GENERAL RULES & CLARIFICATIONS - PAGE TWO
On the following pages you will find clarifications and additions to the game rules found in Warhammer Ancient Battles and these supersede duplicated rules in the following publications: Armies of Antiquity, Chariot Wars, Fall of the West, Shieldwall, El Cid, Alexander the Great, Armies of Chivalry, Spartacus, Byzantium – Beyond the Golden Gate and Hannibal and the Punic Wars.


CHARGING CHARGING
CAVALRY COUNTER CHARGES
This is a new charge response that may only be taken by cavalry units charged to the front by enemy cavalry. The unit counts as charging for the purposes of using its weapons (ie, it gets +1S if it has thrusting spears, etc). Cavalry with a move of less than 6" (eg, Heavily armoured Cataphracts) may not counter charge. Note that the unit does not move, and does not count as charging for deciding who strikes first. Also note that cavalry may not counter charge infantry (just try not to let them get close enough to charge in the first place!). The unit also counts as charging for the purposes of Ferocious Charge and Warband rules.

Note: The term Cavalry may also apply to Camelry and Light Chariots in this instance.
(Charge responses: p 12)

MANOEUVRE & ALIGNMENT
Although you only declare a charge against one unit, during a charge it is permissible to contact more than one unit. Often as not, this occurs when you make any free alignment move after contact is made. Sometimes this will create a result in favour of the charger, sometimes it won’t!
(Charging: p 18)

This may create unusual situations where players will need to improvise and use common sense. We have provided some examples here as guidance to show the general intent of the rules Diagrams 150.1, 150.2 & 150.3 show a cavalry unit charging at Roman infantry unit A, and by virtue of the free wheel contacts the flank of another unit. All units are then aligned. Opposite: Diagrams 151.1, 151.2 & 151.3 show different examples of a Barbarian unit charging straight forward and contacting two units. Redirecting a charge Once your charge has been declared, and the direction of the charge established, your opponent may choose to flee. Should your charging unit have sufficient charge move to contact another unit in the charge direction, then it may do so.
(Redirecting a charge: p 19)

Charging Skirmisher Units When charging skirmishers with a formed unit, move the charging unit in the normal fashion for moving a charge. Once contact is made with any skirmishing models, the charging unit may align as normal, or may hold in its initial contact position. In either case, any skirmishing models within half an inch of the front of the charging unit may be brought into the combat but the others will be left out of the combat. The rules for ‘engaged skirmishers’ apply in subsequent rounds.
(Light troops: p 54)

Note: This clarification has been introduced to give formed units an advantage over skirmishing troops.

SHOOTING SKIRMISHING UNITS
A unit of skirmishers cannot be shot through; they are treated like a formed unit for this purpose. This is an expansion of the Dividing Shots rule on page 23. You are obliged to shoot at one target because all your troops can shoot at them, while not all of them will be able to sight the enemy unit behind. A skirmish unit may not be charged through to reach another target; it is treated like a formed unit for this purpose. It must be the target of the charge, even if the models could move through the skirmisher unit to get at the target behind. The above rules apply to both friendly and enemy models and units, unless some other special rule, such as Chariot Runners from Chariot Wars applies. Units can still see through skirmisher units, however, skirmishing units do not block vision unless individual models are directly in the way of one another (for example, a single character model is directly behind a skirmisher model). Therefore it might be possible for a unit behind a unit of skirmishers to also declare a charge if the skirmishers are also charging themselves. In the unlikely event that a unit of skirmishers loses unit coherency, then other models or units may shoot or charge through the gap.

LINE OF SIGHT FOR SKIRMISHERS
Line of sight rules apply to skirmishing models, and care should be taken when moving models and determining which can shoot. Model bases obstruct line of sight and fire arcs apply to skirmishers in the same unit (see pg 9). This applies even when skirmishers are firing from or at elevated positions, and space between bases and a valid fire arc are still necessary to fire.
(Light troops: p 54)

SHOOTING & ELEVATED POSITIONS
Currently, all models in a unit on an elevated position can shoot, and be targeted by all models in a unit which is shooting at them as they can see and be seen by all. As this makes shooting from hills too powerful, apply the rules for Massed Archery (page 23 of the WAB rules) to all missile weapons for these situations when using formed units.
(Elevated positions: p 22)

MOVING CREWS
Crew models aboard elephants, chariots and war-wagons that move are subject to the -1 to hit modifier for moving unless stated for the weapon itself or other special rules. The ‘to hit modifer’ chart on page 24 is incorrect.
(Weapons used from Chariots: p 60, Weapons from Elephants: p 63)

