It took me a long time to understand the nuances of charging.
The Declaration & Reaction
Firstly, You can only declare a charge if the unit you wish to charge is both in LoS and forward arc (and within 10"+M" distance). Even if it seems weird as long as these are true you can declare it.
There are a lot of different ways to represent your declared charge. I usually put 2 dice down on the table to indicate my charge. Your opponent can immediately make a charge reaction.
FLEE: Some units like fast cav will flee to try and mess you up. If a unit chooses to flee, and are still in legal range for another charge, they have to flee again. In this way, you can run a unit off the table.
SHOOT: Shooters are the biggest pain here, as they can shoot you. Note that a unit can only shoot once, so you can declare a charge with a tough unit, absorb the hit, then declare a second charge with another, in order to resolve that charge first (note that they will usually choose to flee though)
Note that regardless of the distance, anyone with a shooting weapon can shoot at you if you charge them. Shooters are always considered to be shooting at long range. The only except is if you start the charge closer than your M distance - in this case, they cannot shoot you unless their weapon is Quick to Fire.
The main dynamic here is that you don't want to declare a risky charge at a unit with ranged weapons of any kind, as it will likely allow them to get a free shot at you.
STAND: The most common reaction. Since Undead cannot flee (due to Immune to Psych) and VC have no shooters, these rules are often ignored by us, but its important to know them (or else be confused and frustrated when playing vs wood elves)
- Combined charges allow 2+ units to charge the same unit at once. This only allows a single reaction and allows the 2+ units, if successful, to create the most optimal base contact together.
You repeat the above steps for every charge you wish to make. No other action is done until all charges are declared and reactions are completed. Theres no particular order, other than what might be to your tactical advantage.
After that, you resolve your charges. Once again, in whatever order you like.
To resolve a charge,you measure the shortest distance between the two units, often corner to corner. You round up (10.1" = 11). That is your number. You roll your 2D6 + M. If you are under, your change fails. You pivot directly toward the unit, and "stumble forward" a number of inches equal to the dice with the higest number.
If the number is equal or higher, the charge is (thus far) successful. The unit can now make a special move toward the unit they are charging.
The Move
- Unlike any other move, you can ignore 1" buffers. That means if your unit is 120mm wide, and there's a 120mm gap between two units/terrain, you can squeeze right through them. (If the charge is successful, you nudge things apart afterward for clarity).
- The distance you need to travel is now irrelevant. As this point you can move as many inches as you need to get into contact.
- You may make one single pivot of up to 90 degrees. You can do that at the start of your move, or move out straight forward and pivot at any point in the middle.
If, for any reason during the move, you find that you will not be able to come into contact with the enemy unit while following the above rules, the charge is reverted to a fail and you instead stumble as described above.
The Contact
When coming into contact you have to attempt to maximize the most base contact that you possibly can. This means that if you can come into contact with every unit, you must (no hanging your wizard off to the side to avoid combat, or leaving some room for a second charge you declared). If you are in some odd half-contact situation, this is only legal if that was the best you could do to complete your charge.
All you have to do is connect one corner of your units base with theirs. Next, you "close the door", meaning you now slide into place so the front ranks are now completely touching. If, in some very odd situations, the charging unit cannot close the door, the unit being charged must. This shouldn't come into play very often. The picture in the BSB explains it pretty well. Just be aware if you think you are safe from being charged due to certain scenery object blocking the way, you might have to be the one to close the door to make the charge legal.
If it is not possible to fully close the door in any way - the charge fails. You place the charging unit back where it started, and it stumbles forward instead.
As explained in other guides, its best to let the opponent do the bulk of the charges as undead are unbreakable and can then cast Nehek after a single round of combat, erasing our wounds and gaining an advantage for the rounds to come. (The only exception being with wolves and lances, where charging gives an advantage)
