Charging in Imperial Imprint

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I’m new to ACKS, starting with Imperial Imprint (for context). Just trying to understand RAW

  • In the rules for Charge on p. 293, there doesn’t seem to be a minimum distance. Is this correct?
  • When cleaving after a charge, the rules say you get the bonus on the next attack if you take a 5’ step. Is that free movement or part of your max speed? Does it have to be in the same direction? The attack combat action says that the combatant can only have the 5’ of movement as part of the attack if they “remained stationary”.
  • Can you do impact damage on the cleaves as well?
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  1. There’s no minimum distance.

    In ACKS I and earlier drafts of ACKS II there was a minimum charge distance, but I removed it. Charging requires that the character be unengaged, have LOS on his target, move in a relatively straight line over relatively flat/even terrain, and imposes -2 AC penalty; those restrictions are sufficient to keep it plausible.

    I felt that requiring a minimum charge distance in addition adds complexity without much benefit. If you’re aiming for realism, having a minimum charge distance doesn’t add much. For instance, imagine that my enemy was 125’ away; I run 120’ on round 1, and then move 5’ on round 2 to engage him. Does that count as a charge? In the “real world’ I just charged 125’. But if we were to apply a game mechanical “minimum charge distance” I only moved 5’ that round, so it wasn’t a charge! It makes the game less realistic. Or consider acceleration. It might well take an elephant longer to accelerate to charge, but his velocity would be lower, with mass higher, compared to e.g. a wolf. How do you take that into account? ACKS doesn’t try - the complexity isn’t worth it.

  2. The 5’ step is a free movement. It doesn’t have to be in the same direction, but it does have to be towards an enemy. You can thus weave through your enemies in a zig-zag as you cleave them. Yes, you can exceed your maximum movement – remember, rounds are of variable length of in-game time. (“A round is a brief interval of time in which flurries of activity are punctuated by pauses and lulls that can be as brief as 10 – 15 seconds and as long as a minute or two depending on the complexity of the engagement.”) The character isn’t actually “moving faster than is possible,” it’s just that the period of time encompassed by the combat round can be shorter or longer if he’s cleaving many foe-men.

  3. Yes. “A combatant who cleaves after a charge or countercharge continues to receive a +2 bonus on its attack throw and to deal impact damage (if its weapon deals impact damage on a charge or countercharge) provided it takes a 5’ step after each cleave. As soon as the combatant cleaves without moving, the charge bonus is lost, though the combatant can keep cleaving if eligible.”

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Thanks for the answer. The text you quote for #3 is from the cleave rules, which I did not think to cross-reference. My bad!