Art De La Guerre

[Caledonian]

The following query is from a recent game

A X
BY

A and B are heavy foot facing X and Y
X and Y are impetuous heavy foot.
A is about 30mm from X, so they are in each others zone of control
B is in front edge to front edge contact with Y
X and Y are in side edge contact with each other, facing A and B respectively

In his own turn B destroys Y but does not pursue, leaving him in front corner to front corner with X

It is now X's turn. Bearing in mind that he is in A's ZoC does he slide across to conform with B as per pg 55 or does he charge A?

Would it make any difference if A was further away he was not exerting a ZoC on X but still within charge distance?

Cheers

John

[Commodore]

[barnstormer]

wouldn't it go like this:

The unit is not considered to be in melee (pg 50)

Conforming after melee is compulsory for impetuous units but restrictions on contact (presumably moving within a ZOC) remain valid (page 55)

So by definition it must charge the nearest valid enemy target among those directly in front of its front edge. (pg40)

So it would charge the one to its front.

[Caledonian]

Having re read pages 40 and 55 several times I think Barnstormer is correct.

Pg 55 states "Conforming like this is not compulsory except for impetuous units that are subject to an uncontrolled charge against the enemy unit concerned".

The important wording is "...against the unit concerned".

Pg 40 gives the order of priorty for targets of an uncontrolled charge, the first priorty being "The nearest valid enemy ...directly in front...".

Therefore the unit in corner to corner contact is not the one which the impetuous unit is subject to an uncontrolled charge against, but the target directly to its front is.

Hope this makes sense

Cheers

John

[Commodore]

I am agree, in that precise case, with the last 2 post interpretation as there is an uncontrolled charge target available.
It seems clear enough but our concern is also the case, similar, with , for example a Medium foot in a brush (so not a valid target for uncontrolled charge) , locking an impetuous HF in its ZOC, with the HF in the situation where it has to conform.
So a global answer about the priority between the two rules has to be clearly established
_________________
"Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"
Cdr Farragut,Mobile 1864

[madaxeman]

[Ramses II]

I do not agree with that interpretation. Taking the supplementary question first helps answer the main one. 

If the units were not in corner to corner contact, X would be subject to an uncontrolled charge, moving until it contacts an enemy when Conforming (p52) occurs. X is required to charge, but when it touches B it must stop and conform. (It could still stop in corner to corner contact with B to support another unit, p40 2nd to last bullet). This is an extreme variation of the example of the most threatening unit question in the FAQ p7, and because it must stop and conform, the “most threatening enemy” is actually B, not A - in effect B is considered to be fractionally within the ZoC of X.

Starting in corner to corner contact means that Conforming after a melee (p55) is in force. The term “enemy unit concerned” refers to the enemy unit mentioned in the first paragraph - in this case unit B. I believe that this forces X to conform on B, even though it seems it should charge A. This also follows the principles outlined above.

That said, the Conformation process does not force X to move into terrain that penalises it in melee. If the original melee took place entirely in rough terrain, then the fact that X contacted the corner of B would mean that it would be ‘fighting in terrain’ according to the definition in Terrain modifiers (p57), last sentence.
Here, I believe the Exceptions to uncontrolled charge (p41) should mean that X is not ‘Impetuous’ with respect to B, allowing it to avoid charging if not in contact, or to choose to charge A, if it was in contact.