It's a lucky commander who can rely on his troops to perform fearlessly all of the time. In the chaos and confusion of battle troops can easily become demoralised, disorientated or outright terrified by the violence unleashed against them. To represent this element of the unknown your units of troops have to check to see if their morale remains good under certain circumstances. As you will have already gathered Morale tests can occur at a number of different times, so a unit in particularly dire straits may be forced to take several Morale checks in a single turn.
- Leadership Tests
Units use their Leadership characteristic for Morale checks, rolling 2D6 and passing if the total is equal to or under their Leadership value.
- Leadership Modifiers
Circumstances such as heavy casualties can reduce a unit's Leadership value by -1, -2 or more for the purposes of a Morale check.
- Taking Morale Checks
Only infantry take Morale checks, and normally do so in three situations: heavy casualties from shooting, losing an assault, or a tank breaking their line.
- A) Enemy Fire
A unit taking 25% or more casualties from shooting in a single shooting phase must pass a Leadership test or fall back.
- B) Losing An Assault
A unit that loses a close combat must pass a Leadership test, worsened by low strength and by being outnumbered, or fall back.
- C) Tank Shock
A unit that an enemy tank drives at must check against its Leadership or fall back; full Tank Shock rules appear in the Vehicle rules.
- All On Your Own (Last Man Standing)
A unit reduced to a single surviving model must pass a Leadership test at the start of each of its turns or begin to fall back.
- Fall Back!
A fighting withdrawal in which a unit moves 2D6 inches toward its table edge each turn, remaining coherent, until it manages to regroup.
- Firing While Falling Back
Units falling back may still shoot, but cannot fire heavy weapons or fire rapid fire weapons beyond 12 inches, and cannot launch an assault.
- Assaulted While Falling Back
A unit assaulted while falling back must immediately attempt to regroup with no modifiers or restrictions, or be destroyed if it fails.
- The Crossfire Rule
A unit forced to fall back through the position of an enemy model can be caught in a crossfire and destroyed if its fall back move reaches or passes that model.
- Regrouping
A falling-back unit may attempt to regroup with a Leadership test at the start of its move phase if it retains 50% strength, has no enemy within 6 inches, and is coherent.
- Regrouping In Cover
A unit that falls back into cover within its corridor gets a second, once-per-phase chance to regroup as it enters the cover.
- Regrouping After An Assault
A unit defeated in an assault cannot use the regrouping-in-cover option to regroup during that same turn.
- Last Chance
A unit that reaches the table edge while falling back gets one final regroup attempt before being removed from the game.