Prisoners In Melee

Jim Burris

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I have a few questions that came up recently regarding Prisoners, Guards and Unarmed Units in CC.

Here is the circumstance. At the beginning of the Route Phase there is one unpinned GO SS squad and one broken SS squad ADJACENT to a British Hero. Due to their position the broken SS squad is forced to surrender to the Hero. It is a CG and the British player cannot afford to declare No Quarter, so the Hero takes the squad prisoner. During the Advanced Phase the GO SS squad advances into CC with the Hero and Prisoners. How should this CC be handled? My interpretation is that the Prisoners do not get to attack because a Melee does not yet exist. The CC is non-sequential and the SS squad attacks on the 6:1. The Hero is limited to attacking the Prisoners in CC at half FP at 1:2 -1 DRM for being a Hero. The SS squad rolls an 11 the Hero rolls a 10. No effect and they are all held in Melee. During the British player turn another Hero advances into the Melee. Now in CC the prisoners get to attack their Guards at 1:1 first because this attach is sequential. They roll a seven, no effect. The SS squad decides to go 6:1 against the guarding Hero, the Hero guarding the Prisoners attacks the Prisoners at 1:2 -1, the other Hero goes 1:6 -1 against the SS squad. The Hero guard rolls a seven, no effect, the SS squad rolls an eight killing the guard Hero, the other Hero rolls a ten, no effect. What happens to the Prisoners? Is the remaining Hero forced to take them prisoner, do they become an Unarmed Unit in Melee, or does the British player have the choice? I don’t know the answer to this one. I would say the British player has the choice.

Both Heroes end up dying without hurting the SS squad or prisoners. Obviously killing two heroes is not enough to rearm the Unarmed squad. If it had been enough would it come back as a conscript SS squad?

Thanks for your input,

Jim
 

Mr Incredible

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Before a melee exists I believe the hero can't even attack the prisoners.

Being British they can't massacre and then if they could only in a fire phase when not in melee.

On the question of the prisoners, they need to be recaptured again by the British player in the melee and are free to move by the SS player if they survive the melee.
 

jrv

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A20.52 "A Guard whose US# is < the total US# of its prisoners may not attack any unit other than its prisoners except in CC ... A Guard's FP is halved for attack (but not defense) purposes when attacking non-prisoners in CC."

The first round of CC is simultaneous because the prisoners are not escaping yet. The Guard/hero attacks the 6-5-8 at 1:12 -1, i.e. the attack FP is halved for attacking non-prisoners. The 6-5-8 attacks the guard at 6:1.

If the situation does not end, a Melee counter is placed. The prisoners are now escaping. In the next round the CC is now sequential in that the prisoners may attack first. They may optionally be joined by other units, so in this case the Prisoners could attack their guards alone at 1:1, or they could have the squad join in for 7:1. They also might not attack (unlikely, but allowed by the rules). After the prisoners do their thing, CC becomes simultaneous again. The guard may attack the prisoners at 1:1, the 6-5-8 at 1:12, or both at 1:14 (1/2:7). The 6-5-8 can attack the guard/hero at this point only if they did not join with the prisoners before and if the prisoners did not attack (because no unit may be attacked twice in CC). Of course the 6-5-8 would join in attacking with the prisoners in the sequential stage. I have tried to enumerate all the possibilities for the rules, but attacking in the sequential part is the only move that make sense.

The above does not include your second hero entering. When the second hero enters the situation is somewhat similar. The escaping prisoners may still attack with sequential CC and they still can be joined by other, friendly units. They must attack their guard, but they can also attack other units too, and in conjunction with those other, friendly units. The prisoner and the 6-5-8 could sequentially attack the guard at 7:1, or they could sequentially attack both heroes at 7:2 (3:1). Or the prisoner could sequentially attack its guard at 1:1, then there would be a simultaneous CC between the 6-5-8 and the other hero. If the guard is eliminated, another enemy unit immediately assumes the role of guard if possible.

JR
 
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