Ranged Combat Action as Reactionary?

Question

So, had another virtual game in yesterday. And we've got a question about Reactionary Activations on page 14. The sequence went as follows: Player A in his Player's Turn wants to make a Movement with a Model full speed towards a Model of Player B, which would be enough to place the Models Base-to-Base.  Player A declares an Action as per page 14 and he declares a Combat Action to be exact, a Melee Combat Action. Player B wants to interrupt Player A's turn and declares a Reaction to the Movement as per page 14 Player B wants to interrups Player A's turn with a Combat Action to be exact, a Ranged Combat Action (to get some shoots in with his fancy Recurve Bows before chaos commences) Q1: Are the Models as per page 18 "Engaged Models" the moment Player A's Movement was done (Base-toBase) and are therefor considered 'in Melee Combat'? <-- (solemnly based on page 15 "1. Movement: Move into Melee Combat..." which we agreed was proof that you are in fact 'in Melee Combat' which seems a different state than engaged models for some rules) Q2: If so, does this then mean that Player B can still make a Ranged Combat Action as a Reaction ('cause we didn't find rules prohibiting this), but he'll have to adhere to the rules on page 23 "Shooting Into Melee" because they are now 'in Melee Combat'? Q3: If not, can Player B spend his action to make a Ranged Combat Action as a Reaction to the Movement (see "...in response to a Movement or an Action and are resolved before they occur."), shoot his Bows as a normal Ranged Combat Action at Player A's model and then has to survive the beating in Player A's Melee attack because his Action is spend? Thank you in advance for answering.

natfka · Accepted Answer

Overall you are on the right track. When you decide you are going to do a reactionary activation you interrupt gameplay. This is how it goes down. Player A activates a squad and moves it full speed into Player B's squad.Player B declares that he/she will use a reactionary activation and chooses to interrupt the Players movement, shooting into them based on where they were before they moved. This is done at a -1 Ranged Characteristic and uses up 1 Command Value. Survivors of the ranged attacks will then be in melee combat as Player A continues the movement into base to base contact and are now engaged with the Player B's models. Player A's squad who has already used their squad's action (as a reactionary activation) will not be able to fight back and are exhausted only able to take defensive combat situation bonuses.This happens in games as ranged units desperately attempt to shoot down something bigger than them that is charging.Once engaged you are in melee combat. Might as well fight it out. If fighting melee with a ranged weapon the weapon is used as a Primitive weapon with the normal restrictions on combat situation enhancements (like coordinated attack or defensive bonuses). Other options include 1. using a reactionary activation to move your base movement (at -1) to back out of the way or reach of possible of the charging squad or2. throw another disposable (like slaves) squad in the way as a speedbump, or 3. select a different squad to take ranged shots that's not being charged to doing a reactionary activation so that you your squad being charged is not exhausted when for the melee. (note that if you have another squad do this to protect you with a reactionary activation, it uses up 1 command value for the reactionary activation and an additional 1 command value for taking your action in the melee combat to fight back.-desperate situations can quickly eat up your command)Dedicated Ranged Squads tend to be in trouble when getting charged.

Danny van der Kraan · Answer

Thanks Gary. Exactly how I hoped the mechanics worked. Indeed very cinematic, a dedicated Ranged squad desperately firing arrows in the oncoming squad that wants to hit them hard in Melee. ;)