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Hello YMTC,

I'm a fan of the Rough Rider from the I.G. Codex.  Most say, don't take them more than 5 or 6 because blowing that many lances is a waste.  

Here is my thought.  The hunting lance has this rule "They will automaticly us the lance in the first close combat they fight in the game,..." (I.G. codex pg. 46) If I take 10 Riders and put them in 3 ranks.  The first rank has 4 the second has 1 and the thrid rank has 5 Riders.  Since the back riders aren't fighting they don't use there lances.  Meaning the next round of combat they fight they get to use there lance. So if I charge a squad  with this formation, and the 10 lance attacks wipe them out, I still have 5 fresh lances for the next wave.

The answer to your question is no, that formation wouldn't work.  It says they will automatically use the lance in the first combat they fight in the game.  Meaning If  you attack in that formation,  (which would be  illegal anyways since units have to move as close as possible) any one who could attack would use their lance in the first close combat they fight in the game, and all those out of range would automatically use there lances on nothing.  After that no lances could be used since it is clear that lances can only be used in the first close combat they fight in a game.

However that doesn't matter.   The reason you take 6 man squads is twofold; you can hide a 6 man squad behind a tank, or more easily behind cover, and because it keeps the squad cheap, so if they are caught out in the open you don't lose much.  And while avoiding overkill is a reasonable concern  those two points far supersede it.

First I do mean that the front line would end the movment phase 12inches from the target to make it so that the back line cannot make it with in 2 inches after the charge. Second the I felt the word "they fight" was refering to a model not "the squad fights" Are there any examples of this phrasing to support either use?

Taking 10 RR is just asking to get a bolter facial. Not so hot.

Datajax, I agree with your assesment that only the models in the unit that actually "fight" would use up their lances, especially since the rulebook specifies (pg 38, "who can fight?") that only engaged models actually "fight" in the combat.

However, this tactic isn't really very useful for two important reasons:

1) The Lance rules only give +2 Strength and Initiative on the charge, so even if the back rank of RRs get to use their lance in the 2nd round of combat they are only making a single S3 and I3 power weapon attack a piece. In 99% of game situations you are better off using all your RRs in a single charge to benefit from the charge bonus and the +2 Strength and Initiative.

2) No matter what the RAW say, the perception is that the whole RR unit loses their lances in the first round of combat they fight, so if you did try to use this tactic you'd likely be creating some needless friction with many opponents, especially considering the tactic is fairly useless as noted in point #1.

Posted By ether dude on 07/06/2007 10:41 PM
Taking 10 RR is just asking to get a bolter facial. Not so hot.

I am the only one distrubed by the expression "bolter facial". Is that like a Space Marine with Peter North capabilities?

It's especially amusing when people quote the original novel Space Marine , which had several passages that seemed to have been written as sexual euphamisms.

Don't forget the penetration chart and SOB with the Sister Superior whipping half naked Repentia (fallen "bad girl" sisters?!) across the battlefield.  Not to mention the Slanneesh and the Demonettes (sounds like a band name) with the exposed boobage, bondage wear, tentacles (you anime fans know what I mean) and wrong ways of conversions (I think there was a chaos chart for Necromunda that had hermaphrodites as a chaos mutation).  Ewww!