Flee & Pursue

If a unit fails its Break test it must flee and might be destroyed as it runs.
However great the slaughter that occurred in the clash of swords, the subsequent flee and pursuit may well be bloodier still. When a unit flees from close combat, it does so with wild abandon. Warriors run from the enemy with all possible haste, casting aside anything that might encumber them and giving thought to nothing other than survival. For the pursuing unit, such warriors are easy prey, to be hacked down, captured as slaves or driven from the field of battle. A regiment that flees from combat, therefore, is almost certainly doomed. Only by outpacing the enemy do they have any chance of survival.

Restrain Or Pursue?

The victorious unit declares whether it wishes to pursue or restrain pursuit.
If the losing unit failed its Break test, it must flee, but the winning unit now has a choice of actions. It can pursue the foe, seeking to solidify the victory by scattering or slaying the survivors of the fight. Alternatively, the victorious unit can attempt to stand fast, using the precious seconds earnt by its victory to reorder itself and prepare for other fights to come. Restraining from pursuit in this manner requires a degree of organisation and discipline that does not come easily in the heat of battle.
Accordingly, if you wish your unit to restrain pursuit, it must first take a Leadership test to see whether or not its leaders have been able to keep it in order. If the test is passed, the unit conforms to your wishes and holds position, and can choose to reform once the defeated enemy has fled. If the test is failed, then no amount of bellowing or bullying will be sufficient to keep the unit in order – they elect to pursue the enemy anyway.

Flee!

A unit flees 2D6".
With the intentions of the victorious unit declared, it's time to see just how badly the losing unit wants to escape and calculate the distance that it flees.
It is difficult to say precisely how far fleeing troops will run because they are no longer fighting as a body but milling around in a frightened mob. Indeed, unless the fleeing troops are all of one mind, confusion is likely slow their escape, making it all the more likely they are caught by their pursuers. To represent the fleeing unit swiftness of foot and reaction, the controlling player rolls 2D6, the result is the Flee roll.

Pursue!

If you choose to pursue or fail to restrain pursuit, a unit pursues 2D6".
Can the fleeing troops escape their pursuers? To find out, the pursuing unit needs to make its Pursuit roll. Like fleeing, pursuit is a hectic and uncontrolled affair, so we roll 2D6 to determine if the pursuers were quick-witted and quick-footed enough to catch their prey.

Caught!

If a pursuing unit rolls equal to or higher than the fleeing unit, the fleeing unit is destroyed. The pursuing unit will then move its Pursuit distance in the direction the fleeing unit.
If the victorious unit's Pursuit roll is equal to or greater than the Flee roll scored by the fleeing enemy unit, the fleeing unit is completely destroyed where they stand, not at the end of their retreat movement. All the troops are cut down as they turn to run, or are scattered beyond hope of regrouping – remove the entire unit as casualties. In reality not all the fleeing troops will have been slain, but any who've survived will be so broken in spirit that there's no chance of them fighting again this day.

Move Fleeing Units

If the fleeing unit rolls higher than the pursuers, or has not been pursued, the fleeing unit turns to face away from the victor and then move directly forward a number of inches equal to their Flee roll. They have escaped (for now...). With a bit of luck, the warriors will come to their senses once the immediate danger has passed, and might yet play a useful part later on in the battle.
To resolve the Flee move, turn the unit around about its centre so that it is facing directly away from the enemy unit (ignoring the enemy unit).
The unit then flees straight forward a distance equal to the result of the Flee roll. This is otherwise treated exactly the same as a Flee move in The Movement Phase. You'll remember that fleeing troops are assumed to run around, force their way through or otherwise avoid other units and impassable terrain in their desperate flight.

The Goblins roll their flee distance and the Chaos Warriors roll their pursuit. The Goblins have rolled higher and escape.

The Goblin unit pivots around its centre until it is facing directly away from the Chaos Warrior unit.

The Goblin unit then flees directly forwards a number of inches equal to its Flee roll.

Restraining Units Reform

A unit that does not pursue can perform a Reform maneuver.
If your unit elected to restrain and passed the test to do so, or wiped out the enemy and did not overrun, it can now perform a reform maneuver, as described in The Movement Phase.

