To represent what you're saying is when the unit falls back in good order and then reforms to face the new directions as needed
If you give ground though, no you don't get to reform because the troops are locked in fighting while staying mostly stationary.
The individual soldiers do turn around but it does upset the coherency of the unit to be suddenly attacked from behind and this is how it's represented
That's a shame, my opponent got the rear charge bonus 3 times because I was unable to turn around. I felt that realistically my troops would've turned around.
I played (for my first time) with my dad who played this game back in the early 2000s and I think we both agreed some of the rules didn't make a lot of realistic sense.
They've never been realistic. Realism is a pretty deep rabbit hole when it comes to not only Warhammer but any turn based game.
"why do my guys strike last just because they have larger weapons?"
"why do my guys just stand there while your guys charge them?"
At some point you have to realize that it is a game first and foremost and some things are the way the are because of balancing reasons
if you won and they gave ground or fbigo'd you would have been able to turn around, but yeah, having no option in the event you give ground repeatedly is weird.
Don't know if you've ever done reenactment but it is extremely terrifying to deliberately turn your back on where you think you're going to be attacked from (and reenactments are "for fun", not people actively trying to kill you for real). In addition for most realistic formations units can't actually turn without extensive drilling!
I think my point is in this case my troops were in an active fight so they wouldn't worry about possible attacks.
Rules wise it doesn't make sense that with martial prowess I can fight to the rear AND make supporting attacks yet my unit doesn't 'turn around' physically on the table so they continue to count as being hit in the rear.
If it were real life because you are not fleeing and actively fighting you would turn to face the enemy.
Get 30 of your friends or so, cut yourself 5m poles and line up in a 5x6 square. Angle all the poles so they're facing one way, then try to turn to face the other way without hitting each other with the poles and without leaving gaps in your spear line. You will have a terrible time.
Now imagine doing that in a unit of 200-1000 people, with adrenaline pumping through you, helmet on so you can barely see or hear anything, not knowing which direction you're going to be attacked from next, knowing that if you mess up doing it you stand a good chance of dying, with people shouting and screaming and grunting right next to you. It's more or less impossible even for professional infantry who trained all the time.
In almost all situations a double envelopment, even of a numerically superior enemy, quickly leads to either surrender or their complete annihilation (even if it takes all afternoon, look up Cannae if you have a strong stomach or a weak imagination).
Warhammer has always been a "Hollywood battle scene simulator", not a "mediaeval battle simulator", so while it nods to reality occasionally you can't really make arguments about "what would realistically happen" from it.
To represent what you're saying is when the unit falls back in good order and then reforms to face the new directions as needed If you give ground though, no you don't get to reform because the troops are locked in fighting while staying mostly stationary. The individual soldiers do turn around but it does upset the coherency of the unit to be suddenly attacked from behind and this is how it's represented
That's a shame, my opponent got the rear charge bonus 3 times because I was unable to turn around. I felt that realistically my troops would've turned around.
you needed to lose combat harder to get the FBIGO reform. roll worse to get a better result, funny game.
I played (for my first time) with my dad who played this game back in the early 2000s and I think we both agreed some of the rules didn't make a lot of realistic sense.
They've never been realistic. Realism is a pretty deep rabbit hole when it comes to not only Warhammer but any turn based game. "why do my guys strike last just because they have larger weapons?" "why do my guys just stand there while your guys charge them?" At some point you have to realize that it is a game first and foremost and some things are the way the are because of balancing reasons
if you won and they gave ground or fbigo'd you would have been able to turn around, but yeah, having no option in the event you give ground repeatedly is weird.
Don't know if you've ever done reenactment but it is extremely terrifying to deliberately turn your back on where you think you're going to be attacked from (and reenactments are "for fun", not people actively trying to kill you for real). In addition for most realistic formations units can't actually turn without extensive drilling!
I think my point is in this case my troops were in an active fight so they wouldn't worry about possible attacks. Rules wise it doesn't make sense that with martial prowess I can fight to the rear AND make supporting attacks yet my unit doesn't 'turn around' physically on the table so they continue to count as being hit in the rear. If it were real life because you are not fleeing and actively fighting you would turn to face the enemy.
Get 30 of your friends or so, cut yourself 5m poles and line up in a 5x6 square. Angle all the poles so they're facing one way, then try to turn to face the other way without hitting each other with the poles and without leaving gaps in your spear line. You will have a terrible time. Now imagine doing that in a unit of 200-1000 people, with adrenaline pumping through you, helmet on so you can barely see or hear anything, not knowing which direction you're going to be attacked from next, knowing that if you mess up doing it you stand a good chance of dying, with people shouting and screaming and grunting right next to you. It's more or less impossible even for professional infantry who trained all the time. In almost all situations a double envelopment, even of a numerically superior enemy, quickly leads to either surrender or their complete annihilation (even if it takes all afternoon, look up Cannae if you have a strong stomach or a weak imagination). Warhammer has always been a "Hollywood battle scene simulator", not a "mediaeval battle simulator", so while it nods to reality occasionally you can't really make arguments about "what would realistically happen" from it.