Another question that came up during a game involving a Dragon:

If the retreat path of a Dragon is "blocked" by two units, can Evade/Scatter be played when the Dragon is attacked? The text of the Lore Cards are explicit in that the target unit "may not move through unit occupied hexes", but does the flying ability of the Dragons override this? Does the spirit of the rules allow this?

Had you not mentioned this, I would have intuitively said that the dragon can retreat through (over) other units using this card since dragons can normally retreat over other units. However, the golden rule seems to apply that card trumps rules. In the absence of a ruling from a higher power than myself, the cards seem to only grant a limited form of retreat as specified on the lore card.

Yup, usually pretty straightforward. To me, the difference here is that Dragons have come later in the game. But yes, until ruled differently, I will tend to follow what the card says. Plenty of rationale can be made for the Dragon not being able to Evade/Scatter in such a situation

toddrew said:

But also the fact that it can fly (and the fact it was AFTER the card was made) might be the exception. Only web and hold (per the Dragon rules) allows the dragon to NOT to fly. So I would think it still could fly.

Remember, like the Elemental who can't be forced to retreat AT ALL (no matter what the cards say).

Cab

I don't think so toddrew. The Earth Elemental card has a specific 'all flags must be ignored' entry written on the 'Retreat' part. No such mention on the dragon cards, so I think it's just a 'normal retreat'. BUT, seeing how the dragons' 'normal retreat' is 3 hexes, I think it makes sense that they're fleeing by flying.

I think I just added to the confusion

Sevej said:

Eh, maybe you did, but that's the point, there is confusion The Dragon retreat is not a "normal retreat", however. It is qualitatively different than the usual retreat, being able to retreat through other units. So, yeah, as Caboose pointed out, this could be a case of the unit trumping, so to speak, the card like with the Earth Elemental and cards like Mists of Terror and Terrified.

The key word on the Evade and Scatter cards is "through".

A Dragon when retreating flies over any blocking units in its retreat path (BattleLore Dragons, page 1, Morale).

A Dragon does not retreat through units.

Enjoy!

Richard Borg

Thank you Mr. Borg One of the attributes of your games that I appreciate greatly is how intuitive the rules are. Easy (for me, anyway) to see what the intended rule most likely is, even when it isn't spelled out.

Richard Borg said:

But what if the dragon wanted to go THROUGH the units (since they were enemy units to begin with)? Yes I am joking here!