Charge!

Hi everyone again,

As one of this blog's readers have asked me about it, I will explain how it works the Charge special attack that appeared the first time in the Forbidden forest expansion pack and that the heroes will be able to use in the Glistening forge expansion pack too.

Let me quote first the Forbidden forest's rulebook:

"

CHARGE

All Heroes and Razor Boars may make a charge attack. This special attack is a combination of both movement and attack.

To charge, declare the action by shouting "Charge!" and indicating your target. The path to the target must be clear (nothing on the spaces) and in a straight line. A figure may charge from one room into another through an open door.

Roll the Charge die and move the charging figure the number of spaces shown on the die towards their target. Place a yellow attack die on the starting space of the charging figure. Roll the Charge die again. Move the charging figure forward, and place another yellow attack die on the space the charging figure was on.

Continue rolling the Charge die and placing an attack die on the charge path in the following order: yellow, yellow, red, orange, orange, blue.


Keep rolling the Charge die until your movement takes you onto the target space or you have placed all six attck dice onto the charge path but have not reached the target figure, or you roll a blank on the Charge die.

If a Heor or Monster rolls a blank on the Charge die, his charge action has failed, his move action is over and he must reduce his Hit Points by 1.

A SUCCESSFUL CHARGE

If the charger reaches the target's space or all six attack dice have been placed on the charge path, the charge is a success. Do the following in a successful charge:

1. Move the charger onto the target's space and move the target figure onto any adjacent space, even diagonally. If the charger or target steps into a trap space at any point during the charge, the trap is set off.
2. Roll all the attack dice that are on the charge path, plus the Special die and Skull die (the 'turn undead' die).

Add up the swords and substract the target's Armour Class to determine the damage. Fighters get their normal +1 attack bonus.

The number of Skulls rolled is the number of Hit Points the charger loses (not affected by Armour Class).

If you roll a star on the Special die, the target loses his next turn."



Moreover, I am going to quote the Charge Action reminder card:

"

CHARGE

All Heores and some Monsters may charge instead of their normal movement action.

The rules for charging can be found on page 6 of the rulebook.

The order of combat dice rolled is...

[yellow][yellow][red][orange][orange][blue]

If a Hero or Monster rolls a blank on the Charge die, the charge has failed, his move action is over and he must reduce his Hit Points by 1.

If the charge is successful, roll the following die:

[Special] Star = target loses his next turn.
[Skulls] For each skull rolled reduce the charger's Hit Points by 1 (Armour Class has no effect)."



From these two texts I extract some conclusions:

1. The charge action counts as a movement action so it is posible to charge agains a target and, if you have manage to reach it, use an attack action agains it as long as you have put its figure in an adjacent no diagonal space or you have a druid staff as a weapon.
2. Although the charge action is a movement action, Lidda can NOT use her Sneak ability in order to pass through monsters in her charge path to her target because the charge rules say clearly: "The path to the target must be clear (nothing on the spaces) and in a straight line". On the other hand, it says nothing about not using Sneak in her first move action in order to pass through some monster close to her which could be in her straight charge path and then, use her second action as a charge attack. Of course, She would not be able to make a second attack after reaching her target as she would have used her two actions per turn.
3. Druids can make charge attacks diagonally when outside and pass through trees and bushes while charging.
4. Some artifacts can have an influence on the charge attack like, for example:

• Bracers of speed: "Hero may move an additional 2 squares when taking a movement action." (Although the hero's movement doesn't count when making a charge attack - as the Charge die shows how much spaces a hero moves - the hero could move 2 spaces previous to make the charge attack if he thinks he is too much far away from his target ad doesn't want to risk rolling a blanck in the attack dice.)
• Ring of Ehlonna: "When outside, the Hero mat re-roll any single die once per turn." (In case you roll a blanck in the attack or Charge dice)
• Belt of the champion (Glistening forge): "While charging, the wearer may reroll one die (even the special or 'turn undead' dice)."  (In case you roll a blanck in the attack or Charge dice)

What do you think? Do you consider other cards have influence in the Charge attack?