Hi,

I have an pk that took a major wound, avoided unconsciousness, but failed his valor roll on the first round. On the second round he started out alone and tied
the unit intensity with a critical so I rolled on the Surprise Table (p. 57). The result was a 20 which states the unit can charge. Since this unit can't
make a charge what other maneuvers are available and is he considered disengaged since that's a requirement to initiate a charge?

One last quick question: can a pk get help from another pk's squire(i.e. rearming him)?

Thanks

I have an pk that took a major wound, avoided unconsciousness, but failed his valor roll on the first round. On the second round he started out alone and tied
the unit intensity with a critical so I rolled on the Surprise Table (p. 57). The result was a 20 which states the unit can charge. Since this unit can't
make a charge what other maneuvers are available and is he considered disengaged since that's a requirement to initiate a charge?


While not being an expert on BoB2, reading the entry implies heavily to me that you must charge, you can't change the maneuver voluntarily. However, in this case he has a major wound and failed Valorous, and in Major Wound results (KAP 5.2), he would not voluntarily enter combat. Thus, I would rule, as the GM, that he has the chance to charge some enemy footsoldiers who hadn't spotted him yet, but he hesitates due to the failed Valorous, and ends up being charged himself*. His best bet is his friends doing Rescue A Friend (p. 77) and coming to his aid.

* = To be perfectly honest, with a MW and a failed Valorous roll, in a Battle and being charged by enemy soldiers, I would feel totally comfortable as the GM to rule that he surrenders if he is not Rescued. The Major Wound rules in KAP 5.2 govern one-on-one, small scale fighting that happens very fast, whereas a Battle Round is an hour or so, composing of multiple normal combat rounds. He would also be taking heck of a lot of aggravation thanks to the Major Wound, if he keeps on fighting: at the very least 3 points, although I would be quite happy to up that to 6 for the Battle Round.



One last quick question: can a pk get help from another pk's squire(i.e. rearming him)?


I'd say normally, no, since the squire is keeping an eye on his own knight, and staying ready to assist him. However, if the other PK sends his squire to help the first PK (and hence reprieve himself of the squire's assistance), then yes.

As Morien states a suprise is not volintarily. Due to some freak twist of fate you are able to charge your opponent, instead of normal fighting. In the end the choice is to fight one opponent or to charge them. The charge is better in this case as you get a +5 bonus to your weapon skill and may even help in the Unit intensity next turn as you change zones due to the charge.
But..
I agree with Morien that this is not how I would play it out. Since Valor was failed and you do not seek out combat I would assume a that a Withdraw or Run away maneuver would be the wisest choice of action. So I would allow it. Also a surrender is a good option.

He is not considered disengaged. It is just a freak turn of fate. To get disengaged you need to win a Withdraw or Run Away maneuver to get that.

As for other squires helping you. As Morien says the squire is focused on his own knight and not others, so he will not help them, unless instructed by his knight. In this case the friend needs to see you are in trouble (awareness may be apropriate) and then send him to you to help out.
Of course the best action of the friend will be to have his unit try a rescue a friend special maneuver.

Since Valor was failed and you do not seek out combat I would assume a that a Withdraw or Run away maneuver would be the wisest choice of action. So I would allow it. Also a surrender is a good option.
I agree with this ruling and thanks for the response.
I have another question that cropped up in the course of this battle: how many rounds after the battle starts would it take for the enemy to get to the armies second and third ranks? The reason I ask is that I want to know if the pk's pullback, run away, or withraw into these zones would they be out of the battle.
thanks.

The ranks are only relevant in the beginning of the battle. After that the zones are an indication where you are in the thick of battle
I always invisioned the battle as a swirling mass of groups clashing and retreating. In the rules a battle round is half an hour, so it would be something like a clash of steel, retreat and get a quick breath, then engage again. Dependfing on your maneuver you fight more or less.

In the rules you are only disengaged if you succeed in the maneuvers Pull back, Withdraw or Run away. So technically you could be disengaged in the killing zone, but staying diengaged is much harder as the army intensity is higher, so you may be drawn into combat more easily. Retreating to second or third rank makes remaining disengaged easier.

Removing yourself from battle requires first to get disengaged and then use the Remove from battle maneuver.

