Assault and overwatch

[Azkaroth]

Need a bit of help with a tricky question as ive got 2 people with 2 answers so far.

 

if ive got a group of marines and a group of scouts charging say a group of firewarriors, do i have to declare that both are charging so the firewarriors get to choose who to overwatch or can i declare with the marines and if they make it into combat then declare with the scouts?

 

[Leonaides]

Declare both, but then if you resolve the marines first and the tau player doesnt want to shoot at them, then he misses his chance to shoot at anyone because when you resolve the scouts as the marines are already engaged in combat...

[Redtoof]

Check out page 20 of the rulebook, the order is listed quite clearly there. You declare a chare with one unit, then your opponent chooses to overwatch, then you roll charge distance and move. Then you can declare a charge with another unit and repeat the order of events.

 

Your opponent does not get a free choice of what to overwatch - you cannot overwatch once you are already in combat, nor can you overwatch twice. Also you do not have to declare with your second unit until the first unit has charged.

 

A lot of people get this wrong because they remember from previous editions, or from Warhammer where you have to declare all your charges first, then move units.

[Fibonacci]

The confusion for declaring all charges first springs from a 3rd party FAQ that is used at some American tournaments.  By RAW, you declare/overwatch/move one unit at a time until all assaults for the turn are made.  Then go to the fight sub-phase for each assault one at a time.  This is a clear case of Rules As Written trumps some-dude-on-the-internet's house rule.

[Kristoff]

Your opponent does not get a free choice of what to overwatch - you cannot overwatch once you are already in combat, nor can you overwatch twice. Also you do not have to declare with your second unit until the first unit has charged.

You sort of do, but it's a gamble.

 

One can choose not to Overwatch Charger #1 on the basis that it may not reach you so you can Overwatch Charger #2 is perfectly fine and legal. However, if Charger #1 reaches you, the unit's Overwatching days are done until they are no longer Engaged.

[Redtoof]

 

Your opponent does not get a free choice of what to overwatch - you cannot overwatch once you are already in combat, nor can you overwatch twice. Also you do not have to declare with your second unit until the first unit has charged.

You sort of do, but it's a gamble.

 

One can choose not to Overwatch Charger #1 on the basis that it may not reach you so you can Overwatch Charger #2 is perfectly fine and legal. However, if Charger #1 reaches you, the unit's Overwatching days are done until they are no longer Engaged.

 

Yeah, that's what I meant, but I didn't describe it very well :p