Conforming into Rough or Bad going

Ah...there was a big debate recently (caused by yours truly ) about whether conforming is moving or not.

I maintain that conforming IS a form of moving, and must still obey all the move restrictions and limitations.
Otherwise we get weird effects such as the following:-
     * the end elements in a conforming group could greatly exceed their normal move distances...
     * troops in a conforming group could treat Rough and Bad going as if it had suddenly become Good Going...
     * Art and WWg could conform and end in Bad Going off-road (and then be unable to ever leave it again!)...
     * Art/WWg/CP/Lit/CWg could conform and end in contact with the enemy (something expressly forbidden)...
     * plus nowhere does it say “conforming is not moving, so can ignore all movement rules”.

But the scenario you describe is different.
The Knight group did not enter the Rough Going, but made a legitimate frontal contact.
And when a front-edge contacts an enemy front-edge, you get an extra sideways slide.
This ‘free’ sideways slide has no exceptions, and can happen in any going.
So the free slide is in addition to normal moves, and will cause moves to be exceeded.
(There ain’t much in this world that is free nowadays, so make the most of it! )

So, like Martin,  it’s a ‘yes’ from me too.

Personal view…if the Bw was in BAD going then the 3-element group would be still obliged to slide so one entered the BG. I don’t think it could claim it was ‘prevented’ from conforming (per the conforming rules).

I agree once more with Martin (this is becoming something of a habit! Ha, ha, ha! ).

Things to consider
There is an ‘unwritten rule’ in DBA 3.0 in that conforming does not force groups to split up,
otherwise Figures 13c and 13d would be drawn very differently. The only things that can
force a group to split up is turning-to-face, a combat outcome, or if their owner wishes it.
Groups are not just a loose collection of individual elements. They are more than that.
They act like an oversized super element, and that’s why they bully single elements about.
In short, groups like to stay together, and are stronger than the sum of their parts.
And this also includes an element that is part of a group leaving a Threat Zone to line-up.
(Just as a single element that is in two Threat Zones can choose to line-up or conform with
one TZ and leave the other TZ, so can a group stay together when in multiple Threat Zones)

Another thing to consider is choosing not to conform and fighting as if overlapped.
Many players don’t seem to realise that the moving-bounding player has no choice.
If the moving troops have to do the conforming, then they must attempt to do so, if they can.
Only the non-bounding stationary troops can chose not to conform and fight as if overlapped.
This is demonstrated in Figures 13a and 13e, as compared to Figures 12c, 12d and 13b.

The last thing to consider is that groups can still be formed when in Bad Going.
Its just that they can’t move as group (unless entirely Psiloi).

So what does it all mean?
If the Bows were partially in Bad Going, then I think this is the sequence of events:-
      * Although they are in Bad Going, they are still in a group.
      * The Knight group moves into contact, avoiding entering the terrain.
      * When a moving group contacts a stationary group, those moving must conform.
      * And conforming does not cause groups to split up.
      * So the Knights conform, and one of them ends up partially in the Bad Going.

“But Stevie, you can’t move as a group in Bad Going, unless you are in a column!”
Quite right...but mutual front-edge contact allows the extra sideways slide, and
this always applies, no matter the terrain.

For example, a solid 4Bd in Rough or Bad Going is just under 1 BW from an enemy,
but not lined-up. It can still move forwards, get its front-edge to touch the enemy
front-edge, and then slide sideways to make full corner-to-corner contact.
So in effect it has moved almost 2 BW, although its speed in such terrain is only 1 BW.
Or would you deny it the free extra sideways slide because that exceeds its move rate?

The extra sideways slide is just that...its extra, its additional, its free, and it does not
depend on your normal move rate, nor how much distance you have actually travelled.
And a group, which likes to stay together, can still use it to conform...even in Bad Going.

Thanks for the comments

Yep the whole group, but moving into the rough only affected the end Kn.

Interestingly it was thinking of an example the same as Stevie's about solid foot in bad going that made me think that "any part of the move" maybe meant just the basic tactical move not the sideways slide. 

Presumably if the Bw had over half of it's front edge in the rough going then the contacting Kn group would have had to slide the other way as the end Kn couldn't have contacted more than half of the Bw within it's normal tactical move. 

Viewing the latest episode of Russia’s Forgotten Wars had me thinking
why are roads not affected like fields on a die cast of “1”?

Roman roads certainly deteriorated in the centuries following the empire’s collapse.

The growth of trade between commercial centres would certainly necessitate a good road network system, but this was not universal.
Nonetheless, regular maintenance was needed to keep them in good condition.