Art De La Guerre

[KevinD]

On p 45, top right bullet it says:

“Only enemies … situated in front or to the flank of the unit are considered. Enemy units situated entirely to the rear are ignored and do not provoke an uncontrolled charge?”

What does “entirely to rear mean” here?

Consider impetuous unit X facing up.

ABCD
EXXF
GHIJ

It seems to me an enemy unit even partially in A, B, C, D, E or F is not “entirely to the rear” while an enemy unit entirely in HI is definitely “entirely to the rear”. But what about the left rear quadrant (G) and the right rear quadrant (J)?

1. Is a unit entirely in G or J “entirely to the rear”?
2. What about an enemy unit in GH or IJ? Is that “entirely to the rear”?
3. That is does “entirely to the rear” mean (a) only directly behind the unit or (b) does it just mean behind a line extending the unit’s rear edge?

[SteveR]

Hi Kevin,

Take a line extending the rear edge of the impetuous element.

If any of an enemy unit is in front of that line then it is a target.

If all of an enemy unit is behind that line then it is not a target.

[Hazelbark]

What Steve said.
Also p 9

[Neep]

I agree with Steve. If any part were allowed before the line, "entirely" would not be necessary. If any part needed to be directly behind, "directly" would be necessary.