Good morning. A couple of questions that have been plaguing my gaming group if I may:


1: Can you charge downward? The latest FAQ on spiders implies that you cannot. Can you charge something below you while clibming or jumping down?
1a: Does a ladder change this?
1b: If the answer is no, is it possible to trap an enemy model on top of an obstacle indefinitely by moving your models so their control zones cover the entire bottom?
1c: What happens if a model falls and lands on top of an enemy model or in its control zone?


2: Can one charge over an obstacle if there is not enough room to rest your base flat on the far side of an obstacle? My opponent keeps placing models not quite touching an obstacle (and thus not defending it) and claiming that because there isn't enough room for me to fit between his base and the obstacle, it is impossible to charge unless I have the movement to go all the way around and charge from the back or side. Is this correct?


3: Do we assume that a 25mm base is exactly one inch? In reality, an inch is 25.4mm, and we had someone claim that a models control zone extended past a model directly in front of it, making it impossible to charge by a second enemy.


Thank you for your time and your wisdom!

To question one, the way the rules for attacking an elevated position are written, it does seem like there isn't a way to reverse them to charge someone at the bottom of a ladder or vertical elevation. I'm not sure that this work be able to trap a model at the top of something because the rules let a model drop from any height without needing to climb at the cost of no movement. You could just move your model over to where the enemy model isn't and drop down (might cause fall damage though). I've always understood it as being possible to drop into combat with an enemy that was below an elevated model, so you could probably climb part way down the latter and then drop of the side into combat with someone standing at the bottom of it.

As for falling into a control zone but not charging, strictly speaking that shouldn't be done because there isn't an exception to the "never enter an enemy control zone" rule. That said, the event needs to be handled somehow. I think you can either play at is being the same rule as the backing away into a control zone if it's force by an involuntary fall. Or you could follow the mumak displacement rule when either the falling model or the one being landed on, is displayed by the models controlling player just enough to give the fallen models base room to sit.

To question two, I recalling doing something quite like that once some years ago. To the best of my knowledge, your opponent is technically correct, but no one plays the rule that way because its generally considered an unsportsmanlike exploit even among competitive players.

To question three, I have always assumed that 25mm was intended to be the same as 1 inch for all intense and purposes. Fussing over a 0.4mm in converting measurements for a game like this seems like it would be mostly impractical to do. None of the Metric rules would actually make people measure that small to suit the Imperial measurements and it wouldn't make sense to make the Imperials cut their inch short by 1/16 either. So I think reading them as being the same is the most practical thing to do and what is intended.

If if your opponent doesn't buy that though, pg. 25 of the Rulebook has Charges and Control Zones paragraph 3, which states that once a model enters a control zone for the purpose of charging an enemy model, it ignores other control zones. Thus, making the whole 0.4mm issue moot anyhow.

That my two cents on it all anyway. Hope it was somewhat helpful.

_________________
"Draw your sword with a heavy heart, but swing it with a heavy hand"

Thanks for the reply!

The situation that prompted question one was that I had Shelob lurking on the roof of a small building preparing to charge my enemy's flank once our forces were engaged. He responded by moving a handful of infantry models around the perimiter, none of which were more than 60mm from the building or one another. This meant there was no room for me to charge any of them or to leave the building as there was no path on the table large enough for her 60mm base to fir through nor any unoccupied ground for her to stand on during a charge.

I kind of feel like this was answered in the most recent FAQ, but it is written in an ambiguous manner that could favor either interpretation.




As for question number three, sometimes we will have two models in base to base contact and someone wants to charge one of the models twice while leaving the first unengaged, which is impossible if control zones are wider than the bases are.