Now that you know who can attack, determine how the combat goes!
Striking Order
In the desperate hack and slash of close combat, the advantage lies with those warriors swiftest of mind and reaction. Slow opponents will often be dispatched by a faster foe before ever striking a blow. In essence: he who strikes first, strikes to the most devastating effect.
A model's
Initiative characteristic determines who attacks first in close combat. Work your way through the
Initiative values of the models, starting with the highest and ending with the lowest. Models make attacks when their
Initiative value is reached, assuming of course that they haven't already been killed by a model with a higher
Initiative and that there is still an enemy in base contact. Where models have the same
Initiative, their attacks are made simultaneously.
For example: A unit of Imperial Halberdiers are charged by a unit of Orc Boyz. The Halberdiers have an Initiative of 3, while the Boyz only have Initiative 2. The Humans will go first because of their higher Initiative.
Split Profiles & Striking Order
Where a model has
Attacks at two or more
Initiative values, such as a knight or other cavalry models (see the
Troop Types section), resolve each set of
Attacks in the relevant order.
If the model is slain before it can finish striking all of its blows (because one set of
Attacks is at a lower
Initiative than the enemy) then obviously these are lost, just as a model with a single profile would lose all of its
Attacks if it were slain before striking blows.
Similarly, on rare occasions, a model with a split profile might be unable to strike some of its blows because all eligible enemies have been slain. Take heart from the fact that such situations are normally caused by your warriors having killed a great deal of the foe.
Roll To Hit
Roll a D6 for each attack. Compare the
Combat Skill of the attacker and the defender to determine the score required to hit.
To determine whether or not hits are scored, roll a D6 for each
Attack a model gets to make. The dice roll needed to score a hit on your enemy depends on the relative
Combat Skills of the attacker and the target. Compare the
Combat Skill of the model striking blows with that of the target model and consult the
To Hit chart (shown below) to find out the minimum score needed to hit. The X-axis is the Defender, the Y-axis is the Attacker.
If you look at the chart, you will see that equally matched models hit an enemy on a 4+, but if the attacker's
Combat Skill is greater than that of his target, he will hit on a dice roll of 3+. In the rare cases when an targets's
Combat Skill is more than double that of the attacker, a 5+ is required for a successful hit.
If you roll too low, the
Attack has missed, and if you equal or beat the required score, the
Attack has hit. Sometimes modifiers apply to these rolls, but a natural dice score of 6 always hits and a natural dice score of 1 always misses.
For example, Dark Elf Dreadspears are Combat Skill 4, whilst Imperial Halberdiers are Combat Skill 3. Looking at the To Hit chart, we can therefore see that the Dark Elves will require 3s to hit, whilst the Humans will need 4s.
Roll To Wound (Melee)
Not all hits are going to harm your enemy – some bounce off tough hide, while others cause only superficial damage. As with shooting, once you have hit your foe, you must roll again to see whether or not each hit inflicts a wound. Pick up all the dice that scored hits and roll them again.
Consult the
To Wound chart, cross-referencing the attacker's
Strength with the defender's
Toughness. Both values appear on the profiles of the creatures that are fighting. The chart indicates the minimum score required on a D6 to cause a wound. In most cases, you use the
Strength on the attacker's profile regardless of what weapon they are using. However, some close combat weapons give the attacker a
Strength bonus, as we'll discuss in the
Weapons section. Remember to roll dice separately for models with different
Strength values. A
To Wound roll of a 1 on a D6 always fails, regardless of any dice modifiers. The X-axis is the
Toughness of the Defender, the Y-axis is the
Strength of the Attack.
For example, the Elves are Strength 3 and Toughness 3, whilst the Orcs are Strength 3 and Toughness 4. Looking at the To Wound chart, we can see that the Orcs will need 4s to wound the Elves, whilst the Elves will need 5s vs the Orcs.
Saving Throws
As before in the Shooting phase, the enemy player can try to 'save' models that have been wounded. He rolls a D6 for each wound suffered by his troops. If he rolls equal to or greater than the model's save characteristic (after any modifiers have been applied) the wound has been deflected by its armour. See the
Saving Throws section in the
Characteristics section if you need a reminder about the different types of saves and how they work. Remember that wounds caused by
Strength 4 or higher inflict a saving throw modifier on armour saves.
Remove Casualties
With saving throws made or failed, you now need to remove the slain. Melee combat casualties are removed in the same way as shooting ones. Although we can imagine casualties falling amongst the fighting rank, warriors in the ranks behind will step forward to fill any gaps that appear. Casualties will therefore be removed straight from a unit's rear rank. This means that if a unit is big enough, taking a handful of casualties will not reduce the number of Attacks the unit can make back.
It can happen that a model causes more casualties than it has enemies in base contact. The excess casualties are removed as normal from the unit as a whole, representing the attackers fighting over the fallen foes.
It is a good idea not to immediately remove models that are slain from the table, but instead temporarily place them next to their unit – you will need to know how many casualties have been caused when working out
who won the combat.
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