attack - it is advised to wrap around in ranks two units thick, allowing the outer rank to rotate to meet outside attackers. If both units stay in base to base contact, combat continues on the next player's turn.

If multiple combatants were engaged, then this is calculated as a whole for one player or the other, with the extreme edges of the the conflict determining the front line, even if units within the combat started out staggered. This cause the push back to form straight lines.

Temporary site navigation is temporary, click here to return to the Realm of Chaos hub, or click here for the stages of the turn.