Charge is attacking maneuver which may give a unit upper hand in melee combat if done timely.

Unit may charge only enemies that lies withing its line of sight.

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Charge in DO

units in DO has two types of charge:

Auto-charge
Manual charge

Auto-charge (Acharge): executed automatically when targeted enemy gets in unit Acharge range. Acharge range has fixed distance which depends on unit's movement and initiative characteristics. It is uncertain if DO uses either time or speed to calculate Acharge range since there is also a chance element in the formula and both parameters' values vary each time (see SOTHR manual on this chance). Targeted unit that receives charge can't move during Acharge execution and this guarantees successful collision between units and start of melee combat. If two units attack each other simultaneously then the unit with higher real speed will get Acharge.

Manual charge (Mcharge): executed manually by player pushing button and doesn't require pre-targeted enemy unit. Mcharge has fixed distance based on unit charge speed and time and has greater range than Acharge. Mcharge is targetless, thus charge potential target can move and has a chance avoiding collision with charging unit.

When charging unit successfully connects with enemy unit it initiates melee combat between them. Charging unit receives 1 bonus to its Strength and strikes first despite its and enemy Initiative. These bonuses applied to the 1st round of combat only.

If both units simultaneously Mcharged into each other than they both receives 1 Str bonus and strike according to their initiative order.

Charged side (arc)

Charged arc is determined based on center and movement vector of charging unit (pls, see diagram for more details)

If unit charges enemy flanks or rear than enemy unit has to pass Leadership test

Red arrow - center of unit

Charge bonuses

Charging unit receives following advantages in melee:

+1 bonus to Str characteristic for one round despite of arc being charged
first strike for one round despite of arc being charged
+1 point for flank arc ( +2 for rear arc) charge to combat round score

in 8thE instead of first strike and bonus to Str charging unit only gets additional +1 bonus ( +2 from hill) to combat round score for one round.

Test notes

Unit charge is affected by charge speed and time.
MCharge speed depends on unit Movement and Initiative characteristics (just like movement speed or so called RS). MCharge time depends on unit Movement and Initiative characteristics as well and the lower unit's m and i values the longer the charge. As an assumption, DO devs use this approach to balance distance gap between units with high m,i and units with low m,i
Unit type (i.e. cavalry or infantry) doesn't affect charge parameters
Acharge has 100% collision chance and start of combat unless enemy or charging unit flee and/or charging unit intercepted by holding magic spell (pls, see video). Chargin unit may be also gets destroyed during charge.
Charge increases unit Strength characteristic for 1 during first combat round
Acharge has constant distance and not speed/time like Mcharge

Charge speed

DO precise formula is unknow for both types of charges. Numerous tests only show that Acharge and Mcharge are calculated differently.
Mcharge is most likely based on unit RS and charging time values due to the fact that unit with m0,i0-5 can't move but still can charge on the spot during specified time duration.
Acharge on the contrary has constant charge distance but different charge speed and time. This means that calculation of Acharge is based either on distance and speed or distance and time, plus some probability element (according to SOTHR manual).

Due to mentioned above reasons, DOR uses own Mcharge and Acharge formulas which still try to preserve true to DO charge values.

Mcharge real speed (McRS) formula is the following:

McRS=RS*a

where:
McRS - manual charge real speed
RS - unit movement real speed
a - modifier (default value is 1.375)

final formula is McRS = (m*0.45 + i*0.1 - 0.2) * 1.375

Acharge real speed (AcRS) formula is the following:

AcRS = McRS - 0.1 * randbetween(min,max)

where:
AcRS - auto charge real speed
McRS - manual charge real speed
min,max - minimum and maximum values of chance element (default values min 1, max 6)

final formula is AcRS = (m*0.45 + i*0.1 - 0.2) * 1.375 - 0.1 * randbetween(1, 6)

Charge time

Mcharge time (Mct) - original formula is unknown. It was decided to use table with values gained from playtests and the rest combinations were adjusted manually

Acharge time (Act) - original formula is unknown and it was decided to base its value on MC t.

Act = Mct - a

where:
Act - auto charge time
Mct - manual charge time
a - modifier (default value is 1)

Charge order(priority)

Mcharge is targetless, so both units can execute it simultaneously. ~~But only one of the unit wins charge priority and gets charge bonuses and it is 50/50 chance for them.~~

It was decided to follow 8thE TT rules and grants charge bonuses for both units

Acharge requires preselected target and thus has priority which depends on unit AcRS and chance element. Unit with higher final AcRS value wins charge and gets charges bonuses.
~~But if unit who gets Acharge accidentially collides (intercepted) with other charging unit then there is 50/50 chance that one of these units wins charge priority and gets charge bonus.~~

~~There is no difference in DO whether unit collide with its front arc or other arcs during charge with other charging unit. it is always 50/50 percent for them to win charge~~

It was decided to follow 8thE TT rules and grants charge bonuses for both units

Simultaneous charge in DO

This video demonstrates that despite being charged in the rear Orc Boyz unit still was determined by the system as the one that won charge and got all it's bonuses for one round. You can see it by the fact that Orc Boyz wrapped GB infantry unit

DO manual charge

SOTHR manual charge

4thE Charge

9thE Charge

How some spells affect charge

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