Melee Combat in The Far Side of the World (Theory)

In "The Far Side of the World", every dice roll is determined by rolling 2D6.  From there baseline and situational modifiers may apply.  Baseline modifiers advantage handicap the base unit based on its opponent.  For example, a unit of cavalry charging an artillery crew should have a significant advantage.  In melee combat this is accomplished by giving the active unit an advantage (or disadvantage) of the difference in melee combat rating between the units involved.  For actions like activations and rallies where there is no enemy to compare to, a value of 3 is used.  Situational modifiers exist to advantage/disadvantage the active unit based on the terrain, disorder/casualties, nearby commanders, and other situations. Results always fall into one of three categories.  Modified of 0-6 indicate that something bad has happened.  Modified results 7-9 are successes, and results of 10 or more indicate a resounding success.  In some situations the 0-6 result category is split to indicate something very bad happening. Melee is one of the few action ins "The Far Side of the World" which has a 4th result category for something very bad.  For melee actions where the modified roll is less than 5, the attacker becomes disordered.  If they were already disordered the attacker becomes bloodied.  Self damaging results are designed to be uncommon but they do happen. 

After reading many rulesets, my favorite mechanisms involve; risk to both attacker and defender, uncertain length, and pinning both units in place until the melee is resolved.  Having risk to both units  encourages players to mimic the historical tendency for equally skilled regular infantry to fire volleys until the enemy is wavering and charge only as a last resort.  Bayonet charges did occur but were uncommon. Melee focused units do exist in "The Far Side of the World" and have a higher base melee rating to give them an advantage when they close with the enemy.  

Melees lasting uncertain duration is partially driven by historic flavor and partially driven by game design preferences. From the historical perspective, melee was often quick and decisive, but could also last for a considerable amount of time with both sides temporarily holding momentum.  By continuing melee until it is resolved in casualty or disengaging, players will have to adapt their plans to account for the units in the melee being unavailable for other actions. In some cases sacrificing a player's unit to tie up a strong enemy unit for a few turns may be strategically valuable.

Units did not have freedom of movement while engaged in melee.  Historically,  most casualties were taken when a unit's cohesion failed and the unit fled.  Successfully disengaging from melee did happen, but it often took a mismatch in professionalism, or a talented officer to disengage and preserve order.  In "The Far Side of the World", units with high morale or units boosted by a nearby commander are more likely to successfully activate with the opportunity to perform a difficult action. 

Blue's cavalry prepares to charge the flank

In the image above, Blue is the active player and has rolled a difficult activation for the cavalry.  They will charge the black-cuffed infantry's flank.  They receive no baseline modifier (both have melee combat rating of 3).  They receive situational modifier for a flank attack (+1) and a charge bonus (+2).  The modified result causes Red's infantry to become disordered.  Blue fails its next activation attempt.  At turnover, the infantry turns to face the cavalry.  Because the charge occurred in this activation, no further melee is required at turnover. In continuations of this engagement, the cavalry will not receive its charge bonus.