Rules Queries

Hi Guys

Played our second game a few weeks ago , there were 4 of us , 3 newbies and 1 guy who had played some games at another club . He said the way they played at the other club was slightly different to how I understood the rules to be , so I thought I would mention it here to see what you thought .

1) We had a unit of CP charge a unit of T , the T lost the melee and retreated , the CP pursued and he said they get their Impetus bonus again ? .

2) The T lost a second time and retreated again but had to go behind a unit of FP ; the CP pursued and hit the FP , again he said they get their Impetus bonus ?.

3) The FP lost the melee , retreated behind the T and the CP hit the T again causing them to rout and be taken off the table . This guy said the CP should get another pursuit because the T haven't all been killed , there are some running away and the CP would go after them again until realising they were throwing their weapons away and dispersing ?. (Could that be someone's house rule) .

On a separate issue I noticed that CL can fire 360 degrees (except crossbows) . So if I have a unit facing some FP , with enemy CM, behind them I can fire at either
unit . But if I fire at the CM , do I get a free about face ; after all you can't fire bows behind you can you , they have to be facing the troops they are firing at . Or do I have to do an about face as per 5.4.5 first and then fire disordered if I pass the Discipline test  ? .

Tony

Welcome aboard!

1) Possibly. It would depend on whether the CP had taken any losses in the melee. Only fresh units retain the impetus bonus. Assuming they were still fresh then yes, they will still get impetus.

2) Again possibly. If still no losses they will still retain impetus. If the FP had pike or long spear that would also remove the impetus bonus. FP also get a cohesion test bonus of 1 if they are in combat only against mounted.

3) No. FP would push back T, not retreat through them, (S, FL and T pass through, FP push back). So it should have been another round verses the FP. Yes CP will follow through with another pursuit against a routed opponent.

A CP cavalry charge can be devastating, but FP will usually hold them. It can be exciting stuff!

On the separate issue, the CL shooting 360 degrees represents a loose circulatory formation, so no you do not need to about face.

Hope this helps, enjoy the game.

TD

Agree with everything that Aurelius wrote. Impetus is a flowing game and a lot can happen in one activation (or not!)

Gaius/Aurelius

Thanks for the reply about 1 and 2 . Strange how the pictures in your head can lead you astray when it comes to these things . I had always seen it as an attacker comes steaming in to a defender , which is why you get the initial impetus bonus , but if that doesn't destroy the defender then both units settle down into some hard cut and thrust ; and if the defender gets the worst of it then they start edging back , with the attacker edging forward to maintain contact , (or sometimes the defender edges back faster than the attacker edges forward) , in which case you wouldn't get the impetus bonus again . However if I am wrong then so be it .

With regard to question 3 , it was the principle of whether a unit can do a pursuit move , (provided they are eligible to do so) , when their opponent is routed and the stand is removed from the table . It was my mistake to say the FP went behind the T , sorry if that misled you .

With regard to the CL I have a supplementary question . If I have fired at target to the north of the CL . When it comes to my next turn and I activate them to move south can I get a free about face . If they have been firing by moving in a circle , then surely they can come out of that circle facing any direction .

Tony

The simple rule is that as long as a fresh unit keeps moving it gets its impetus (unless there are specific circumstances that deny it - ie. mounted charging pike/spear, infantry charging mounted etc.).

No free about face for the CL. Interestingly, only the front facing gives the unit a ZOC so even though the unit can choose any side to shoot from it still maintains its facing. It is not uncommon in our games for two enemy CL to be firing out the side at each other with neither unit facing the other.

Hi Guys

Had a good game on Sunday , Teutonic Knights against Prussians . Prussians won in the end after weathering the storm of 5 units of mounted knights charging in ,(though one came up short in front of a unit of FL with javelins which were able to hit it twice before they attacked) .

A question about rallies came up which I hope you can clear up . I had always read 4.1.2 as saying that all units in a command that fail their first rally test can reroll a number of times equal to the leadership bonus of the general . However the guy that plays Impetus at another club said no ; the leadership bonus just tells you the absolute number of rerolls available to be spread across all the units in the command .
I read the rules again and the text only refers to one unit , not what happens if multiple units are disordered , so we played it as he suggested .

What is the correct way to play it ?.

Tony

Your understanding is correct. See the example on pg.22. We normally roll all the dice at once when making the 2nd rally attempt. Just speeds up play. There is no limit to the number of units a general can rally in his command in this way. The only limitation is that the unit at the time of its activation must be within the General's command radius.

Gaius

Thanks for confirming what I suspected . I had seen the example on page 22 , but as it only talked about one unit and not any other disordered units then it could be taken either way .