All or Nothing Charge

Any questions relating to Beneath the Lily Banners rule system.
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Schomberg
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All or Nothing Charge

Post by Schomberg » Fri Aug 30, 2019 9:54 am

As I start to look at adding the additional rules, a question has popped up in play around the ‘all or nothing charge’.

A two/three squadron regiment/brigade of Horse fails to break it’s opponent and remains in combat itself.
Does the regiment/brigade retain it’s additional attacks in subsequent rounds?
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Re: All or Nothing Charge

Post by flick40 » Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:33 am

The All or Nothing combat bonus of number of stands that get to fight only count in the initial bound of combat. After that the additional sqdns only provide support bonuses. Morale results are carried across all sqdns involved like normal and combat is lost once the principle unit is wiped out.
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Re: All or Nothing Charge

Post by Schomberg » Fri Oct 04, 2019 11:31 am

Thanks, this confirms what my thinking was upon reviewing the appropriate section and is how we have been playing it since.
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Re: All or Nothing Charge

Post by barr7430 » Fri Oct 04, 2019 12:49 pm

This rule was being adopted as the default setting for multi squadron cavalry regiments which is why I moved it to the optional section. It was an 'in extremis' rule which gained popularity because some players could see the win potential in it.

That, as anyone who knows me well, is not, how it was conceived and envisaged.
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Re: All or Nothing Charge

Post by flick40 » Fri Oct 04, 2019 4:36 pm

Hi Barry,
I believe your design was to use it as a rare last ditch"we need to win this fight", but it turned into everyday use. When teaching the rules I don't even cover it as an option.
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Re: All or Nothing Charge

Post by nick the greek » Fri Jan 29, 2021 6:41 am

Hi All,
Just picking up on the thread, as I had a game today where we used the all or nothing with a few combats.
The majority of my questions have been answered above.
However could I get some further clarification on the following please.
If the opponent doesn’t cause hits in the first bound, do you apply attrition to all squadrons?
If you break your opponent in the first bound do you pursue with just the lead squadron, or pursue with all squadrons ( I presume the former)?
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Re: All or Nothing Charge

Post by Schomberg » Fri Jan 29, 2021 7:48 pm

I don't know but I think that applying attrition to all squadrons might go some way to removing the 'All or Nothing charge' as a default formation.

As for the second question, I think that all squadrons pursue.
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Re: All or Nothing Charge

Post by barr7430 » Sat Jan 30, 2021 5:43 pm

The rule grew arms and legs along the way. The reason I don't have pat answers to all the questions is that I rarely use it myself.
Pursuit should be by the whole regiment.
Attrition across all squadrons is a bit severe but I understand that logic stream.
The combat bonus applies onlyin the first bound of combat after that it is only the first squadron fighting. It really is All or Nothing. You win straight away or you have a mass of disorganized Horse milling around and vulnerable to a counter attack.

If we go to BLB4 (which we may well do now). I will probably delete the rule. I have answered more questions on this mechanism than any other and it assumed a significance well beyond that which was originally intended.
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Re: All or Nothing Charge

Post by Captain of Dragoons » Mon Feb 01, 2021 1:26 pm

Hi Barry

When I think of charges for the period, I see them conducted as ‘Sqn charges’ or ‘waves of Sqns charges’. Perhaps Leuze and Ramillies are good examples of multiple Sqns charging, pursuing or reforming, and charging again.

BLB4!?

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Re: All or Nothing Charge

Post by barr7430 » Sun Feb 07, 2021 2:02 pm

Ed,

that was the original idea of AoN charge but it is such a difficult thing to simulate.

The War of Three Kings is almost sold out in its original print run. Clarence and I never like to go to reprints and prefer going straight to pdf only. I am not promising BLB4 at all but IF we go that way, I think there would be minimal tinkering with core mechanics. The d6/d8/d10/d12 now runs like DNA for BLB, Donnybrook and Mad For War. This was an intent by Clarence and I as far back as 2015.

It removes factor faffing.
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