If a model is standing on a building at the top of a ladder, does this block an enemy model from climbing the ladder as the enemy will be unable to reach the top of the ladder without coming within 1" of the enemy?
Can the enemy model charge the enemy at the top of the ladder and conduct melee while effectively standing on the ladder?
If the charged model is not killed, does the attacker end its turn at the bottom of the ladder?
Thanks. In the absence of a firm ruling, I think we will assume that you can charge up the ladder but if the enemy is not killed you end up at the bottom of the ladder. Enemy can retaliate while you are still on the ladder, before you descend.
However, this means that the 2 models are not in base to base contact after the initial melee. It might be reasonable to force the unsuccessful attacking model to have to take an unmodified armour save as though breaking away to represent the difficulty of descending the ladder away from an angry enemy.
I don’t know how to play a charge down a ladder as this would mean the unsuccessful attacking model having to withdraw up the ladder!
In our group we are yet to use multi-level movements and combat. So far we concentrated on understanding the basic rules properly and avoided playing with platforms/floors on different levels. Anyway, I agree with FredOslow that the situation is a gray area of the rules and one has to house-rule it somehow. Personally, I would keep both models engaged with the attacking model at the top of the ladder but at some disadvantage in Melee when fighting the model at the higher platform. Eg. the model on the ladder could score hits with -1 penalty. If the model on the ladder gets knocked-down, obviously, it would fall down from the ladder too.
Yes, the model is definitely blocked from reaching the top level without engaging the enemy because of the 1" rule.
RAW, technically, I don’t think the model can charge, but I think that’s an oversight. The rules do state
Vertical Movement… there must be sufficient room to place the model in position or the action cannot be performed.
which suggests that the would-be charger is out of luck. But that’s also broken.
The simplest fix is probably to declare standing at the top of a ladder/stair as defending an obstacle. As long as the attacker can reach the defender, they count as engaged as long as they are touching the ladder/stair, just like a wall or barrier. The charging model would remain at the bottom of the stairs.
