Cavalry Charges and Opportunity Fire

[J6A]

When a cavalry charge is done (or extended assault, for that matter), do the units move to the assault hex as a stack or individually.  It's a fire activation, not a move activation, and it's not sure.  Under normal circumstances, a unit can take 2 opportunity fire shots, potentially affecting 2 units.  If a unit does opportunity fire at a stack of charging units, it could affect 3 with 1 shot.  For arguments sake, let's say it disrupts all 3 charging units.  Then another stack charges and it takes its second opportunity fire shot.  Now it has potentially affected 6 units in 1 turn.  That seems high.

However, I don't see anything in the rules addressing this, so I'm not sure and figured I'd ask for input.

[Michael Murphy]

I think that rule 5.0 Movement, first sentence applies here, “The active player moves his or hers activated units ONE AT A TIME from hex to adjacent hex.”

What this means is that the first cavalry unit sucks up one opportunity fire. Assuming the attacker survives, he enters the target hex and that is the end of op fire. If the defender manages to stop the charging unit he still retains the ability to take that second op fire shot at the next cavalry unit to charge.

Hope that helps. Michael

[J6A]

Normally I'd agree with that, and that's how i played it, however Assault is not a movement action, it's a fire action, do does it function differently?

[cjsiam]

Movement, in the system, is never by stack is it? it's always by unit.

Opportunity Fire, in the system, is always directed at "the moving unit" as it happens in response to movement

What a Cavalry charge does is focus that "movement" into a specific location--target...as a unit moves OF can address it....

So---I would see the 1st cav charging---disrupted, he stops....1 OF....2nd cav charges....if he disrupts...he stops...Op fire done....
if there is a 3rd cav...that's a problem for the inf.....(can a cav unit charge through a disrupted friendly unit ?? if it was napoleonics....no...... )
OR if no disruption occurred then there is no 2nd OP Fire as it's now assault---

So if the 1st cav made it in  past the OP fire---it would wait to resolve until the other units finished their Assault move/overrun....

I don't think you ever get to take 2x Opp fire on a stack of 3 units moving....that's mixing different mechanics in an invalid way I think....

The Op fire thing that I just figured out is those 82mm mortars.....they can opp fire x2, and if they can see the target...it's pretty good stuff...
cj

[Hugmenot]

You played it correctly, Joshua.

15.31 Cavalry ChargeCavalry units activated by a Cavalry Leader may conduct assault movement (12.1) from two hexes away against a unit it can spot. The charge must follow the hex path used for spotting. This is a "cavalry charge," and gives the cavalry a +1 column shift on the assault table, although because it is an assault it is still a "fire" activation (3.13). If the cavalry begins its activation adjacent to the target enemy units, it may not charge. It may attack with whatever fire value it has, or conduct a normal assault.
 
Inactive units may conduct opportunity fire against charging cavalry in the first hex they enter, before they enter the assault hex. Units being charged may not do this if other enemy units are already in their hex at the time of the charge.

12.11 Entering a Hex
Only activated good-order units directed by a leader of their own type (regular or tank), or by any leader for APCs, may enter an adjacent hex occupied by enemy units. Entry requires a "fire" activation since combat will result, even though it's movement too. 

Emphasis is mine.  Movement is done unit by unit as others have indicated.

It's one of many things for which an example of play would have clarified the intent.