Hello !

I've read the instructions... and the forums.

Yet, my wife, my friend and I got in quite a bloody argument a few hours ago. Details :

I had a flesh ripper brute. I attacked my friend's archer. He had to retreat. I used pursue to go where he was and then turn right to attack one of his citadel guard, which was a better tactical target in my situation then finishing off his archer.

And then all hell broke loose.

I read the instructions.

My move seemed totally legit. Nothing against it. Words used say :

- "may instead (of Advance) move..." (so Pursue is a distinct step then "advance")

- "...move the attacking unit..." (not specifying direction)

- "...must move the attacking unit into the hex the target unit occupied before moving it any further." (nothing about the direction of the second move from Pursue 2)

- "can't return to original location" (if they explicitly say not to return to original location, it seems clear that any other location is OK)

- "one additional attack" (nothing about the target)

And I've read words from Julia on these forums confirming my point of view.

As well as some other threads on boardgamegeeks.com.

BUT, my friend and wife are just stuck on the word "Pursue" and therefor can't accept the fact that I would change target. (They even argued that pursue should ONLY be used if target had retreated. Not if it was killed...)

So here's my question : could anyone give me some strong argument one way or the other....

Or give me some sort of link to a statement/FAQS/something from FFG to help me stop the bloodshed between my wife, my friend and I... ?

Thanks !

You're playing it correctly. The rules for Pursue simply say that a unit with the ability can, instead of advancing, move and perform an additional attack, with a few restrictions you've already noted like the first move having to be into the hex that was vacated. It doesn't say that the additional attack has to be against the same target.

As for advancing:

After an attack eliminates an adjacent target unit or forces an

adjacent target unit to move from its original hex during combat,

the attacking unit may advance . To advance, the attacking unit

moves into the target unit’s original hex.

That clearly applies to retreating and eliminated units.

As far as I understand, the question is semantic. My interpretation is that with "Pursue" the Flesh Ripper Brutes are allowed to pursue their goal. Since this is actually what they did, their action seems legitimate.

It's 100% a legit move. The ref guide specifics clearly the only rule you have to follow is that your first movement is to be done on the hex your target originally was occupying. If you were forced to attack the retreating unit, this would be clearly stated in the rules. Additionally Pursue is triggered also in case the enemy unit is destroyed by the first attack:according to the reading suggested by your wife, then Pursue would not be triggered in case of unit destruction.

A general suggestion for all those who are learning a new game: play accordingly to the rules, not accordingly to what you think rules should say but actually they don't (sorry, don't want to sound rude here, it's not the intention,but most of mistakes -including mine when I started the hobby - are due to similar false readings of the rules)

Yeah... I'm usually the "Reader of instructions" when we play a new game. I usually consider that "we respect instructions word by word" as a good instruction manual is written with a certain care about the words used.

But... Yeah... I'm stuck here... Hoping that brining 'em here will help. Thanks !

PS : Keep the discussion alive if anyone has more to add ! I appreciate all contributions, even if opposed to my pov !

For the thematic person, imagine this ...

There is a line of soldiers against a line of enemies. The soldiers kill one of the enemies and the enemies turn tail and flee. Would it be wrong to say the first army is pursuing its enemy? Pursue is more about chasing down enemies in general than it is about chasing a particular target.

Hope that helps.