Disorderly retreats and..

[Peter]

Guys if disordered units retire or rout through friendly units behind do they in turn disorder them??
Likewise does the same apply for units using disorderly retreats ???
Thanks peter

[Big Al]

Page 80 of BP2 states that any unit that is forced to retire will be destroyed if its path is blocked. This is regardless of whether it is disordered or not. If a friendly unit is blocking the path, the retiring unit can pass through with no penalty to the intervening unit, but it must be able to move entirely beyond the intervening friendly unit or it is destroyed.
That is a change from the rule in BP1, where the retiring unit would be forced to make a second full move and become disordered. A third move would destroy the retiring unit.

There are some who feel that the friendly unit that is interpenetrated should become disordered and have changed the rule to suit them. This means that you would have to change another rule, namely that disorder is not removed at the end of the turn or it will have no effect, making the change pointless. That further change has further implications for changing rules and complicates a simple system.
If you feel that the intervening unit should suffer disorder, I would suggest adopting the rule from Hail Caesar for that, where the intervening unit must roll 4+ to avoid becoming disordered.
That said, you could also refuse to allow the unit to pass through, meaning that it would be destroyed, as it cannot fulfil the obligations of the break test result.

[Garry Wills]

Big Al, unusual to have to contradict you, but this rule hasn’t changed – the wording is identical between BP1 and BP2, the option of retiring 2 moves is still in the break test results table in BP2. The points about needing to be clear of the friendly unit still stand. In reality the retiring disordered unit would be forced to flow around the unit behind.

Garry

[Big Al]

I’ll be honest, Garry, I started to answer to that effect, but then I turned to the new book and read the second paragraph under “Retiring Units”. That contradicts what is now written in the break test table.
The break test table makes no mention of being able to pass through a friendly unit and nor does the paragraph, nor indeed, the section on Retiring Units. That is why I answered as I did, quoting the page number.

As you know, I know the old rules as well as anyone, including Rick, but I was surprised to see that moving through friendly units wasn’t actually mentioned. What I wrote was almost an exact quote from BP2.

[Big Al]

With all this chatter, I realise that I didn’t address the second question that you asked, Peter.
A unit that retires in a disorderly manner, or fashion is not retiring due to a break test result. It is doing so to extricate itself from a dangerous position. As it states in that particular section of the rulebook, the unit makes a move as far as it possibly can. If there is an intervening friendly unit and the disordered unit does not have enough movement to completely pass through the intervening one, then it stops immediately in front of the intervening unit. Of course, because this is just a general retreat, it can move into its rear quarter, which might put it alongside the intervening unit.
However, the answer to the question of whether the unit being interpenetrated becomes disordered or not is the same as in my first answer. No, it doesn’t.

[Garry Wills]

As Theresa May said, nothing has changed.

all the best

Garry

[Author]

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