Thanks
Obviously overthinking this!

Hi- Just rebasing my old NKE troops to MEG from another rule set, and doing a bit of repainting to get to new unit sizes and being a bit thick about the close fighter with axe options, so before I stick them onto new bases and match up colours just wanted to ensure I am reading the list right.
In the early period when the close fighters are all loose order I read the list as allowing that you can have close fighter with axes at up to 1/4 of your close fighter without axe numbers. 
Query 1- So if you have the max 36 loose order close fighters, you can also have 9 loose order close fighters with heavy axe?  Or does the 1/4 mean that you can have 36 in total of close fighters with axe and without axe? ( ie 27 close fighters, and 9 close fighters with axe)
Query 2- Following from that can those axemen a) be in a separate unit (with I assume unit sizes of 6-8, although this is not stated), or b) are they only allowed to be in a "mixed" TUG with the non heavy axe close fighters, with a max of 2 elements per TUG, or c)  are you allowed the option of both a mixed TUG and a separate Heavy axe armed unit?

Query 3- In the later period post 1199BC  when the close fighters are/can be  regraded to close order, is it the case that you can still have Heavy axe armed troops, or do they effectively disappear? If they are still allowed it is clear to my reading that the Note under the Loose fighters with Heavy Axe that they can't be mixed in so I assume if they are still allowed they would be a separate unit- I assume remaining loose order.

Query 4- There is nothing to say the Egyptian Royal Guard disappear in the later period, but if they are still an option  do they remain Loose order or become close order like the rest of the Close Fighters- I assume they do remain loose order given there isn't a line with a new points cost.

Thanks

Had a game last night and wanted to clarify something.
Do troops with charging Lancer weapons claim the +2 vs others (cavalry in this case) in the charge phase even if they didn't charge (or countercharge or intercept), but were themselves charged?

In the game we had a unit of Roman charging lancers who were engaged frontally with one of my units but with an overlap of two files. In that combat they had claimed the Charging Lancer +2 in the charge phase. No issues with that.
In the next turn I charged another unit into the overlap frontally. We played the Roman unit  claimed the +2 again for those two files against my charging unit, despite the fact they didn't move or declare any sort of charge or countercharge assuming they had at least moved enough to get the charging lancer bonus. ( I am not sure they could have declared a countercharge anyway given the unit was already engaged).

Is that correct? I think it is after re-reading the rules,  given devastating charge appears to be always on in the charge phase, but given the charging lancer is a weapon characteristic rather than a general characteristic, like devastating charges, I wanted to check whether it was only claimable if you actively charged.

Thanks.

To be clear then in the actual example I quoted, the rule that chargers have to move their full distance over-rides the rule that SUG's cannot charge TUG's in the open not within a base of breaking? So in fact the rule is SUGs cannot charge TUG's unless the TuG's are revealed from an evade?

I have the compendium rulebook, so it would appear to me that despite the threads I saw which implied that wasn't the intention in (I assume) the previous pre-compendium rules for the SUGs to have to charge in, then it wasn't amended in the later version.

My first game of head to head MEG last night, as opposed to a couple of solo games, and I had an issue arising with charging.
In my case I had charged (stupidly , but that's another matter) with a SUG cavalry unit to get rid of an opposing foot SUG. It evaded behind a Cavalry TUG directly behind it (which had not had any combat losses) which was in charge reach, and we couldn't see any mechanism to stop my SUG hitting the TUG and effectively dying, apart from the rule that a SUG can't charge a TUG (not within one base of breaking) in the open.  We played they charged in and died....
My searching of the forum would indicate from a couple of years ago that there was to be an amendment to the clarries such that the SUG could have stopped one base width short, but I don't see that in the latest clarries document. 

Re-reading the rules I have a more general query for both TUG's and SUG's about charges and evaders in that do you have to charge the full charge distance if you are not a forced charger? I can't see anything to say you can limit the length of your charge, but that does mean if I want to drive off some skirmishers, or even some missile armed cavalry my unit is always in danger of having to hit any unit that is behind them, unless I have previously done in a prior turn some fancy footwork to only just be in charge reach of the first unit?