Detachment Tactics


There are 5 main ways to use the detachments for tactical charges/counter-charges as well as many secondary roles they might play.

The secondary roles include screening and diversion tactics which are very common and well understood, so I'll focus on the more technical Bait-&-Flee/Bait-&-Hold tactics that allow for flank charges that provide maximum CR in combat which should be an Empire General's primary goal in any game!

First I must explain that the new 7th edition rule "Enemy's in the way" and the new Skirmisher rules are what I use for these tactics. Specifically the flee direction and the charge direction that occures in these situtions is key in setting up tactical movements of Detachments.

Rules: Fleeing -

* Ranked units who flee from a charge pivot on the spot facing directly away from the center of the enemy charging unit and move straight away from that center. This means that ranked units that are being charged by the enemy at an angle will flee at an angle.

* Skirmishing units who flee from a charge move the closest skirmisher directly away from the center of the enemy charging unit (or the closest enemy skirmisher), then the rest of the skirmishers move with that model in the same direction keeping their origional formation as closely as possible. This means that placing a skirmishing model closer than the others dictates which direction the skirmishers flee.

Rules: Charging -

* The charging unit must declare a charge against and move into contact with the closest skirmishing model in a unit.

* The charging unit must try to maximize the number of models engaged in the combat for both sides, when charging.

Rules: Enemy's in the Way -

* Once a unit finishes moving it's flee distance away from the charging unit, the charging unit must attempt to finish the charge and catch the fleeing unit. This means that if a unit flees at an angle the charging unit must wheel towards the fleeing unit in an attempt to engage the fleeing unit.

* If the path between the charging unit and the fleeing unit is blocked (even if the fleeing unit is too far to reach), then the charging unit must either declare a new charge against the unit in the way or stop 1" in front of the unit in the way.

* The charging unit only ever fails a charge (goes normal movement distance rather than double) when there are no enemy's within their charge distance.

Now that these rules are clarified I'll start with the tactics:

*NOTE: each of these images shows tactics against a cavalry unit, typically these same tactics work the exact same against the infantry units, but are much easier to perform against infantry. Cavalry with its long charge reach can easily charge exposed detachments instead of the stronger parent units and this is why I've shown cavalry as our enemy.