"TSATF 3rd ed. 1994 Rules Question" Topic

Gents,
My club has been playing these rules on and off since they were published. They have tweaked and untweaked them, and at the moment, I'm working to understand how they are intended to be played with the Rules As Written, or RAW.

I have the Greenfield Hobby Distributors 1994 third edition of the rules, GHD 9001. They are pretty clear, but there's still some points that are not directly stated but strongly implied.

So, I have my Thin Red Line and there's a band of Pathans at distance X away – could be 4", could be 14", doesn't matter. In the Movement Phase, a Black card comes up, and the Pathans are trying to decide how to engage the Brits.

Here, the most important thing seems to be if the British have or have not moved / stated they won't Move yet.

If the British have moved, they are stuck in place, and the Pathans may Move and Shoot them, OR Charge them, roll for stragglers and distance, stop at 1", take a shot from them, then both sides roll to enter melee, conduct melee, etc.

If the British have NOT moved [or stated they won't Move], then the Pathans may maneuver into shooting range. This appears to be the best course of action, as they may then shoot at the British with their 10 rifles. The British of course may shoot back.

The Pathans may choose to Charge, roll distance and stragglers, then must stop 1" away. THEN the British Unit may…?

It appears that the British unit may move away, IX.A.1. p. 29, "If all the opposing figures that were charged have moved away and / or been made casualties by firing, the charging figures complete their movement by occupying the previous position held by the opposing figures."

And of the Brits move over 1" from the the chargers, all the Chargers can do is consolidate into the British Unit's previous position. [This is regardless of how much of the diced movement was used, whether only 1" or 20"].

If I am reading the rules and understanding things correctly, then it seems to me:
1) The only way to definitely be able to Charge and then melee is if the British have already moved.
2) If the British have not already moved, then only by "boxing them in" with units can you prevent them from getting all their figures more than 1" away, which stymies the charge if the British want to. Alternatively, the British player may choose to take the charge in the hope that shooting will whittle the attackers down enough to win the melee.

Am I understanding the intent of the rules correctly?

Thanks!

The way I have always interpreted it, once the British card has come up, and that unit is nominated by its commander, any actions must be taken before the next card is drawn. That unit doesn't get to "save" its action for later as a response.
That's why it's important to nominate "idle" units that won't be faced with a decision early in the turn.
Our motto when playing TSATF is "move last but shoot first".

We use the 20th anniversary edition. IF IT HASN'T MOVED YET, OR PASSED, it gets to make a Critical Morale roll if it wishes to evade. Once that unit has used its card, it can't respond to a charge.
Heck, I'd rather form a solid line to receive a charge (getting a +1 in melee), and fire British Rifles, than evade.
But once your card is done, it's done.

@John the OFM
Yeah, a Close Order line shooting at a Charger [after rolling stragglers] should be facing around 10 native figures. The melee after that is even. Assuming that the British have been shooting while maneuvering, there shouldn't be 20 natives in the unit, anyway.

Sounds like you have adapted the Optional Cavalry Evade Charge rule for Infantry?

See what Cornel Campbell has to say. IIRC , he was closely associated with Larry's group when the rules were play tested.

OP, I agree with your reading of the rules, except that a pass move is a move, which is completely different from a unit that has not moved. A unit that passed on its move card spent the phase straightening their line and checking equipment while listening to the sergeant say, "steady,lads." They do not move later when it is convenient.

Native players should always try to overwhelm with mass.

Brits can only fall back so far before time, numbers, cards, and dice work against them. That is part of the strategy of the card play. Also, sooner or later, the Brits are going to roll 5" for their move and the natives are going to roll 15".

@79thPA
Yes, I understand, don't mean in OP to inply that a "pass" is the same as "unmoved". A Pass = a Move.

The part I want to be certain of is this:
"Also, sooner or later, the Brits are going to roll 5" for their move and the natives are going to roll 15"."

If a Charger *always* stops 1" from a Target, and that
Target has not moved, I don't see that it matters by how much the Target then moves, as long as all its figs end up over 1" away from all Charger figs. Could be 1/16" so the distance is now 1 1/16" the Charger doesn't get a melee.

Personally, i think the Charge Target should have to retreat at least 3-5" so that the attacker can "occupy the position they vacated" so to speak.

Yes. It's a combination of cards and dice. You want Red to move first and get a low movement roll.

"Yes. It's a combination of cards and dice. You want Red to move first and get a low movement roll."

Yes, exactly – they run, but not out of range, and then one can charge home [after taking some gas].

I played TSATF at the HMMCs and Historicon 80-86 & 1990. 87-89 With Lynn Bodin. The Native melee troop's best tactic was to wait until the Imperialist Oppressors moved and could not elude the charge by evasion. Busting a Brit square with Fuzzies was always most satisfying. :^)