A unit must always retreat toward its controlling player’s side of the board
So says page 10 of the MM44 rule book, but what about paratroopers? (‘’…we’re supposed to be surrounded, Lieutenant’')
I’ve recently been playing a lot of scenarios from Crete, where most of the action involves Germans jumping right into the middle of Allied positions. So what happens when they get a flag?
Unlike most scenarios, where one side is attacking across the board towards another, paras don’t have a home/baseline to retreat to (retreat: withdraw from enemy forces as a result of their superior power or after a defeat (OED))
Equally, what does an Allied unit do when it gets a flag from an Axis para unit which has landed in (or moved to) a position between the Allies and their side of the board? On an island like Crete, the whole board/island is theirs, so surely they can retreat in any direction?
I ask the question simply because it has happened so many times in these paratrooper scenarios! (And my apologies if this question has been answered elsewhere – I had a look online, but couldn’t find a solution.)
Here are some examples:
In the first photo, according to the rule (above), the British Infantry (right) must retreat to Hex 1 or 2. But Hex 1 is not exactly retreating – it would still be next to the German attacker! So that leaves just Hex 2. Similarly, the German should retreat to Hex 5 or 6, but again the first choice leaves them adjacent to the Allies.
The second photo is very similar, but this time both sides cannot obey the rule and retreat towards their side of the board; Hex 11 leaves the Allies adjacent to the enemy, Hex 15 vice-versa.
‘‘If a unit cannot retreat; is forced to retreat off the limits of the battlefield; or would be pushed back onto a sea hex, one figure must be removed from the unit for each retreat move that cannot be completed’’ (Rules, p10)
It would be harsh to say that the units in photo 2 cannot retreat – they can, but not in the usual direction.
So, should we be able to say that a unit receiving a flag can retreat in any direction, as long as it is away from the attacker (e.g. the Brit can retreat to Hex 12, 13, or 14)? Or only in the opposite direction of the attacker (e.g. the British must retreat to Hex 13 in photo 2, while the German must retreat to Hex 17)?
Finally, the third photo shows a British unit (circled) which has only two escape routes. If German unit A throws a flag then the Brits have nowhere to go – Hex 21 and 22 would leave it adjacent to the attacker, so a flag means one lost figure. But if German unit B attacked and threw a flag, the British unit could retreat to Hex 22, even though it leaves it adjacent to another (non-attacking) enemy unit.
I welcome your thoughts on, and experiences of, this situation.