Hello again,
I seem to recall that the Command Co should always be the last to take casualties (cause it's always to the "front" of the formation). But where is that rule ?

Many thanks


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ie. A cavalry formation took heavy casualties and is now down to its two remainning companies. The command company with a Captain (hero) and a grunt and a second company with an Epic Hero and a grunt. The formation takes two hits and must remove a model. Who dies ?

I always thought it would be the Epic Hero...but the other day my opponent removed the grunt from the command company, to save his Ringwraith (and has more experience than me).

I do not have the book in front of me. My understanding is that you can remove casualties from any company. However, once you begin to remove casualties from a company you must fully deplete that company before removing casualties from another company. Thus, if you begin to remove casualties from a command company, it would die before the rest of its unit. For this reason, you PROBABLY would not want to remove casualties from a command company, or from a company in base contact with the enemy.

There's one on page 40 that refers to shooting and one on page 49 that refers to combat and tells you step by step what order you remove casualties in.

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Coordinator of the Great British Hobbit League

You remove models from the command company last, but in the cavalry scenario, you wouldn't be forced to remove the Epic Hero until the grunt in the second formation died.

E.G.

4 cavalry models, command has captain and banner bearer, second has gandalf and rider of rohan.

Three hits = 1 death, you choose Gandalf or the Rider of Rohan (most people would choose the rider, not the wizard!).

So, you have three left, then take three hits next turn: Gandalf (or the rider if that's whom is left) dies, if still in the unit (otherwise, the normal rider that replaces him is killed).

Last company, 2 or more hits and the formation is gone.


As said, it is explained in the rules, but you don't HAVE to kill the Epic Hero before the normal guy in a company, however, casualties have to be taken from the same company until it is empty and the command company should be last.

This is inaccurate, the rules state that there can never be more epic heroes in a company than normal warriors. So in the above example, you would be forced to kill Gandalf before the rider. Page 68, second paragraph under "Fielding Epic Heroes"

As for the original question, while it would certainly make sense that you would have to take from the command company last, I can not find any rule in the book stating you that you have to.

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hmmmm.....

That's a very good point, but I merely presumed this was in terms of where they are placed. I haven't got the book to hand, so I can't read the specific ruling, but I'd imagne that this is an exempt case, otherwise characetrs are even MORE worthless in cavalry formations....

As tot he second point, I believe that somewhere, it states that you remove models from the rearmost company first and that, essentially, the command company is the foremost company overall.

Basically, additional companies are added to the command company sideways and rearwards or just rearwards, working out, so casualties work back in. If you could remove them from any company, you could remove them from the command company from the beginning of them taking wounds, even if there were 8 other companies, all behind the command one.


Yaum: I completely forgot to point out: If you opponent removed the basic trooper from the command company in a cavalry formation, he would have lost the formation as WELL as the ringwraith because as soon as half of the command company is lost (unless indomitable), the formation is removed.