jrv
Forum Guru
I have been ruminating over the rules for escaping prisoners. Consider the following situations:
First:
Two enemy prisoners are guarded by a broken friendly guard with another unbroken friendly unit in the Location. During the CCPh, one prisoner passes his escape attempt NTC while the other fails. The escaping prisoner attacks his guard but fails to affect it. The unbroken friendly unit attacks the escaping prisoner and eliminates it. Is there a Melee, i.e. is the prisoner that failed its NTC considered escaping because there was a CC attack in the hex?
Bonus question: can the unbroken friendly unit attack both prisoners?
Second:
An enemy prisoner is guarded by an unbroken friendly unit with no other friendly units in Location. Another enemy unit advances in, but is eliminated in the CCPh while the guard survives. Is there a Melee, i.e. is the prisoner that couldn't take a NTC considered escaping because there was a CC attack in the Location?
Third:
Two enemy prisoners are guarded by a broken friendly guard with another unbroken friendly unit in the Location. During the CCPh, one prisoner passes his escape attempt NTC while the other fails. The escaping prisoner attacks his guard but fails to affect it. The unbroken unit attacks the escaping prisoner but also fails. Clearly there is a Melee at the end of the CCPh (per the A20.55 EX). If there were no change until the next CCPh, both prisoners could attack freely, i.e. without NTC. But during the next PFPh the escaping prisoner is eliminated by a Sniper result. Does the Melee continue, i.e. is the second prisoner considered escaping too as soon as the Melee marker is placed? Because there is no way to distinguish the two prisoners (e.g. an "escaping prisoner" counter) I'd have to guess that the answer is, "yes," a prisoner is considered escaping as soon as the Melee marker is placed.
JR
First:
Two enemy prisoners are guarded by a broken friendly guard with another unbroken friendly unit in the Location. During the CCPh, one prisoner passes his escape attempt NTC while the other fails. The escaping prisoner attacks his guard but fails to affect it. The unbroken friendly unit attacks the escaping prisoner and eliminates it. Is there a Melee, i.e. is the prisoner that failed its NTC considered escaping because there was a CC attack in the hex?
Bonus question: can the unbroken friendly unit attack both prisoners?
Second:
An enemy prisoner is guarded by an unbroken friendly unit with no other friendly units in Location. Another enemy unit advances in, but is eliminated in the CCPh while the guard survives. Is there a Melee, i.e. is the prisoner that couldn't take a NTC considered escaping because there was a CC attack in the Location?
Third:
Two enemy prisoners are guarded by a broken friendly guard with another unbroken friendly unit in the Location. During the CCPh, one prisoner passes his escape attempt NTC while the other fails. The escaping prisoner attacks his guard but fails to affect it. The unbroken unit attacks the escaping prisoner but also fails. Clearly there is a Melee at the end of the CCPh (per the A20.55 EX). If there were no change until the next CCPh, both prisoners could attack freely, i.e. without NTC. But during the next PFPh the escaping prisoner is eliminated by a Sniper result. Does the Melee continue, i.e. is the second prisoner considered escaping too as soon as the Melee marker is placed? Because there is no way to distinguish the two prisoners (e.g. an "escaping prisoner" counter) I'd have to guess that the answer is, "yes," a prisoner is considered escaping as soon as the Melee marker is placed.
JR