HEAVY/SCYTHED CHARIOTS
Heavy Chariots and Scythed Chariots are NOT large targets (+1 to hit) when shot at. However, War Wagons ARE a large target. The To Hit Modifier chart on page 24 is incorrect. Heavy and Scythed Chariots in hand-to-hand combat may charge the front of a phalanx. Impact hits are added to the hits caused by the crew. As these are resolved at the same time for wounds, that will dictate any weapon and ‘who strikes first’ priority.
(Heavy/scythed chariots: p 59)

HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT WEAPONS
Weapons that can be used to fight in two or more ranks only do so to the frontal facing of the unit. Models in corner-to-corner contact to their front and models in the second rank behind them may also fight if they are appropriately armed. Units composed of identically armed figures, with multiple weapon choices, must all fight with the same weapon in any given round of combat, unless stated otherwise. Bows: All references to bows in the lists refer to composite bows unless stated otherwise. Javelins: Have a Strength of 3, and not ‘as thrower”. Darts: These are treated as javelins with a range of 12" and a Strength of 2.
(Weapons: p 45- p 49)

SKIRMISHING UNITS
The following applies to all units in skirmish formation: Units that charge the flank or rear of an enemy do not cause a Panic test, and do not negate rank bonuses for Combat Results. Units attacking from the flank or rear do gain the applicable +1 or +2 Combat Result. Units do not gain the combat bonuses for unit standards and may not use any Musicians in a roll-off.
(Results: p 33, Skirmishers: p 56)

RANK BONUSES & DIFFICULT TERRAIN
A unit that is in clear ground and fighting an enemy unit that is located within difficult ground will only lose any rank bonus if models in the unit are in direct contact with enemy models that are located in the difficult ground. For the purposes of this rule, hills and fords count as clear terrain and do not negate a unit’s rank bonus unless stated or agreed otherwise beforehand. Units fighting across obstacles do not count any rank bonus.
(Terrain: p 17, Results: p33)

Elephant combat results Elephants negate a unit’s rank bonus only. They do not negate the phalanx ability or a warband’s rank bonus for the purpose of Leadership tests.
(Combat results: p 62)

OVERRUN
Sometimes, a powerful unit is capable of smashing through an enemy in a single round of close combat. In such cases, the thundering charge of the victorious unit will sweep it forward as it cuts down its enemies. This is represented by the Overrun rule. This rule prevents individuals and small units from stopping a unit of charging Knights in its tracks, for example.

If all of a unit’s opponents are slain in the first round of hand-to-hand combat (for that unit) then it is allowed to make an Overrun move as if it had broken its enemies. This will be 2D6" or 3D6" depending on the Movement value of the unit (like with fleeing and pursuit). The unit moves forwards in a direct line (ie, towards and through the position where the destroyed enemy unit was). Note that the victorious unit does not have to make the Overrun move – the player may elect to keep his troops stationary if he wishes.

Sometimes the Overrun move allows the unit to hit a fresh enemy unit. This is treated as if it were a new charge, and all the rules governing charges apply. In this case, the Overrunning unit has no choice in the matter, it must charge against the fresh enemy. The unexpectedly attacked unit can only respond to the charge by holding; any attempt to flee or stand & shoot is impossible. When moving an overrunning unit into contact with the enemy, the player must endeavour to bring as many models from the charging unit into combat as possible. This can usually be achieved by moving them straight forward, but it will sometimes be necessary to wheel the unit slightly to face the enemy.

If the new enemy or the overrunning unit causes fear or terror, then take a test in accordance with the rules for Fear or Terror and abide by the results of the test.

Any resulting combat is worked out in the following turn. The overrunning troops are charging and so get all the usual benefits and bonuses, just as if they had charged that turn, even though their charge actually occurred during the Hand-to-Hand Combat phase of the previous turn. Assuming that overrunning troops do not encounter any fresh enemy, they move the distance indicated by their dice roll and thereafter are ready to fight normally. So, in their following turn, they may charge, march or move normally exactly like any other unit, and no penalty is imposed because of pursuing.

Should a unit flee from a charge, but is caught (and then destroyed in the Hand-to-Hand Combat phase), the charging unit gains no overrun benefit.

RALLYING
You should always attempt to rally fleeing troops.
(Rallying: p 11 & p 12)

FALLING BACK IN GOOD ORDER
Sometimes, units will be forced to fall back in good order. Units can do this under the following circumstances: Any combat where one side outnumbers the other by over 2:1 gives overwhelming odds to the side with the most models. If the side with overwhelming odds (calculated at the end of the combat) loses a combat and fails their Break test, they Fall Back in Good Order instead of fleeing (this is an ‘easy to forget’ special rule. If you forget that one of your units should have fallen back in good order rather than flee, that is your own silly fault and cannot be changed later in the battle!

Drilled troops, units in skirmish formation, and cavalry that lose a combat but pass their Break test may Fall Back in Good Order if they wish, instead of remaining in the combat.

