Art De La Guerre

[KevinD]

Usually this does not matter, but suppose you have a unit fighting to its front but that routs its opponent in that melee but is itself contacted in the flank by an enemy pursuer. Is it still in melee and thus suffers a CP loss for fighting in two directions? Or is the frontal combat deemed to have ended before it is struck in the flank and thus it is not fighting in two directions and thus not subject to a CP loss?

The rule on the pursuit moves (p 69 1st paragraph) says they occur “at the end of the melee phase”. Is this AFTER the melee phase or just the last part of the melee phase? If AFTER, it would seem the melee is over and the unit is not fighting in two directions and subject to the CP drop, if just the end of the melee phase, but still part if it, then the unit is still in melee when hit by the pursuit and hence subject to the CP drop.

[Zoltan]

P.23 Rout and Pursuit

"Routs and pursuits are carried out after the resolution of all combats for all army corps."

So at the time your victorious unit is hit in the flank by a pursuer, it is no longer in melee - the combat has been completed and the "Routed" cohesion state established.

"Rout and pursuit" is a short form of "Make rout moves and pursuit moves".

[vexillia]

P.23 Rout and Pursuit