Another obvious question about Reach

[Autochthon]

I was browsing the manual, and noticed that although weapon Reach determines available Repel attacks, I did notice it did not specifically mention wether or not it allowed longer weapons to strike before shorter ones.

Can anyone confirm? Believe it or not, that was a major consideration behind the use of Great Weapons - if you can take a person down in a single hit, make sure you get that hit in first.

I also noticed that each battlefield square = Unit Size 6. Too bad having a Reach > 6 does not allow an attack over a square, allowing multi-rank attacks.

It would also be nice if the weapon Reach was a multiplier of the Unit Size - makes putting 2H weapons on Titans a bit less awkward.

Ah, well...maybe for Dom4?

[Ironhawk]

The order in which units attack is determined solely by who's round it is. So, in order to get first strike you must guessitimate where your opponent will place his soldiers and how fast they are. Then place yours in opposition such that the two forces make contact on your turn.

Its quite easy to get the first strike in when fighting indies since thier position is known beforehand. Against another human its very hard.

[Sombre]

Reach only matters for repel and repel matters not 99% of the time, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Actually I tell a lie, reach also matters if the unit is covered in poisoned spines. But that basically never comes up.

[Wick]

Reach and size also supposedly matter in determining whether a hit is to the head or torso. I haven't tested it.

[Autochthon]

Ah, I see...

It's too bad, since first striking is very important in combat, particularly in multi-rank formations like Phalanges (remember First Strike units in MoM? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif ).

It's also a shame that Reach does so very little, particularly when you look at how much you have to give up to get it.

But still, I know it now, thanks.