The fall back move is made in the same way as when a unit flees, with the following exceptions:

1. Units falling back in good order don’t cause friends within 12" to take a Panic test.
2. Units falling back in good order rally automatically at the end of the move and may immediately reform. However, if a unit is falling back from a lost combat in which it was fighting to the flank or rear, it cannot reform and remains with its original facing at the end of the fall back move. Thus, a flanked unit cannot fall back into a better position and continues to suffer all applicable penalties if contacted by pursuers. Unusual situations: It is impossible to cover in words all the situations that could occur on the tabletop in this instance. The important thing to achieve when falling back from a flank or rear charge (or both!) is that the falling back unit does not gain any advantages and players should be prepared to improvise (see pg 10 of the WAB rulebook) when repositioning units after this move.
3. Units falling back in good order may be pursued, but if caught they’re not wiped out; instead the pursuing units count as having charged in the next Hand-to-Hand Combat phase.
4. Units that Fall Back in Good Order are not allowed to declare a charge in their next turn. Apart from this, however, they may move and shoot normally.
5. A unit that falls back off the table is lost. 6. Units can Fall Back in Good Order from a First Charge or Ferocious Charge.
(Fleeing: p 34)

Victory chart
Elephants rampaging or stampeding at the end of the game (but which are still on the table) give Victory points equivalent to half their regular points value. Dead elephants or elephants that have left the table give full victory points as normal.
(Victory chart: p 85)

Roman Army list
A unit cannot march or charge while maintaining a Testudo formation. If players do not have suitable modelled means of indicating the unit is in Testudo formation, they should indicate to their opponent at the start of each turn that the unit is remaining in Testudo formation.
(Testudo: p 120)

Elephants should cost 125 points, with an additional 8 points per crew.
(Elephants: p 125)

Barbarian Army list
Delete the Warrior on Foot line in the Chariot entry. It is not required and is not used. The Warrior’s attacks are included in the Chariot’s characteristics.
(Chariot: p 129)

SPECIAL RULES & ABILITIES
The following rules are found in several supplements and the army lists that follow, and are included here for completeness.

FEROCIOUS CHARGE
The charge of some units, such as medieval knights, was renowned for its ferocity, and few could stand up to it. If a unit from the army is noted as having Ferocious Charge and wins the round of combat, their opponents automatically break, with no Leadership test being taken. Enemy units that normally ignore Break tests (such as Stubborn troops) must roll a D6. On a 1-3 they are broken anyway and on a 4-6 they hold. However, it may be possible for a unit to Fall Back in Good Order, so refer to those rules.

FEIGNED FLIGHT
If cavalry choose to flee or fire & flee as a charge reaction, they rally immediately at the end of their move, and may reform facing any direction. This means that should the charging enemy encounter them, the cavalry are not destroyed, and may instead fight in the Hand-to-Hand Combat phase. Their opponents still count as charging.

PARTHIAN SHOT
The unit may make a normal move immediately after shooting. This is only allowed in the Shooting phase, is not a charge reaction and the unit may not march.

COMBINED FORMATION
Some units may mix troop types together, with typically archers taking up the rear ranks of the unit, shooting over the heads of the troops in front. Units that can do this are indicated in the relevant army list This is represented as follows:

1. The archers lose their Light Troop status if applicable, and are treated as normal troops for the purposes of movement and rank bonuses.
2. The archers may shoot using the Massed Archery rules on page 23 of the WAB rulebook, as well as any special rules that may apply to that unit.
3. A unit may stand & shoot or fire & flee using massed archery.
4.All missile hits taken by the unit use the saving throw of the majority of models in the unit, at the time when the saving rolls are made. If numbers of models are equal, the best saving throw is used. Any models that fail their saving throw are removed from the unit in roughly equal proportions, eg, if a unit of 12 spearmen and 12 archers takes two casualties from missile fire, one of each model is removed. If a third casualty were inflicted, the owning player should choose which type of model to remove.
5. In close combat, hits on the unit should be taken by whichever models are in contact with enemy attackers, and armour saves taken as appropriate. If the attacker has a choice of attacking differently armoured models, then he should declare which he is attacking before throwing any dice.

OPTIONAL NEW RULES
The following rules should only be used with either your opponent’s or event organisers’ agreement prior to a game or event commencing. You will find more optional rules, ideas and community links on the Warhammer Historical website: www.warhammer-historical.com

Enemy within 8"
Reforming Unless drilled, a unit cannot reform if enemy are within 8" when they wish to perform the reform.

Rallying
When attempting to rally fleeing units, if non-fleeing enemy are within 8", apply the following: If the unit that wishes to rally outnumbers the total number of models in enemy units within 8", then take the Rally test as normal. If the unit that wishes to rally is outnumbered by the total number of models in enemy units within 8", then the Rally test is taken with a -1 modifier. If the unit that wishes to rally is outnumbered by the total number of models in enemy units within 8" by more than 2:1, then the Rally test is taken with a -2 modifier.