Reader Question #1

I'm rather excited. I got my very first reader question yesterday! The reader asked:

"What is one of the biggest errors you see players make repeatedly?"

The answer is simple: resolving all of the parts of a single charge before declaring the next charge.

I see this error at every tournament I go to, even if it is not in my own games. What happens is that a player will declare a charge, get a reaction, and then immediately roll dice to see if the unit makes contact. Then, the player will declare his next charge and so on. This is a holdover from 7th edition and I don't think a lot of players have read the movement section of the basic Rulebook enough to understand how charging works in this edition.

In the example above, once the player has rolled his dice to determine if the unit makes contact, he is done declaring charges. Now, I expect that there are few of us that would actually enforce such a rule in a friendly game or even at a tournament, but I think this rule should be pointed out as soon as it is noticed so that the offending player can learn from his/her mistakes for the next turn.

To help clarify the situation, I have outlined the steps declaring a charge should take. In 8th edition, charging works as follows:

1. Pick a unit and declare a charge with that unit against an enemy unit. (p. 16)
2. The enemy unit then immediately declares its Charge Reaction which can only be Hold, Stand and Shoot, or Flee! (p. 16-17)
3. If the enemy stands and shoots, immediately make all necessary shooting attacks as per the normal shooting rules and restrictions. (p. 17)
4. If the enemy unit flees, the charging unit then may make a leadership test to redirect the charge at a different enemy unit moving back to step 1. (p. 18)
5. Once the enemy unit has completed its charge reaction, the player whose turn it is then may pick another unit to declare a charge and follow the steps outlined until that player no longer has any units that he wishes to declare a charge with left.
6. After the player whose turn it is has declared all  the charges he desires, that player then picks a charge and rolls charge range to see if the unit is successful. (p. 18) If the unit is successful, the player then immediately moves the charging unit into base contact following the normal rules for making contact (p. 20) If the unit is unsuccessful, the player immediately moves that unit a number of inches toward the enemy unit equal to the highest dice rolled on the charge roll. (p. 19) The player does not have to roll for charges in the same order in which he declared his charges. (p. 18) Instead, that player may roll his charge distance in any order he desires.
7. After all charge rolls have been made and each unit has either made contact successfully or failed the charge, the Declare Charges sub-phase is over. No further charges can be made and no further charge rolls are made.

I hope this helps clarify the charging sub-phase for everyone. Until next time, have a great weekend, and remember if you have any questions, don't hesitate to write-in: westcoastwarhammerblog[at]gmail[dot]com