[OldSam]

IDHMBWM and that situation never occured in one of my games so far, but I think stepping back after a wait is legal. It seems that with higher Basic Speed and using this wait-tactic, technically one can avoid being hit by step+attack if there is one hex distance in the beginning...

But indeed it seems like this is (at least partly) a problematic effect of round based movement, so I'd agree, that it's most likely a good solution to handle the step back as a retreat - still giving the attacker a chance to hit.

Another way (which is a bit more complex) could be to limit the defender's counterattack abilities, because he's keeping the distance... One could say that the attack while stepping back is limited to strikes on the exposed weapon, that weapon arm, or the front leg; furthermore that type of attack could be changed automatically into an defensive attack, because of the backwards movement... just as an idea ;)