I'm not sure whether its a good idea or not, but what occurred to me is having 2 different orders. One, charge, has to be straight at the enemy and provides some bonus in the ensuing combat, another, run, say, that allows the unit to maneuver and still enter combat, but without that bonus.

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Thanks,
Troy


Once Upon a Midnight Dreary....

Manuevering to CC does have the effect of making cavalry units effective at outflanking and charging, which seems desireable to me. Having to flank one turn and charge in the next probably means never getting the flank charge off.

I have no problem with allowing maneuvering to get flank charges when the terrain allows it, blatantly charging through a unit then turning 180 and engaging it in CC in the rear just seems wrong.

That's because, at least for people who have only recently (IE, since that decision to leave the rule out ~10 years ago was made) joined NetEpic, it is wrong. Having to risk being shot at by the units you are charging is a balancing factor in the game. Removing that changes the balance of the game. Yes, I know that was likely all discussed years ago, but I wasn't there for that, so from my perspective it wasn't. Still, it's obvious that some people want this to be this way.

I just had another idea of how to 'fix' this while (hopefully) appeasing both sides. When a Detachment is given Charge orders with the intention to enter close combat, but is also ordered to go around the target first so as to attack from the rear, that Detachment must pass a Morale test or fail to heed the detailed plan and just charge 'straight' in as quickly as possible. While this would allow for 'freeform' maneuvering for well controlled and disciplined formations, it would also represent the distinct possibility of orders being misinterpreted in the heat of battle, falling victim to bloodlust, or whatever reason fits that army.

Alternatively, the 'freeform' Charge style could be made a feature of the Cavalry type. While I can almost see reasons for Cavalry to be able to do that, Infantry, Vehicle, and other unit types just should not be able to.

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Net Epic Coordinator

I've always played it as per the rules from Space Marine 2 and Titan Legions. I hadn't noticed that this was no longer the case in the current Net Epic rules. Personally, I think that it's easier and causes far fewer arguments to apply the SM2/Titan Legions rule.

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This is pretty much the case for us, we just sort of carried over the 2nd ed rule, and didn't notice the change. To be honest, the scenario described with the war hounds sounds like absolutely the worst sort of rules abuse. While I can see the argument for units that are going around buildings and such, But charging straight past something to nip behind its arc.... If someone pulled that sort of gamesmanship on me I'd have to think twice about playing them again.

I play to have fun, and if I win that's nice.