Surprise Table

[Sir_Carados]

I would interpret it thus:
You could rule that when the Army intensity is below 10 the enemy is pushed back and zones 8 and 9 are now combat zones. In the same situation zones 1 and 2 will probably still be non-combat zones. When the army intesity is above 30 the enemy has pushed you back so 1 and 2 are now combat zones and 8 and 9 are still non-combat zones. In all other cases they are still non-combat zones.

That's a very close interpretation of my ruling in this situation. Thanks for all your input and support Cornelius. I think our campaign can finally move forward !

[Sir_Carados]

I have another question concerning the Remove From Battle maneuver: the rule states, "It must begin the round Disengaged and have a unit maneuver result of Win, or begin in a Non-combat Zone which has no enemy units.". So if the pk's get a Win with the Run Away maneuver they can on the next round execute the Remove From Battle maneuver without having to engage the enemy?

[Cornelius]

No. You need to win the battle roll against the Unit intensity in the round you wish to execute a remove from battle.

Example:
Round 3. The PKs execute a run away maneuver in zone 6. They get a triumph and manage to get back to zone 4. They are disengaged, but still in a combat zone.
Round 4. The Pks must again roll against the Unit Intensity. If they win or tie (according to table on page 33) they have the remove from battle maneuver as one of the options. So now they can remove themselves from the battle. RAW: The result is that they can move 2 zones back again to zone 2. No combat. My take: They remove themselves from battle and are now out. Effectively the battle is over.

Remember that the disengaged situation reduces the unit intensity by 20. If the battle is going even and the army intensity is around 20 the chance you get caught in the battle again is small. The unit intensity in the above example is then around 5 (20 (AI) - 20 (Disengaged) + 5 (Zone 4)). Of course if the battle is going badly and the Army intensity is around 30 the result becomes 15 and there is a good chance you do not win the battle test and are caught back in the battle.