DARK AGE II

3 MOVEMENT & BATTLES

3.1 MOVEMENT The movement of armies in Dark Age is from one area to any adjacent area in a single action. There are four different actions that move armies from one area to another (MOVE, ASSAULT, PROBE and OVERRUN: see 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 and 5.5) and two that involve attacking another area without attempting to move (RAID and SIEGE see 5.10 and 5.13). There are two actions for sea movement (SHIPS and CONVOY: see paragraphs 8.3 and 8.4 for sea movement of ships and armies respectively). For population movements see migrations (paragraph 5.14). Movement is normally continuous: having moved from one area to another it is possible to move subsequently from that area into another later in the same turn (or even back into the one you started in, if you really wish).

3.2 MOVE COSTS All move or attack actions require BPs, and if you do not have sufficient BPs to spend then the action will fail. An assault action costs 2 BPs, and move, probe and overrun actions cost 1 BP. Ship movements and convoy actions cost 1 BP.

3.3 ATTACKS There is no distinction between a move and an attack: an attack is simply any attempt to move armies into an area that you don't own (the raid and siege actions are exceptions: they're treated like move actions, but the actual move is always abandoned). In these rules the actual transfers of armies between areas are often referred to as "moves", while raids, sieges and opposed moves are referred to as "attacks".
If you order a siege, raid or assault against an area that you already own then the action will fail. If you order a move, probe or overrun against an area that you already own then the armies involved will be unopposed and no battle will take place. If a move fails then any attackers which survive return to the area they attacked from.

3.4 BATTLES A battle occurs whenever armies belonging to one kingdom attempt to move to an area not owned by that kingdom (exception: see passage rules, paragraph 5.12). How the battle is resolved will depend on the action used by the attacker (one of MOVE, OVERRUN, PROBE, ASSAULT, SHIPS, RAID or SIEGE) and whether or not there is a retreat ordered or an ambush prepared by the defender against that particular attack. All attacks result in a battle, even if the area being attacked is unowned or contains no defenders (armies or population).

3.5 RESULTS OF BATTLES A battle may involve several phases, during which each loses a number of armies according to the strength of the opposition and the terrain. Losses are normally calculated and applied simultaneously. Fractional losses are ignored. A battle ends when either the attacking armies are wiped out, the defending armies are wiped out, or the attacker gives up the attack. The attacker is considered to have won the battle if the defending armies are wiped out and the attacking armies are not.
A proportion of the armies lost in each land battle are dispersed rather than being destroyed. They're added back to the army reserves of their respective kingdoms at the end of the turn (at the same time as other dispersals).
More details of the methods used for deciding battles are given separately in section five according to the actions used by the attacker.
Note: Only armies suffer losses during a battle (although the population and fortification levels may be reduced as a result of the battle) and it is the number of surviving armies that decides the result of a battle.

3.6 TERRAIN The losses of the defender in a battle are reduced by one in wetlands, forest and mountains. See also 2.15.

3.7 GETTING STUCK Any armies in an area may become "stuck" in that area for the duration of the turn. This happens when an army is ambushed, enters a city, mountain, forest or wetlands area, makes an ASSAULT, PROBE or SIEGE action, or there's a RESERVE action in the area.
It is important to note that it is the area that becomes "sticky" rather than the army that becomes "stuck" (another army belonging to the same kingdom moving into the same area also becomes stuck). Note that it is normally the attacker which gets stuck, not the defender, so it is not normally possible to stop the movement of an enemy by attacking him (the exception is if you trigger an ambush).

3.8 SEA MOVEMENT Armies may only move around at sea with the help of ships. Ships may not move to land areas.