ARMY STANDARD
by Tom Poston - Revised May 1998
Our gaming group has been struggling (well, maybe not struggling, but perhaps fiddling) with exactly how the rules for capturing regimental and especially army standards work in Warhammer, and in certain circumstances not covered in the Warhammer rule book. After a lot of thinking on this, following is a proposed clarification to the rules for capturing standards.
Page 87 of the Warhammer rule book covers capturing standards in gooddetail, and the normal rules are pretty clear: if a unit is beaten in combat and fails its Break test, its standard is captured if the victorious unit pursues. If the winning unit does not pursue, then the defeated unit’s standard is trampled into the mud/dust/sand and lost. Standards are only lost as a result of failed Break tests, not psychology - such as Terror or Panic.
However, what happens if a unit bearing a standard is immune to Break tests, such as Dwarf Trollslayers - can their standard never be captured? Or what about units such as Skeletons and Zombies, which either are destroyed utterly if they fail a Break test, or have extra casualties lost if they lose combat? What happens if you completely hack down a unit in combat, never forcing a Break test because the entire regiment is destroyed? And just how do you capture an Army Standard if the Army Standard bearer is killed in the combat that forces his unit to Break?
Proposed Clarifications:
Regimental Standards
No change is suggested for normal circumstances of capturing regimental standards.
If a unit is completely destroyed in combat, then the destroyed regiment’s standard is captured by that unit (or whichever victorious unit the winning player chooses) if the unit(s) which won the combat is free to pursue, i.e. is not tied down fighting other units.
If an Undead regiment which is automatically destroyed due to losing a Break test is thus destroyed, or if a Skeleton regiment sustains sufficient extra causalities due to losing combat to destroy the unit, and the unit(s) which destroyed the fallen regiment is free to pursue, i.e. is not tied down fighting other units, then the destroyed regiment’s standard is captured by that unit (or whichever victorious unit the winning player chooses). Note especially that since many Undead characters use different rules for combat losses than the regiments they lead, an entire skeleton regiment may be destroyed and yet the character remains. In these cases the regimental standard is not captured and is lost unless the Undead character flees or is destroyed due to a failed Break test.
Army Standard
If an army standard bearer is fighting as an individual model and not as part of a unit, then the army standard is captured if the army standard bearer is killed and the unit(s) which killed him is free to pursue, i.e. is not tied down fighting other units. Otherwise the army standard is lost.
If an army standard bearer is fighting in a regiment of troops which is subject to the normal rules for Break tests, and although the army standard bearer is not killed in combat the regiment fails a Break test as a result of being beaten in combat, then the army standard as well as any regimental standard will be captured if the unit(s) which won the combat is free to pursue, i.e. is not tied down fighting other units.
If an army standard bearer is fighting in a regiment of troops which is subject to the normal rules for Break tests, and if the army standard bearer is killed in combat and the regiment fails a Break test as a result of being beaten in combat in the same round of combat which forced the Break test, then the army standard as well as any regimental standard will be captured if the unit(s) which won the combat is free to pursue, i.e. is not tied down fighting other units.
If an army standard bearer is fighting in a regiment of troops which is subject to the normal rules for Break Tests, and if the army standard bearer is killed in combat but the regiment he was in does not Break, then the army standard is lost and may not be captured.
Similarly, if the army standard bearer is fighting in a regiment of troops which is not subject to the normal rules for Break tests, then if the army standard bearer is killed in combat, the army standard is only captured if the entire regiment he was in is destroyed in that combat phase and if the unit(s) which won the combat is free to pursue, i.e. is not tied down fighting other units. Otherwise the army standard is lost and may not be captured.
In the case of Undead army standard bearers, as Wights they are destroyed if they fail a Break test, but also must be aware of the special rules for Undead units mentioned above. If the regiment in which an Undead army standard bearer fights is destroyed, and the army standard bearer is destroyed due to a failed Break test, then the army standard is captured if the unit(s) which won the combat is free to pursue, i.e. is not tied down fighting other units. If the Undead army standard bearer is killed in combat while the regiment he is a part of remains, or if he is destroyed by failing a Break test while the regiment he is a part of is still fighting, then the army standard is lost and may not be captured. And of course, should an Undead army standard bearer survive while the unit around him crumbles to dust, then he is treated like an army standard bearer fighting alone.
These guidelines seem to make sense and hold up logically regarding how things should work. Comment is invited, and if you see any egregious flaws, please let me know!