Hi,

so the errata changed the retreat rules but I still have a couple of questions.

First, is retreat mandatory? the original booklet says sometimes that it is and on other times that the attacker 'can force' the defender to retreat. We understood it to mean that the attacker can decide whether or not to force a retreat - and that has been a pretty important strategic choice. However, the fan rules on BGG say that retreat is mandatory. What is the official calling on this?

Second, and more importantly, the errata says that retreats are now always directional. However, the fan rules on BGG say that retreat is only directional for melee attacks and that in the case of ranged attacks, retreat as it says in the original rulebook. Is that the case? and if that's the case and traditional retreat apply in cases of ranged attacks - who decides where does a unit retreats? Say a Stark archer targets a Lannister rider and forces a retreat. Now the rider has to retreat towards the Lannister side of the board - but there are two hexes that are in that direction. If both of them are empty, and retreat is mandatory, who gets to decide where does the rider go, attacker or defender?

Thanks