Generally speaking, a player can move his units however he wishes within the confines of the rules governing movement. However, sometimes troops go out of control for some reason, either because they are overcome by sheer terror, because they are compelled by magic, or because they are disorientated (or just not very bright to begin with). The player has no control over the movement of such troops and so these are referred to as compulsory moves.
All compulsory movement is carried out before other movement takes place.
Fleeing is the most common type of compulsory move – only the luckiest general will not have to witness the unhappy spectacle of his own troops attempting to escape the battle. You must resolve the actions of any fleeing troops before those of other compulsory moves.
Flee!
Any units that failed to
Rally during the
Start of Turn must immediately flee 2D6" in the direction they are facing. Some particularly swift units flee faster, but we'll discuss those later. Every model that flees through an enemy unit or impassable terrain must take a
Dangerous Terrain test.
As fleeing troops are assumed to have broken formation, they ignore obstacles of any kind as they retreat. Fleeing troops move through other units (friend or foe) and impassable terrain, as they are assumed to run around the obstruction, or force their way through, fuelled as they are by sheer desperation. If the flee move would result in the fleeing unit ending up 'on top' of or within 1" of another unit or impassable terrain, then it carries on fleeing straight forward until it is past the obstruction, and will then halt.
Fleeing through enemies or impassable terrain is not without its dangers. Enemies may be quick-witted enough to capture or slay several of the fleeing troops as they run past, while the sheer drops, deep water and dense undergrowth of impassable terrain present all kinds of hazards to a warrior more concerned about what he is running from than what he is running into. Accordingly, each fleeing model must pass a
Dangerous Terrain test for each enemy unit or area of impassable terrain that it flees through. More information on
Dangerous Terrain tests and impassable terrain can be found in the Battlefield Terrain section.
There are consequences for a unit fleeing through friends as well – having allies stream past you in a panicked state is not conducive to maintaining your confidence in victory, after all! Any unit that has friends flee through it must take a
Panic test (as described in the Panic section), as soon as the fleeing unit has completed its move.
Fleeing The Battlefield
As soon as a fleeing unit moves into base contact with the battlefield edge, it flees the battle and does not return – we assume that its warriors scatter to the four winds. Such a unit counts as destroyed to all intents and, more importantly, all rules purposes.
As the Orc unit is fleeing through an enemy unit, any fleeing models that move through enemy models (marked here in white) must take a Dangerous Terrain test. Two fail and are removed as casualties.
Other Compulsory Moves
Aside from fleeing troops, units that are forced to move in the
Compulsory Movement sub-phase otherwise follow the normal movement rules, unless clearly stated. Any further rules that apply to units that have a compulsory move will be described in their entry in the relevant army section, for example, they will often have to move at a set speed or in a given direction. These compulsory moves can be resolved in any order the controlling player wishes, providing that all flee moves have already been completed.
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