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!