Charging or Piling-in from a hopeless distance?

[Jomini]

When I charge a unit, can I do it from 13” away?

When I pile-in a unit, can I do it from 4” away?

If yes it can be used to extend movement range of slow units right?

Please kindly bear with my random question as I am new to this game.

Thanks

 

[Dogmantra]

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When I charge a unit, can I do it from 13” away?

Not usually, no. Units have to be within 12" to be eligible to attempt a charge. Some units have abilities that allow them to charge from further away, for example the Stormcast Eternals Prosecutors have an ability that allows them to declare a charge if they are within 18" of an enemy.

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When I pile-in a unit, can I do it from 4” away?

It depends. For the most part, units must be within 3" of an enemy to pile in. There are a couple of exceptions:

• If the unit made a successful charge in the previous charge phase but by the time it's their turn to fight in the combat phase there are no enemies within 3", they are still allowed to make a pile in move, even if they can't get into range to fight with that move.
• Some units have special rules that allow them to pile in from further away. For example, Soublight Gravelords Zombies have an ability that lets them pile in if they are within 6" of an enemy unit, rather than 3".

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If yes it can be used to extend movement range of slow units right?

There's a bit of nuance to this question, so I'll try to encompass everything you might be thinking. Firstly, because pretty much every unit rolls 2d6 to charge, that does mean even very slow units can move fast provided they're doing it as part of a charge. However, it's important to remember that charges must take you to within 1/2" of an enemy unit, or else the charging unit doesn't move at all. Let's say I have a unit of Liberators that is 10" away from your unit of Chainrasps. If I roll a charge with the Liberators, I have to roll at least a 10 for them to move at all, if I roll a 10, 11, or 12, I can move that many inches into close combat, but if I roll anything less, the Liberators won't move at all. So yes, you can sort of use charges to speed up slower units but it is very dependent on successfully charging, which might be tricky at long distances.

Again, with Pile In moves, because you can only make a Pile In when you're within 3" of an enemy, it is quite tricky to use to purely speed up a unit, but you can certainly use the movement to reposition, for example to move a couple more models onto an objective to ensure you take control of it. This is a skill you'll develop as you play the game more.

 

Welcome to Age of Sigmar!

 

[Dogmantra]

1 hour ago, Zatopek said:

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought a unit had to be within 3" of an ennemy to be eligible for pile in (whether they charged earlier or not). Individual models can still pile in even if they end up out of range to fight as long as one model of the unit is 3" away from the enemy before pile in.

From 12.1 Fight Sequence:
A unit is eligible to fight if it is within 3" of an enemy unit and it has not fought in that phase, or if it made a charge move in the same turn and it has not fought in that phase.

And then from 12.1.1 confirming that a fight includes a pile-in:

When you pick a unit to fight, first you can make a pile-in move with each model in the unit and then you must make combat attacks with the models in the unit. That unit has then fought.

[Zatopek]

On 4/9/2023 at 1:51 PM, Dogmantra said:

If the unit made a successful charge in the previous charge phase but by the time it's their turn to fight in the combat phase there are no enemies within 3", they are still allowed to make a pile in move, even if they can't get into range to fight with that move.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought a unit had to be within 3" of an ennemy to be eligible for pile in (whether they charged earlier or not). Individual models can still pile in even if they end up out of range to fight as long as one model of the unit is 3" away from the enemy before pile in.

[Jomini]

On 4/9/2023 at 12:51 PM, Dogmantra said:

Not usually, no. Units have to be within 12" to be eligible to attempt a charge. Some units have abilities that allow them to charge from further away, for example the Stormcast Eternals Prosecutors have an ability that allows them to declare a charge if they are within 18" of an enemy.

It depends. For the most part, units must be within 3" of an enemy to pile in. There are a couple of exceptions:

• If the unit made a successful charge in the previous charge phase but by the time it's their turn to fight in the combat phase there are no enemies within 3", they are still allowed to make a pile in move, even if they can't get into range to fight with that move.
• Some units have special rules that allow them to pile in from further away. For example, Soublight Gravelords Zombies have an ability that lets them pile in if they are within 6" of an enemy unit, rather than 3".

There's a bit of nuance to this question, so I'll try to encompass everything you might be thinking. Firstly, because pretty much every unit rolls 2d6 to charge, that does mean even very slow units can move fast provided they're doing it as part of a charge. However, it's important to remember that charges must take you to within 1/2" of an enemy unit, or else the charging unit doesn't move at all. Let's say I have a unit of Liberators that is 10" away from your unit of Chainrasps. If I roll a charge with the Liberators, I have to roll at least a 10 for them to move at all, if I roll a 10, 11, or 12, I can move that many inches into close combat, but if I roll anything less, the Liberators won't move at all. So yes, you can sort of use charges to speed up slower units but it is very dependent on successfully charging, which might be tricky at long distances.

Again, with Pile In moves, because you can only make a Pile In when you're within 3" of an enemy, it is quite tricky to use to purely speed up a unit, but you can certainly use the movement to reposition, for example to move a couple more models onto an objective to ensure you take control of it. This is a skill you'll develop as you play the game more.

 

Welcome to Age of Sigmar!

 

great thanks this is the perfect answer!

[Jomini]

On 4/13/2023 at 6:20 PM, Dogmantra said:

From 12.1 Fight Sequence:
A unit is eligible to fight if it is within 3" of an enemy unit and it has not fought in that phase, or if it made a charge move in the same turn and it has not fought in that phase.

And then from 12.1.1 confirming that a fight includes a pile-in:

When you pick a unit to fight, first you can make a pile-in move with each model in the unit and then you must make combat attacks with the models in the unit. That unit has then fought.

great thanks this is absolutely useful!