Atomic Africa (v1.1) Close Combat

Close combat in Atomic Africa adds very little in terms of additional rules.  Although some soldiers will indeed close to knife range and kill with bayonets, rifle butts and even their hands, hand grenades and short range firearms dominate "hand-to-hand" fighting.  Close combat therefore uses the same rules as ranged attacks with a few modifications, primarily to issued orders.

Any opposing infantry units ending the turn in base-to-base contact begin the next turn in close combat.  Units in close combat receive orders normally.  When the Activating Player chooses a unit in close combat as his activating unit, he must Declare whether the unit intends to fight or flee.  The Reacting player must Declare fleeing or fighting as well.  Players reveal orders cards next; if a player Declared "flee" for his unit, the unit's orders card must of course allow movement (Ace to 10, Joker, or the Sprint special action for light infantry).  Additionally, a unit may only break from close combat if its orders card indicates defensive posture (Club or Spade suit).  Units revealing face cards announce special actions as normal, but are restricted to Dig-in, Mass Fire, Rally, or Sprint (if applicable).  Digging in here actually reflects a unit gaining some sort of defensive advantage, such as high ground, while with Mass Fire the unit surges forward in a berserker-like rage.  Units choosing to break from close combat place Destination and In-transit figures normally; units staying to fight need not move any figures.  Resolve combat normally, measuring range between the In-transit figures.  Skip range measurement obviously , if both units choose to stay in close combat and don't move.  The range threshold is still considered 1 however, meaning that attacking units might still fail to suppress their opponents.  Note: a unit may flee close combat, only to be pursued by its opponent which may, with a higher movement, thwart its escape.  Fratricide concerns prevent outside units from firing at units in close combat. 

The above close combat rules covers infantry engagements only.  I'm working on a "swarming" mechanic for infantry attack vehicles, but right now I consider it unlikely enough to ignore.