I was playing off against the forces of the Empire last week in a 1500 point game.��During the Empire players final turn he decided to charge me with a unit twenty strong with a detachment.
Now because of this, both my Big Uns unit and Chaos Dwarf warrior units were destroyed and as a result I lost the game.��Im however rather suspicious of this because I dont think he was playing within the rules…
Now as you can see the two units at the bottom of the picture are Big Uns and quatre of an inch beside them Chaos Dwarf Warriors. On the charge the Empire unit charged my big uns in the front whilst his detachment charged into the flank… I find this intresting that he was able to do this, considering he was in physical contact with my CD warriors to do so. According to him this was within the detachment rules and eventhough he was in physical contact with my CD unit, the detachment unit did not have to engage in hand to hand, they could also flank the Big Uns…
Is he telling the truth or is he bending the rules so he could win the game? :0
While the rules for detachments (at least in the 6th edition book) specify that the detachment can charge the flank of any unit the parent unit charges so long as it can draw a line of sight to the flank and has enough movement to reach it, even if it would normally have to charge the front.
So whether it was legal depends on two very big and unfortunately somewhat vaguely defined questions here.
1) Does it have line of sight?
In a way, it does. If you were shooting here, I think it would be fair to say it can draw line of sight to those models even though from its position it would be considered to be shooting from the front. However, on the other hand one could well claim that the CD is blocking melee line of sight since they are clearly in the way. This is a vague situation, do they have line of sight as defined traditionally or is line of sight blocked because there is another unit in the way?
2) Does it have enough movement?
Well, there were probably less inches needed to flank the Big 'Uns than it needed to charge them, however to charge the flank of the Big 'Uns one needs to pass through the CD warrior unit. Unless you are a flyer, no amount of movement can allow you to move through a unit. Again, it is vague… which one is more true?
Personally I would go with saying that the CD DO block line of sight and that even if that wasn’t true, the unit doesn’t have enough ‘movement’ to move through a unit (impassable terrain).
However, I also realize that I cannot be considered impartial in this situation.
2) Does it have enough movement?
Well, there were probably less inches needed to flank the Big 'Uns than it needed to charge them, however to charge the flank of the Big 'Uns one needs to pass through the CD warrior unit. Unless you are a flyer, no amount of movement can allow you to move through a unit. Again, it is vague... which one is more true?
Hobgoblyn
His Empire unit had to charge forward a full seven inches to reach the front of the Big Uns and the detachment were the same distance away from the Big Uns..
His Empire unit had to charge forward a full seven inches to reach the front of the Big Uns and the detachment were the same distance away from the Big Uns..
ross_lionheart
I'm sorry, my grammar fell apart there. Actually, there would have been a longer distance from where that detachment was to the flank of the unit. Remember, he'd have to move forward and then wheel, so it isn't the same distance. His detachment probably couldn't actually reach the flank of the unit if the parent unit had to charge 7". So, right there he shouldn't have been able to do it.
I’m a little confused as to what happened but Empire detachments get a free wheel to hit the flank to if he was 7 inches away he could have charged and hit the flank without hitting a single dwarf! Sad but true…
As a side note when playing Empire decide before the battle begins to do one of two things
1) Destroy or bring all detachments to US4 - rendering them useless
2) Attempt to engage Empire parent units below half US…
I find I NEVER lose if I am able to succesfuly implement either of these strategies against them
Im however rather suspicious of this because I dont think he was playing within the rules...
ross_lionheart
The flank charge is not within the rules. There is no way the detachment can reach the flank of the Orc unit with the CD unit in the way. In fact, from your diagram, it is so clear that the detachment has no room to charge that the declaration of the charge is not even legal.
The rules you are looking for are Enemy in the Way (pg 23), Multiple Targets (pg 24), and the online Errata and FAQ found on the GW site.
I would assume that your friend was just unclear about the charging rules, not that he was cheating. Point out the appropriate rules to him and discuss. Hopefully, he will see the light.
