A 12 base TUG to be in keil and have the benefit of it must be 3 BW wide and 4 ranks deep .
If it changes formation, let's say 4 BW and 3 rank deep it is not a keil anymore now the questions : permanently or temporarily
When it goes back to 4 rank deep is it still a keil ?
As loses in MEG do represent a loss of moral what happens if during the game the keil does start loosing bases and so the 4th rank ?
Is it still a keil ?
The PDF edition page 129 Appendix 1.W has the wording as it was clarified in the compendium edition.
"A keil must begin as 8 or 12 bases as specified in their army lists and must be 2 files wide if an initial 8, or 3 files wide if an initial 12 to claim the benefits of the keil characteristic."
So for a 12 base TuG, as long as it is 3 files wide it can claim the benefits of the Keil characteristic.
So, if it goes 4 files wide, it loses the benefit of the Keil characteristic. If it then contracts back to 3 files wide it would regain those benefits. Should it contract to 2 files wide (having lost 4 bases as casualties) it would actually lose the benefit again.
Richard
Thank you I had read it but there was a discussion about it as we do not have the pleasure of your presence on the continent to explain it we were a bit wondering. Now it is clear
Hy coming back to Keils after discussion :
Some players agued that a keil has a mandatory deployment as a keil at the very beginning of the game.
The reason for it is the " must begin"
I argued that is was for the TUG whe taken in the army, to have the keil characteristic you have to "buy" a TUG that conforms to the characteristics of a keil so X bases on Y bases BUT that you could deploy for exemple 6 bases wide and 2 deep at the initial deployment and reformlater as a keil
So what is the correct interpretation as we do not agree between us 8)
- Madatory initial deployment as a keil in keil strict formation
- Bought as a keil, but not forced to be initially deployed as a keil
The "must begin" related to the number of bases not how they are deployed.
Deployment is referenced in terms of when you can claim the Keil benefits - "... must be 2 files wide if an initial 8, or 3 files wide if an initial 12 to claim the benefits of the keil characteristic." - my emphasis. It says nothing about initial deployment of the TUG.
So you are correct in your reading. You are not forced to deploy in a formation that allows you to claim the benefits of a keil.
Thank you