Melee

## Rule

Melee represents close combat between opposing units. When two miniatures from opposing players’ units are in base contact, those units are in a melee.

* If two trooper units are in a melee, those units are engaged. Any unit type can be in a melee, but only troopers can be engaged.
* When a unit performs an attack against a unit that it is in a melee with, that attack is a melee attack. Melee attacks follow the same rules as ranged attacks with the following exceptions:

> » The attacker can use only weapons that have the melee () icon.
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> » The target of the attack must be in the same melee as the attacker.
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* If a unit has a melee weapon, it can start a melee by moving into base contact with an enemy miniature. To start a melee, a player must follow these steps in order:

> 1. Move Unit Leader: The player performs a move, moving their unit leader into base contact with an enemy mini.
> 2. Move Other Minis: Maintaining cohesion, the player places each other mini in the unit that started the melee into base contact with enemy minis that belong to the same enemy unit that their unit leader is now in melee with.
> 3. Opponent Moves Minis: Maintaining cohesion, the player’s opponent moves any of their own minis that belong to the unit that is now in a melee (that are not already in base contact with an enemy mini) into base contact with minis from the unit that started the melee.
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> » If the opponent’s unit does not have a melee weapon, the opponent does not move their minis into base contact with the unit that started the melee.
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* You cannot move a unit such that it would be in base contact with multiple enemy units–effectively starting a melee.
* It is possible to be in a melee with multiple units if another unit joins later.
* A unit that does not have a melee weapon cannot move in a way that would start a melee.
* When moving minis into base contact with enemy minis after a melee has been started, if there is not space to place a mini in base contact with an enemy mini in the same melee, that mini must still be placed in cohesion.
* Minis that are not in base contact with an enemy mini can still contribute to a melee attack if the unit to which that mini belongs is in a melee.
* A unit cannot exit a melee with an enemy unit and subsequently move back into melee with that same unit during the same activation.

* Whenever there are minis that are not in base contact with an enemy mini but those minis have a melee weapon and the unit to which they belong is in a melee, those minis must be placed in base contact with an enemy mini in the same melee as their unit if possible. This can happen when minis in a melee suffer wounds and are defeated, creating space for other minis that were not previously in base contact to be placed in base contact.

> » If both players own minis that are not in base contact with an enemy mini and should be, the player that is currently activating a unit or has most recently activated a unit (even if that unit is not the unit with minis that should be placed in base contact with enemy minis) should move their minis into base contact with enemy minis before the other player does so. If neither play has activated a unit yet this round, the blue player should move their minis first.
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> » Minis that are no longer in base contact should always be placed back into base contact with an enemy mini if able, even if each enemy mini that was in base contact has just been defeated. This can happen when the defending unit does not have a melee weapon and not all defending
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> *For example, Luke Skywalker is in base contact with an enemy 74-Z Speeder Bike mini, while another mini from the same unit is not in base contact with Luke Skywalker. After performing an attack, Luke Skywalker defeats the enemy 74-Z Speeder Bike mini and is no longer is base contact with an enemy mini. Because there is another 74-Z Speeder Bike mini from that unit, Luke Skywalker should immediately be placed into base contact with that mini.*
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> » If for any reason minis cannot be placed back into base contact with an enemy mini and none of the minis belonging to that unit are in base contact with an enemy mini, those minis stay where they are on the battlefield and that unit is no longer in melee.
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### Related Topics:

Attack, Base, Base Contact, Cohesion, Engaged, Immune: Melee (Unit Keyword), Melee Weapon, Movement, Unit Leader, Withdraw