"Once a Unit Has Left the Tabletop..." Topic

…should it be allowed to return for any reason?

(Excluding aircraft)

Nope, gotta be a point at which a unit broken just keeps on going. At least in the context of that scenario.

Yes far too often we play games with limited flank marches. I am working on four different scenarios (one SiFi {Hoth}, One Zombie, one ACW and one Naval) that all have off table movement.
VR
James Mattes

Whats a table top…

Unless you have some cliffs or molten pits of doom surrounding your battlefield, why cannot something move off of the edge, and work around the extreme side of force, of course its going to take a long time, and by the time your force arrives back it could be too late…

We used to keep 1 foot by 2 foot pieces to put on the edge when people had to move off the edge, and if they continued to move away we used to put a note on the corner with a pin and a marker on the table. We then could track how far they were away by updating the distance to the marker on the note, and the distance to the corner of the table and from this the actual position of the troops could be derived. It also works for naval games, especially if you have modern forces seperated by several miles (tens if not hundreds)

Edge of world – artificial construct!

That is why I love HOTT; the hordes just keep coming back for more!

Cheers,

Yes.

Depends on the reason, of course.

Depends on the context, period, command level etc, but often, yes. We often use offtable reserve boxes, movement boxes etc. In tactical games, probably less so.

I agree that it depends on the reason

If they broke and runned off, no

On the other hand, for example with Black Powder, units in perfectly good condition can blunder off the table – in the case of my last Black Powder game, an entire Prussian cuirssier brigade – and, if they get their act together, should be able to come back onto the table (not that it did me a lick of good – as by then those rascally white coats had beaten the tar out of my good Prussian boys)

If they routed, no. If they pursued or blundered off the table yes.

Concur with Frederick. If a unit was routing or in a forced retreat and discombobulated, then it's gone. But if a unit had to retreat off the table edge in good order, most likely as a morale result or melee result, then it should be able to return after one or two turns. And you should be able to move units off the table for a flank march, but you need rules to cover it.

There is one condition where units deliberately moved off the table should not be permitted to return and that is where a victory condition is to exist so many units off the table at a given location. Units so exited should not be allowed to return.

All this being said, it also depends on how many turns your games last. If 4 or 5 turns, don't bother with units that leave the table. If 8 or more turns, have rules for it. For that intermediate amount, 6 or 7 turns, let it be how near the end the unit goes off the table and have rules to cover it.

if routed they never return.. if withdrawing unit returns in good order a 1D6 turns later. IF a ship, it can return facing back to board in 2D6 which represents a distance out and then a full turn back. IF a few ships then just "move the ocean" to the ships.

Sure with a variable time line depending on the reason.
Routing units done for the game.

I have to admit though the rules (Empire III) allow it (routed units) I don't, or at least don't use it.

Depends if you ever want to go home

If chased off, no. But if you bring them on after a suitable march off table--cleared by the referee--then okay.

The usual reason a unit leaves the table is because it has routed off, thus it is no longer capable of rallying and becoming a coherent unit again.
The answer is no, under these circumstances.

Unless it leaves by chioce and not re-enters behind enemy lines perhaps.
Good option for infantry to leave battlefeild to get on horses/ trucks/ helicopters to relocate

If its broken, no coming back. If unit was in pursuit off table, then yes, should be a small % chance it can come back.

We douse them with gasoline and light em' on fire. If you do it once, I guarantee you won't go off the map in a future game.

:)

It depends on the situation.