SKIRMISH
Though I may be wrong - I am assuming that the results on the Follower's Fate table applies only to the NPC Knights that are along with the Player Knights ina skirmish.

So if a UNIT with KPs is comprised of a Leader and 3 Kps and 6 NPC Knights a follwer's fate result of "Failure" would mean:
1 NPC knight Killed (10% Killed)
2 NPC Knights Wounded (25% Wounded)
1 NPC Knight Captured
Thus leaving 2 NPC Knights along with the PKs and the Leader?

The PC's would be the results of thier individual melees and the Leader is fine? or is the could the leader be one of the above "statistics"?

BATTLE
This may sound silly but as I work my way through a BATTLE I am trying to figure out how a UNIT becomes DISENGAGED.
I maybe missing something rather obvious but how does this happen?

I was trying to work through the Battle of Mearcred Creek (with some Knights I generated to re-familiarize myself with the character creation rules) and got through the 1st Charge then things get confusing.
I figured that each of the knights in the Unit 7+ the 3 Knights I created charged in. Then I rolled damage and such - though only one of my knights killed a saxxon the other two are still at it (I am figuring) and I then rolled a success on the Follower's Fate and that killed 1 NPC Knight (2%) and 1 NPC knights were wounded (8%) - and Survivors are Victorious.
Does does that mean the Saxxons flee?
When I apply the Melee Events results - I got "Player Unit Retreats" - why wold that happen if the Unit was "Victorious" - do you re-roll?

I think I am 80% there to understanding this - someone please help me get to 100%!

Thanks
Todd

PS Do you roll Followers' Fate for both sides or just the Side the PCs are on?

Thanks again!

Merlin - You might want to move this to the Battles and Armies section

I'll try and answer both points;



SKIRMISH
Though I may be wrong - I am assuming that the results on the Follower's Fate table applies only to the NPC Knights that are along with the Player Knights ina skirmish.

So if a UNIT with KPs is comprised of a Leader and 3 Kps and 6 NPC Knights a follwer's fate result of "Failure" would mean:
1 NPC knight Killed (10% Killed)
2 NPC Knights Wounded (25% Wounded)
1 NPC Knight Captured
Thus leaving 2 NPC Knights along with the PKs and the Leader?

The PC's would be the results of thier individual melees and the Leader is fine? or is the could the leader be one of the above "statistics"?



Correct. The results apply to the NPCs. The PCs resolve their own combat and the GM rolls for the NPCs at an appropriate moment (suggested as 1 to 5 rounds later in KAP5.1). I would tend not to include the leader in the losses but there is no rule forbidding it. Whatever seems best for your scenario.



BATTLE
This may sound silly but as I work my way through a BATTLE I am trying to figure out how a UNIT becomes DISENGAGED. I maybe missing something rather obvious but how does this happen?


A unit can become disengaged as a result of their combat action for the round, for example a Triumph or Win result when attempting a Withdraw maneuver (BoB p.35).



I was trying to work through the Battle of Mearcred Creek (with some Knights I generated to re-familiarize myself with the character creation rules) and got through the 1st Charge then things get confusing.
I figured that each of the knights in the Unit 7+ the 3 Knights I created charged in.


Units always act as a single entity (so your assumption is correct) unless, through the course of play, one of the PKs is separated from it in which case they become their own unit (usually with dire consequences).



Then I rolled damage and such - though only one of my knights killed a saxxon the other two are still at it (I am figuring) and I then rolled a success on the Follower's Fate and that killed 1 NPC Knight (2%) and 1 NPC knights were wounded (8%) - and Survivors are Victorious.
Does does that mean the Saxxons flee?
When I apply the Melee Events results - I got "Player Unit Retreats" - why wold that happen if the Unit was "Victorious" - do you re-roll?


Couple of points here: First off, technically you do not need to roll damage unless the opponent you are fighting is one that you want to try and capture, as the outcome of the round is figured solely from the "Triumph/Win/Loss/Crush" result. Having said that I do let my PKs roll damage (for a little glory bonus if they do well) but it's not strictly necessary.

Second, I get the impression from your example that you are fighting multiple rounds vs the Saxons as if it was a normal melee. This is not how the system works. You fight ONE round and then move on, just ONE opposed weapon roll. One Battle round equates to approx an hour; it's assumed you fight many Saxons in that time, the result of which is determined by just one opposed weapon roll. You don't keep fighting round after round til that "saxon" is dead. The next round may bring a completely different opponent, and often does.

The Follower's Fate roll is curious. You DO roll the Follower's Fate using the table on p.47 BoB. But I'm guessing you've used the Skirmish table from KAP because it's not possible to get the result you describe using the BoB table.

I'm not quite sure how you have arrived at the melee events outcome. Can you describe this in more detail? Basically, the melee events outcome is determined solely by your individual melee results, see "Unit Victory Results" p.49 BoB. You apply that outcome (Triumph/Win/Loss/Crush) to the maneuver you were attempting and apply the result.

So for example, let's say you have 5 knights attempting the "Push Deeper" maneuver. The GM generates 3 random opponents from which he selects 1 for you to fight, let's say "Saxon axemen". Each of your PK knights makes 1 opposed roll vs the skill of the Saxons. Say 3 of them succeed and two of them fail outright, this is classed as a "Win" result and a Win result for Push Deeper is "Move Forward 1 Zone". That's it for your PKs, you then perform the Squire and Follower rolls etc, and move on.

EDIT - It just struck me that you're probably referring to the vanilla Battle system, not the Book of Battle battle system. Doh. Sorry. In that case my answers will make no sense whatsoever! oh apart from the bit about making just ONE opposed roll. That applies to vanilla Battle too.

Sir Pramalot-
Since writing this post I purchased the .pdf of the Book of Battle which is much easier to understand and flows much better than the Battle rules in KAP 5.1

Thanks for your clearing up a few points and your response to my other inquiry was excellent as well.

Todd

No problem. With BoB just run a few sample battles to get the feel for it. On paper it can seem quite daunting but once you've got used to the basics it's really quite straightforward. The forum can help filling in any grey areas.