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I agree with mikhaila. The ONLY reason that GW said that bases didn't matter is so that they didn't have a much larger riot. Imagine the lamenting and gnashing of teeth there would have been if all the old armies had new rules but they needed to be rebased onto round bases to be able to be used in play.

On topic though; My GW gaming group has basically been playing pile-in moves the same way that it works in 40k with the idea that you are trying to get as much people into combat as possible. You can't peel a model off of another model to engage something else, but you can wrap the models behind your own front line to get to the enemy better. Otherwise you could do some really fishy tatics of holding an enemy unit completely down so that they can only attack with 2-3 models a turn unless they use their turn to retreat. Any combat could be turned into a V formation vs a V formation with a clever charge (as it never says you have to move as many models as possible within 1/2").

Killermonkey wrote:
I agree with mikhaila. The ONLY reason that GW said that bases didn't matter is so that they didn't have a much larger riot. Imagine the lamenting and gnashing of teeth there would have been if all the old armies had new rules but they needed to be rebased onto round bases to be able to be used in play.

On topic though; My GW gaming group has basically been playing pile-in moves the same way that it works in 40k with the idea that you are trying to get as much people into combat as possible. You can't peel a model off of another model to engage something else, but you can wrap the models behind your own front line to get to the enemy better. Otherwise you could do some really fishy tatics of holding an enemy unit completely down so that they can only attack with 2-3 models a turn unless they use their turn to retreat. Any combat could be turned into a V formation vs a V formation with a clever charge (as it never says you have to move as many models as possible within 1/2").

This is the problem I see with the rules as they are written. I can't imagine that's the intention, because it becomes such a traffic jam inside your own unit. I like the way your group is doing it and it's how I plan to as well.

I just find the game works so much better doing pile ins like we do in 40k. Troops don't abritrarily stop and forget how to move around friendly troops. Players don't work to come up with situations where they can enforce silly rules on opponents to explain why their models behave in a bizarre fashion. One of the main reasons I quit playing 8th edition was redirectors and units spinning around to charge the front of lone models. Rules meant to do one thing got changed in practice to turn the game into some abstract boardgame.

The game just works so much better now with models piling in and attempting to get into combat. We started playing it that way immediately and things have been fine.

I don't think that the 'traffic jam' effect is an oversight, I actually think it's intended.

AoS is still primarily a melee game, even with the lack of restrictions on shooting. Stats aside, the efficiency of a unit in melee pretty much comes down to how many models you can attack with, and model movement is the main decider in that.
With the strict rules governing movement once you've broken the 3" bubble, planning on how to lever that in your favour (or at least, not in your opponent's) becomes quite tactical.

Yes, it is utterly infuriating for the first few games because it's not a mental muscle you've had to use before, but once you get into the swing of things it's quite satisfying!

 mikhaila wrote:
I just find the game works so much better doing pile ins like we do in 40k. Troops don't abritrarily stop and forget how to move around friendly troops. Players don't work to come up with situations where they can enforce silly rules on opponents to explain why their models behave in a bizarre fashion. One of the main reasons I quit playing 8th edition was redirectors and units spinning around to charge the front of lone models. Rules meant to do one thing got changed in practice to turn the game into some abstract boardgame.

The game just works so much better now with models piling in and attempting to get into combat. We started playing it that way immediately and things have been fine.

This. It would so out of character with the rest of AoS if the piling in rule was a rigid as others believe it to be. I have to believe the RAW aren't the RAI.

Hopefully we'll see GW using the freedom provided by free rules distributed online to quickly and easily resolve questions like this. (But I'm not holding my breath).

I want to see Duncan do some tutorial vids :-)

Bede19025 wrote:

 mikhaila wrote:
I just find the game works so much better doing pile ins like we do in 40k. Troops don't abritrarily stop and forget how to move around friendly troops. Players don't work to come up with situations where they can enforce silly rules on opponents to explain why their models behave in a bizarre fashion. One of the main reasons I quit playing 8th edition was redirectors and units spinning around to charge the front of lone models. Rules meant to do one thing got changed in practice to turn the game into some abstract boardgame.

The game just works so much better now with models piling in and attempting to get into combat. We started playing it that way immediately and things have been fine.

This. It would so out of character with the rest of AoS if the piling in rule was a rigid as others believe it to be. I have to believe the RAW aren't the RAI.

QFT, the both of you!

- Salvage

I wouldn't characterise the pile-in rule as rigid, just different. The 40k rules is much more prescriptive about how a pile-in operates, and is mandatory. AoS's is much simpler, and optional. Each produces its own dynamic.

Different is different. It's up to your group to decide which is better I guess.

40k pile in moves take away tactical elements of AoS. I recommend spending some time learning the AoS way of things. You will gain greater appreciation of the movement phase and flexing your tactical brain