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If, at Initiative step 5, a unit takes so many casualties in close combat that its Initiative step 3 pile-in move cannot bring any models into base contact, does that unit get to swing at Initiative step 3? Does the combat immediately end?

This situation has happened a few times playing a bike army, so I wanted to make sure I'm playing all this correctly. I got tryhard and made this specific example with a lot of questions:

A Dark Angel Warlord and his Librarian buddy charge a unit of two Adeptus Mechanicus gravbots with a Tech-Priest. They barely make the charge, such that the Warlord is the only model in base contact. All other models are in a line two inches apart. There are no casualties from Overwatch or Hammer of Wrath.



At Initiative step 5, the Warlord swings and kills the single gravbot model he's touching. At Initiative step 3, the remaining gravbot makes a 3" Pile In move, but still no models are in base contact. The Tech-Priest and Librarian have Unwieldy axes and so do not Pile In until Initiative step 1.



What happens now? Does the gravbot get to swing after Piling In? Probably not.

Does the combat continue to Initiative step 1? I'm not sure. Even if it did, neither the Tech-Priest nor the Librarian can close the gap.



So does this combat end after Initiative step 3? Or after Initiative step 1?

Do they next determine who has won the combat?

If the Adeptus Mechanicus don't Fall Back, do both units then make an End of Combat Pile In move?

If they get this far, it's hard to imagine that wouldn't bring them back in base contact, but mass casualties could cause this. If this last Pile In doesn't work, it looks like both units Consolidate.

Rules References:

Page 48 states "At the start of each Initiative step, any model whose Initiative is equal to the value of the current Initiative step, that isn't already in base contact with an enemy model, must make a Pile-In move." That's three inches.

Page 48 also says "If both players' Pile In moves combined would be insufficient to bring any combatants back together (that's more than 6" - very unlikely!), the assault comes to an end. All remaining Initiative steps are lost -- work out the assault result ..."

"A model is engaged if:
* It is in base contact with one or more enemy models.
* It is within [unit coherency] of a friendly model in base contact with one or more enemy models in the same combat."

Page 52 says "all of the models in the target unit may be [...] casualties during an Initiative step, including those that are not engaged."

Any more relevant rules?

Combat ends, as there are not models in BtB contact.

The gravbot doesn't swing, as he needs to be a couple of inches away from a model in BtB to be able to swing. The priest will pile in, at init 1, but being unable to make it, the combat then ends.

The Dark Angels make a consolidation move. The Mech units would consolidate (unless they took 25% casualties, in which case they take a morale check for the phase). There is no sweeping advance etc.

In your example the grav bot can't fight as he is unengaged. The combat would still continue to the I1 step but the tech priest can't make it into base contact either; he is also unengaged and can't fight.

You resolve combat first, however. There is still a losing side. Presuming morale is passed, both sides pile in, and if they still cannot make base to base, the combat ends.

You forger to make pile in after combat
Combat ends if you cant bring models to b2b after that moves, so the combat ends if models are more than 6 inch away from each other, after initiative steps passes

Thank you all for your answers. It sounds like y'all think nobody else would swing but combat would continue through Initiative step 1.

But what about the rulebook's statement "All remaining Initiative steps are lost"? When does this come into play? It looks like if there's any initiative step where nobody can swing after piling in, no later steps happen and combat is resolved immediately.

axisofentropy wrote:
Thank you all for your answers. It sounds like y'all think nobody else would swing but combat would continue through Initiative step 1.

But what about the rulebook's statement "All remaining Initiative steps are lost"? When does this come into play? It looks like if there's any initiative step where nobody can swing after piling in, no later steps happen and combat is resolved immediately.

Correct

Indeed, so you resolve combat - i.e morale checks as needed - and then, if the losing side holds, you make another pile in on both sides. Only if at the end of this noone is in base do you get to end the combat.

nosferatu1001 wrote:
Indeed, so you resolve combat - i.e morale checks as needed - and then, if the losing side holds, you make another pile in on both sides. Only if at the end of this noone is in base do you get to end the combat.

so in this example combat ends after initiative step 3 and step 1 never happens? Even if unwieldy Ax axemen could reach?

EDIT (origionally gave wrong rule note):

Axisofentropy, yes you are correct.

Page 49 of the BRB:

if both players pile in moves combined would be insufficent to bring any combatants back together, assault comes to an end. all remaining initiative steps are lost.