A unit of troops can also change its formation by moving models from/to its rear ranks to add or reduce the number of models in its front rank. For example, a unit that has five models in its front rank may add one model from its rear rank and have a front rank of six models. The models in the second and other ranks are then rearranged to match the number of models in the front rank.

A unit must surrender half of its move to add/deduct up to five models to/from its front rank. A unit may add/deduct up to ten models if it does not otherwise move at all. When redeploying models in this way it is important to remember that a unit always has the same number of models in each rank, except for the rear rank, which may contain the same or fewer models and is filled from the centre outwards (see Diagrams 14.1 and 14.2). The rear rank is still a rank whether it is full or contains only one model, although only ranks of five or more models are considered to be of any •value in close combat, as described later.