So your saying zones 3-7 are occupied by the enemy in the first round? Even though the enemies first rank starts in zone 6 and can only get to zone 4 using the Advance maneuver in the first round, it doesn't matter?

Page 20 states that your army lines up in zones 2, 3, and 4. Main bulk is in rank 4, support units in zone 3 and reserves in zone 2. I assume that the enemy would set up in zones 6, 7, 8. With their main army in zone 6, support in zone 7 and reserves in zone 8.
During the first charge both armies move forward and the main get into the killing zone (zone 5).

And yes technically a unit from the enemy must use Push Deeper to get to zone 4 (or manage a triumph in the First charge). But you must remember that the system is set up from the point of view of the PKs. All the actions of the various other units in the battle are less relevant and are dealt with with changes in the Army intenisity. The PKs have some effect on the Army intesity depending on their actions and the outcome of their combat.

As Cornelius says the zones determine how heavily engaged you are. That's why they give a modifier to your Unit Intensity, to show how likely you are to dictate who you engage and how. Unless you take effort to completely leave the fight (Remove From Battle) then you are always at risk of being drawn back in.

I understand what your saying that the zone intensity represents the likelihood of the running into the enemy, but the Remove From Battle maneuver states on page 54, "It must begin the round Disengaged and have a unit maneuver result of Win, or begin in a Non-combat Zone which has no enemy units.". I'm assuming these Non-combat zones the rules mention are zones 1,2,8, and 9. But they have the potential to become combat zones depending on how the battle goes.

To be honest that statement always confused me also. Because there is no clear answer as to when these zones become combat zones.

I would interpret it thus:
You could rule that when the Army intensity is below 10 the enemy is pushed back and zones 8 and 9 are now combat zones. In the same situation zones 1 and 2 will probably still be non-combat zones. When the army intesity is above 30 the enemy has pushed you back so 1 and 2 are now combat zones and 8 and 9 are still non-combat zones. In all other cases they are still non-combat zones.

It is also stated that if the PKs reach zone 8 it becomes a combat zone. So a PK cannot retreat that way by claiming being in a non-combat zone.
So in the end for a PK to remove himself from the battle from a non combat zone means they must retreat to zone 1 or 2 and if the army intensity is low enough it may still be a non combat zone.

But as said that is just an interpretation I would make. In the end it is up to the GM to rule if the zones are still non-combat zones or not.

I would interpret it thus:
You could rule that when the Army intensity is below 10 the enemy is pushed back and zones 8 and 9 are now combat zones. In the same situation zones 1 and 2 will probably still be non-combat zones. When the army intesity is above 30 the enemy has pushed you back so 1 and 2 are now combat zones and 8 and 9 are still non-combat zones. In all other cases they are still non-combat zones.

That's a very close interpretation of my ruling in this situation. Thanks for all your input and support Cornelius. I think our campaign can finally move forward !

I have another question concerning the Remove From Battle maneuver: the rule states, "It must begin the round Disengaged and have a unit maneuver result of Win, or begin in a Non-combat Zone which has no enemy units.". So if the pk's get a Win with the Run Away maneuver they can on the next round execute the Remove From Battle maneuver without having to engage the enemy?

No. You need to win the battle roll against the Unit intensity in the round you wish to execute a remove from battle.

Example:
Round 3. The PKs execute a run away maneuver in zone 6. They get a triumph and manage to get back to zone 4. They are disengaged, but still in a combat zone.
Round 4. The Pks must again roll against the Unit Intensity. If they win or tie (according to table on page 33) they have the remove from battle maneuver as one of the options. So now they can remove themselves from the battle. RAW: The result is that they can move 2 zones back again to zone 2. No combat. My take: They remove themselves from battle and are now out. Effectively the battle is over.

Remember that the disengaged situation reduces the unit intensity by 20. If the battle is going even and the army intensity is around 20 the chance you get caught in the battle again is small. The unit intensity in the above example is then around 5 (20 (AI) - 20 (Disengaged) + 5 (Zone 4)). Of course if the battle is going badly and the Army intensity is around 30 the result becomes 15 and there is a good chance you do not win the battle test and are caught back in the battle.