8th Ed. skirmishers and charges

[gewaltatron]

Hi guys,
another short one:

Suppose a unit wants to charge my Skink skirmishers which are almost 12" away, and his charging distance is 12, i.e. he reaches them only just.

Now in the BRB it stated that, as soon as a unit of skirmishers is charged they go from their loose into a tight formation by aligning around the center most model.

In our last game, it actually happened that he only just reached my skinks but do to this forced formation alignment and the fact that I went 5 wide, the unit all of a sudden was 1" further away so he could not reach me.

Was this correct? What do you think?

 

[Arli]

That is not defined anywhere to my knowledge. However, I would allow the charge because you are closing formation as he charges, so even though you move out of the initial charge range, you were still technically in range, because he was closer as he charged (if that makes sense).

hope this helps.

 

[gewaltatron]

yes, it is kind of a tricky situation. and actually, if it wouldn't have been that close, I mean it was like on a millimeter and for this he had to maneuver around another unit, and if he would have brought the master necromancer although we agreed on no Lords... i would have probably allowed it.

But to be honest, I think it is legal thing.

Because (if I translate the german rules to english) it says, that when they charge or their reaction does not include fleeing the reform to a 'normal' formation, before the charging distance is rolled.

And since you declare a charge, then react, ... , and then throw the dice for the distance, I think it is correct the way we did it.

 

[Stonecutter]

As per the BRB rules, the skirmishers "immediately" close up into a normal formation "before a charge distance is rolled" (page 77, 1st para under Skirmishers and Charging.) That being the case, they will change the charge distance required to complete the charge and the distance must be measured after the skirmishers are in a "normal" BTB formation. In many instances, the difference in distance can be quite significant if the skirmishers are strung out and the charge is coming at an angle. I encounter this frequently when playing woodelves and closing up a unit of ~15 dryads can easily make a difference of 2-4".

 

[Arli]

So, in that situation, once the formation is closed, the charge fails?

 

[Stonecutter]

So, in that situation, once the formation is closed, the charge fails?

The skirmishers go into closed formation before the charge distance is measured and rolled for. From the example, the closed distance would have been 13" and the charge range of 12" would have failed. Of note, the skirmishers also remain in closed formation until the remaining moves sub-phase, at which point they return to skirmish formation.

 

[Arli]

That is really interesting. I could see some uses in that.

 

[gewaltatron]

Yes, as I said in our particular example my opponent failed his charge because of that reason.

Although I think it is a little bit hard to use it tactically, it still is worth keeping it in mind. If you take a common unit of 10 skink skirmishers and suppose they are placed in a flat line, so 1 x 10, you rearrange around the two center most models, meaning if you have 1/2 " between each skink, you increase the distance to your opponent by around 2 1/4 inches, which can most definitively make the difference in more than one situation