Personally, I look at the Three Man Trap situation loosely. Meaning, if you've got three models surrounding a model in a triangle shape you simply acknowledge that the model is considered trapped and move on.

Flip side, my usual opponent treats this situation seriously and sticks to the notion where even if you are off by a cm or two to make the surround completely equidistant the model should be free to back away.

For the most part, I agree with him. Strip away of all the intricacies and you’re left with the ruling: If you've got enough room to back away, you are free to back away. If you don’t have the movement to secure the trap then why should you be rewarded with it?

However, if you simply take a step back and look at the miniatures on the table you can easily see the trap. It avoids annoying instances where you are making sure a model can reach an exact spot on a base or spending time trying to figure out if the surround is exactly equidistant. Plus, most of the time when you’re measuring, bases are usually shifted ever so slightly (stupid fingers) which can make this trap almost impossible to perform.

Where do you guys (or girls) stand?

I apologize if this is a bit of an odd question but in a game where you don’t necessarily have to back directly away from a fight and you are technically allowed to trap a monster sized base with three models I figure I’d see what the community thinks.

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Personally (and this is a general rule for lots of situations in war-games) i go by intention. If it was clearly the intention of my opponent to trap my model, or stay in cover, or any such similar thing then I count it as being the case.
I'm not going to get the ruler out and make sure they did it absolutely correctly- the intention is good enough. I don't want to win by rules lawyering my way to victory on technicalities.

I find that takes the stress out of gaming, which isn't supposed to be a stressful activity.

I also think it's just good manners, and gentlemanly behaviour.

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I personally tend to play it as it appears on the table. If I can move my model 1" away without displacing your models, I am not trapped therefore no double strikes. In friendly games I am far more forgiving (as per Mertaal above) but in a tournament game things change.
I'm not going to let you have double strikes on my models because you intended to do it, might be the difference between winning and losing. If you intend to do it and fail, it is a mistake and by gamers law I should punish you for your mistake It is quite funny sometimes when your opponent picks up double dice only for you to move your model back 1"...the faces I have seen

Just my opinion

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To back away, doesn't there have to be enough room for bases to pass each other? I don't play too much, and am only getting back into the hobby, but that is always what I thought. Since there has to be enough room for a base to fit without touching other bases for a model to pass between two other models, isn't it the same for backing away? In which case, the 'trap' wouldn't need to be perfectly triangular, just positioned enough that there is less than 25mm (or other equivalent base size) between any of the three 'trapping' models?

That's how I would do it, correct me if I'm wrong though

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I have always played it like captainquark. Also, as I no longer play in tournaments, I also give people the 1/4 to 1/2 inch fudge on ranges, since models DO get moved out of position and such.

**Pictures a bellowing Uruk-hai running up to a Warrior of Rohan only to stop 3 feet away for a breather before attacking.**

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We tend to check with each other during the move phase to confirm trapping. If we haven't and there is a mistake then the model has clearly squirmed out of the way. The trapping rules really should be played pretty strictly as they fit in so closely with priority/ heroic actions etc which are the mechanics which (to me at least) make this game head and shoulders above other games.

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As per Erunion and captainquark, they do not need to be equidistant to trap.

Add a fourth...if the "trapped" model has space to move before the others back away, then he can move. If not, he's trapped, and the winners back away.

EDIT: Correction

I was wrong, nothing to see here.

Cheers, Xin

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Xintao

Thanks all for the input.

I’ll be sure to pass on some of your responses

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“There's a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.”

Yeah I normally just mention or ask if this guy is trapped when you are in the move phase. You don't need to be ultra precise, but they need to be fairly close otherwise its just being lazy. I find that people "pair off" fights way too much, like moving them an inch when they just need a cm. Anyway, the easiest solution - if they think they can get out without being trapped, fine, its totally allowable (and why wouldn't you try to keep a guy alive), but they have to move him on the ground (none of this pick up and place stuff) and if he touches one of the bases bad luck. Most people don't have ultra steady hands, so it normally resolves itself.

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We play traps seriously, and always confirm as the warriors move into contact whether the trap is on or not. For the three man trap, this is very simple:

Imagine 2 vs 1 in the open. If the 2 are perfectly on opposite sides of the enemy, the enemy could back away to the left or right. That is the only 2 vs 1 situation where that is true. Any other situation, even if they're only millimetres to the left of being directly opposite, means they can only back away to the right (or vice versa). Now, add in the third trapping model, and you can see that if he is anywhere on the right, the enemy is trapped. Try it with round coins on a table or circles drawn on paper and you'll see.

Once we figured this out, trapping became really easy to spot and nobody has been in any doubt since. To be honest, if it looks even a little bit like it might be trapped, you'll find that it is. My friend calls it 'geometrically trapped'.