Move Pursuers

The pursuing unit pivots to face the centre of the fleeing unit and moves directly forward equal to its pursuit roll. It will stop 1" away from any friendly units or impassable terrain, and will charge an enemy in the way.
With the final position of the fleeing unit now determined, it's time to move the pursuers. Turn the pursuing unit about its centre so that it is facing directly towards the unit they are pursuing – the pursuers then move straight forward a number of inches equal to the amount rolled on the dice.
Note that pursuers make this move even if the fleeing unit was caught, as described earlier – the 'pursuit' move in this case represents them surging forward to cut down any stragglers.

The Chaos Warriors then move directly forwards a number of inches equal to their pursuit roll.

Pursuit Into An Obstruction

Unlike fleeing troops, pursuers maintain some manner of order and formation. Therefore, if the pursuit move would take the pursuers into contact with (or through) a friendly unit or area of impassable terrain, they automatically halt 1" away.

Pursuit Into A New Enemy

If a pursuit move would take the pursuer into contact with an enemy unit, then the pursuers must charge the enemy unit.
Carry out the charge as you would in The Movement Phase, following all the normal restrictions. However, you do not need to roll for the charge range – we already know from the pursuit roll that these unwitting chargers have momentum to reach the foe, whether they wished to or not. The charging unit must wheel and close the door in such a way as to maximise contact, as they would with a normal charge.
Naturally, the charged unit is taken by surprise by this impromptu assault – it is not allowed to take any charge reactions and must Hold.
If this enemy unit was already engaged in close combat, and that fight has not been resolved for this turn, then the pursuing unit will get to fight another round of close combat! If a pursuing unit is lucky enough to win a second fight in the same turn, it cannot overrun and automatically restrains pursuit (and can reform!).
If the unit that has been charged as a result of pursuit was not engaged in combat from the beginning of this combat phase, or if it was engaged but that fight has already been resolved in this combat phase, the combat is not resolved straight away, but in The Melee Phase of the following turn.
In the following turn's combat phase, the pursuers will still count as charging.
This might result in both sides having charging units in the same fight, in which case the charging units on both sides will get the normal bonuses conferred by charging (e.g. causing impact hits, benefiting from a lance's Strength bonus, etc., and other bonuses described later in this Rules section). Also, both sides will get the +1 Combat Result bonus, which will effectively cancel each other out.

The Goblins have rolled high enough to escape their pursuers, and move through a friendly Orc unit as they flee.

The Empire Spearmen’s pursuit move would take them into contact with the Orcs, so they must charge this new enemy, wheeling to maximise contact as normal.

Pursuit Into Fleeing Foes

Even if the charged unit was already fleeing, it still cannot take any charge reactions. Move the pursuers into contact with it as you would for a unit completing a charge against a fleeing unit (see the Charge! section).
The fleeing unit is then immediately destroyed and the pursuing unit is allowed a final reform.

Overrun!

If the victorious unit charged into combat and the enemy was wiped out, it can move 2D6" straight forward. This is an overrun move and represents the unit surging forwards, hungry to find more enemies to fight.
An Overrun is essentially a special pursuit move. When making an Overrun, the victorious unit moves 2D6" directly forwards, as if they were pursuing a fleeing enemy to their front. All other rules governing pursuit moves, such as intervening units and terrain, apply to overruns.

Pursuit Off The Battlefield

A pursuing unit that moves into contact with the battlefield edge moves off the battlefield. They're so caught up in their pursuit of the foe that their momentum carries them clean off the battlefield!
Unlike troops fleeing the battlefield, however, such pursuers are good and keen to come back to the fray. Accordingly, we allow them to re-enter the board in their next Movement Phase, using the rules for reinforcements (see the Normal Movement section). The unit is placed back as close as possible to the same point from which it left the battlefield, in the same formation. Remember that it needs to face directly towards the battlefield and have all of its rear rank touching the battlefield edge. It's often a good idea to leave a model from such a unit in order to mark the position from which it left the battlefield (a standard bearer is ideal).

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