Fleeing combat
 

I've been running a test game for my group to see how we take to TFT. This is our first time playing. One thing that came up last night was running away. For and engaged figure it seems nearly impossible to run away. I want to make sure I'm understanding this properly. Two combatants:

Rufus DX 11
Aticus DX 12


Rufus is taking a beating from Aticus so Rufus decides to flee. First turn Rufus wins the initiative roll he's engaged with Aticus so he decides to disengage. He can only move one hex away. Aticus now not engaged uses his movement turn to move toward Rufus (less then half his MA as Rufus could only move one hex) does the move and attack option.

The movement phase ends. Now Aticus has the higher DX so he attacks hits Rufus -- more damage Rufus is hurting bad again he can only move one hex with a disengage.

It seems that no matter what Rufus does he'll never get away as he is engaged the only option he has is to move one hex to get away and Aticus will always move up. Am I reading this correctly or is there something my pea brain is missing?

Re: Fleeing combat
 

It's been a long time since I played strict Melee, but from memory MA is the crucial factor. You'll also need to win initiative consistently to effectively flee.

Turn 1. The figure wishing to flee A wins initiative and tells the opponent B to go first. As they're engaged B can only shift and attack. When it's As turn to act he disengages to one hex away.

Turn 2. If A wins initiative he can move his full MA away from B. When it's Bs turn he can also move his full MA but if they have the same MA he will not be able to engage because of the 1 hex gap. If B has a lower MA A can quickly outdistance him, but if his MA is lower than B he's in trouble.

I had a house rule that if a character really wanted to flee, I allowed them an increased MA if they were willing to throw away anything they carried in their hands; weapons, shields, bags of treasure etc. I think I gave them +2 MA.

Been a long time and this is all fro memory. Maybe someone with the new edition can chime in.

Re: Fleeing combat
 

That seems to be a way of doing it. According to the rules for initiative in TFT the side with the higher initiative can let the other side act first. A player can let me move/attack with my npc's creatures first hoping to win initiative the next turn so that player or players can attempt to flee.

Re: Fleeing combat
 

Sorry, but the movement portion of the disengage option is:

ITL 106: "A figure that selects the “disengage” option stands still or shifts during its movement phase"

ITL 103: "An engaged figure may move only one hex during the movement phase, and must stay adjacent to all figures to which it is engaged; this is called a shift."

So the disengage occurs after the higher DX attacker strikes that turn. If you want to run away then shield-rush your foe and run away on the turn that he stands back up.

Re: Fleeing combat
 

There's no need to win initiative to disengage on turn 1, because Disengage is an action, so it takes place after the movement phase. But you do need to end up moving first on turn 2 (which may not need you to win initiative, if the enemy doesn't know you plan to run away, as often players opt to have the enemy move first so they can choose the final tactical position).


So the requirements to get away with Disengage are:

Turn 1: Take the Disengage option, and have someplace to disengage that leads to a direction you can run in.

Turn 2: Move first, either by winning initiative, or by the enemy winning initiative but having you move first.

Turn 3: You can automatically move first if you ran away last turn and keep running away this turn.



You can also get opportunities to flee if a Forced Retreat occurs where the attacker (maybe you) did not opt to advance.

You can also get an opportunity to flee if you can somehow knock down your opponent (e.g. shield rush, unarmed combat throw, Trip spell).

Re: Fleeing combat
 

It may require more than 1 turn to get cleanly away, but if you have the same or higher MA as your foe you can always do it eventually. Basically, you need to disengage as your action and then win initiative the next turn so your foe can't re-engage you. All other things being equal, you'll succeed in one turn half the time, within 2 turns 75% of the time, within 3 turns 87.5 % of the time, and so forth.

Re: Fleeing combat
 

You don't even need to win initiative after the first turn of running away:

"If figures are fleeing from a foe – that is, if they are not
engaged, and spent the previous turn running away – they
automatically get initiative if and only if they use it to
continue their escape. If they intend to turn and fight, they
must roll for initiative – but if they’re ahead of the enemy
and running, their lead will not be sacrificed to a random die
roll. Only a foe with higher MA can catch up to them if they
keep running"

ITL p. 105 Escaping

Re: Fleeing combat
 

Thanks this has been helpful. It seems my confusion was that I thought disengaged counted as a movement and was used in the movement phase.