Mass battle query: capturing leaders

[Uqbarian]

Say you're using the Book of Battle rules and the players get an opportunity to fight an enemy leader (page 78), but the leader decides to escape. How do the players stop him from escaping? Is it just something like using the rules for attacking multiple opponents (to represent fighting past a bodyguard to engage the leader)?

[Tizun Thane]

• First Round: players fight bodyguards
• round 2: players get an opportunity to fight the army leader (who can not flew this round)
• round 3: if the leader wants to flee, he rolls his riding skill against the melee skill of the player opposing him. If he wins, he manages to run away. And yes, there is probably bodyguards as well trying to protect their lord (inspired maybe), and blocking any pursuit, so it's really challenging.

[Atgxtg]

That's not quite correct: Per "Fight a Leader", BoB 2nd edition page 78:

• First Round: Players fight bodyguards per the normal unit results.
• Extended Melee Phase 1: Player fight remaining bodyguard plus additional guards equal to the number of characters still up.. If this is a Battalion Commander he counts as one of those men buy he may sit back, or he  may attempt to escape (Which I think is treated like the Run Away Maneuver) instead of fighting, trusting to his guards to hold of the player knights.
• Extended Melee Phase  2+: Yet another wave equal tot he number of player knights still up joins the fray. If this was the Army Commander's unit he now joins in as per the Battalion Commander last round.
• Should he be defeated the player knights would then have to fight additional rounds of extended combat in order to Take  a Prisoner (page 78).

So basically it's tough to pull off and usually requires some players to have to face multiple opponents. It's a good battle round to be inspired. I've only seen players pull it off successfully twice, and both times were in the same battle. One group captured a unit commander and then the other group of PK got the army commander. Rewards were good that year.

[Uqbarian]

1 hour ago, Atgxtg said:

That's not quite correct: Per "Fight a Leader", BoB 2nd edition page 78:

• First Round: Players fight bodyguards per the normal unit results.
• Extended Melee Phase 1: Player fight remaining bodyguard plus additional guards equal to the number of characters still up.. If this is a Battalion Commander he counts as one of those men buy he may sit back, or he  may attempt to escape (Which I think is treated like the Run Away Maneuver) instead of fighting, trusting to his guards to hold of the player knights.

(emphasis added) Thanks! Treating it like Running Away makes perfect sense.

Thanks also, Tizun Thane!