Hey, thanks for answering - I appreciate your putting in the time.
My PDF says "Fourth Printing September 2017", and the full text of that section is exactly as you have given it.
My quote might be confusing because I only included the final sentence (which is exactly the same as yours), not the whole section.
So unfortunately, this doesn't really answer my question.
At Movement Combat Actions on p72, the section on Retreat says:
Retreat: A character decides to escape the combat. See “Disengaging from Combat” on page 64
I.e. It looks like a circular reference to me.
Is there some other section I should be looking at? I can't see answers there to the specific questions in my OP.
Perhaps I have misunderstood what is meant by 'fight their way out of combat'?
The cases I had in mind all start with the character engaged in melee combat to his/her front, and then continue with:
A) character wants to create (by attacking/ parrying etc) or take advantage of a naturally occurring (by timing) instant of safety in which to turn and flee out of sword-reach without danger of being cut down almost immediately in the process.
B ) Character wants to turn and flee regardless of risk of being cut down on the spot
C) Character wants to back slowly out of combat without compromising defence, leaving the choice about whether to continue the melee in the hands of the opponent (fighting backwards...)
A case I hadn't considered is when the character tries to hack a way forward past an opponent, to break into the clear.
Whichever cases are covered, I'm still confused about what procedure to follow.
Peace
Kenco