Art De La Guerre

[Za Otlichiye]

Well in RII's defense, taken literally, "the initial target" would be just that - the first enemy unit struck by a charge movement.

Our collective problem is that we don't have a reliable process to nail these things down.

[Ramses II]

[Mike Bennett]

[Ramses II]

Not quite Mike LoL 

If group 1-6 intend to go straight up the page they would hit B first. So, according to Step #1, only B is declared the Initial Target, because the entire group would stop moving upon contacting it. The players then go through the steps with respect to the Chargers and the Initial Target (B here). After this some units may Continue their Charge, which may indeed result in some charging units contacting Secondary Targets (A here) causing them to react etc. 

Guys, basically the V4 rules have been revised to clear up the Charge Process by defining the steps and introducing the term Initial Target. This helps clarify and simplify charge movement and conformation. 

However, now this may result in the Chargers being required to make a Variable Movement Roll if the Initial Target completely evades. That is all we need to consider. 

 

[Mike Bennett]

Thanks for highlighting the changes in step #1, and the requirement for a variable movement die roll for a revealed target behind an evader. Unfortunately without specific rules wording I do not see consensus on the extension of the variable move roll. Unless that is made, and communicated to everyone, through an errata / faq there is likely to be inconsistency.

[muz177]

I still don't understand the different terminology of 'the initial target' and then in points 5-7 the use of 'all initial targets'.
Points 1 to 3 just talk about a singular target. I can see what Dan is saying, in that each unit in a group may have a single initial target. So when talking about a group, rather than a unit, then the plural makes sense.
But RII explanation appears to limit each charging unit to just one target.

So does this mean that each unit in a group may specify the initial target which applies to them, or is a group limited to one initial target, the same as an individual unit?

[KevinD]

As I understand it, there will be one initial target for a charging group, but that target might consist of multiple enemy units or groups.

The initial target is all those enemy units the charging group will first hit. For example if a line charges an enemy line without wheeling and both lines are parallel then the enemy units are all the initial target. If, on the other hand, the lines are not parallel (perhaps because the chargers wheel out of a parallel alignment as they started their charge) or the enemy’s front does not form a line, then only the first enemy unit the chargers hit will be the initial target.

[Zoltan]

[SteveR]

[Zoltan]

The rule makes sense when you consider each charging unit’s targets. A given charger may have more than 1 target within its charge path and normal charge distance.

C

T1

T2

Under v3, C didn’t need to roll a VMD unless T1 and T2 both evaded (“all the targets in its charge path”).

Under v4, if T1 (“initial target”) evades C rolls a VMD. If it rolls down it may not even reach T2. So if T2 is evade-capable it may not need to decide whether or not to evade. Similarly, if T2 is not evade-capable, C may not reach it due to the low VMD reducing its normal charge move distance.