1 reply to this topic

[Adam H. Jones III]

I think I have found a possible contradiction in the boarding rules.

 

Here is the rule as written in 11.6 Melee; Red Initiative bullet point; The Red BP advances into the Aft Deck Area and melees with the blue BP, freeing  up space in the Waist for red reinforcements to board and defend it from the blue BP attacking from the Foc'sle.  Melees result in both the Aft and Waist Deck Areas.  If red wins the Aft melee,  its BP takes control of the Deck Area.  However, if blue wins the Waist melee, red's after BP is cut off and can no longer be reinforced or withdraw.  Red attempts to retake the Waist fro other than the Aft would require reboarding using the boarding table.

 

Here is the other rule that raised the possible contradiction:  Rule 11.6 Melee; Attacker withdrawal bullet point;  The BOARDING captain may voluntarily withdraw his BPs or have them forced to fall back to his ship or boat division.  The opposing captain will then have the initiative to follow up and attempt to board if desired in the next Tactical Phase by rolling on the BOARDING table.

 

So if I read this correctly...in the first rule example, Red was the ATTACKING BP.  If the attacking red BP loses the melee in the Aft Deck Area and blue also takes control of the Waist Deck Area, why can't the losing red BP in the Aft Deck Area withdraw to his own ship after losing the melee per Rule 11.6 Melee; Attacker withdrawal bullet point and not be cut off as stated in Rule 11.6 Melee; Red Initiative bullet point?

 

Adam Jones

[Cpt M]

There's no contradiction.  In the first example, Red is attacking the quarterdeck from the waist while Blue is attacking the waist from the forecastle.  The sequence of retreats is such that if Red loses both combats, both parties would have to simultaneously withdraw.  Red's waist parties would retreat back over to their ship with Blue seizing the waist, while Red's party that attacked aft would be forced to retreat to the now Blue occupied waist (and get cutoff).  This is why its very unwise to attack over the waist; your enemy can hit you from two sides.