No Charge Needed?

[MasterM]

I know you can't charge if a unit runs, but I can't find any rule that prevents a unit from running and stopping 3" away from an enemy unit and just piling in 3" to engage the enemy in the combat phase. The new FAQ clarifies that "within" a distance essentially means less than and equal to the distance, so in the case of being within 3" for a pile-in move backs this up if you are 3" away from an enemy unit, you can pile in. You may want to charge anyway to get your whole unit into combat, but for 1 model units or units that ran, is just piling in without a charge move legit?

[mhsellwood]

No. When you make a move in the movement phase you are required to not move within 3" of an enemy model. You may end up 3.000001" away but you are still more than 3" away. In the combat phase a model may only pile in if it is within 3" of any enemy model - given that you could  not come within 3" of an enemy model you could not pile in. You must make a charge move to initiate combat, you can not simply move into combat.

Note also, that run is not an additional move or one made after a normal move. You declare a unit is running, you roll the dice and add that to your movement. So, you still obey ALL the rules for making a normal move, you just sacrifice charging or shooting.

[StealthKnightSteg]

What @mhsellwood said though it's sacrificing charging AND shooting (normally)

Only way you could pile-in with out having charged in is that your opponent does a pile-in that "pulls" your unit within the stated 3" making it eligible to also attack.

[Squirrelmaster]

Yep, regular movement & running can't get you within 3", if you have some other way to get within 3" without charging, you can pile in.