Hi Legionnaires!
I have a slight problem with the example of group action on page 244 of the BoB rulebook. It is a group SHOOT action where a Soldier takes the lead. In this example the Soldier has NO gun or musket, but leads by giving orders: " I don’t have a gun marked in my loadout, so everyone else can fire, but I can level my spear and organize everyone." Then the Soldier rolls SHOOT anyway, acting as “Corporal” for the Squad.
My feeling is that this contradicts the basic rule for an action roll, which is “in order to do it, do it”. The soldier has no gun, so he can’t “shoot” by “levelling his spear” (He could have thrown his spear, but that’s not what he does here).
So, is that a slight mistake or have I missed something?
If it’s a mistake, what would the correct course of action be?
I see two possibilities in this particular example:
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The Soldier can’t participate in the group action, the Sniper cannot lead it (stressed to the max) ; so there is no Group action, the Sniper should roll alone on her own, the Soldier could marshal the squad to shoot and roll on his own, or the squad could just roll 1 dice for threat.
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Using a piece of rule that is apparently not often used. Page 223, in the “group action” section, we find: " You can also lead a group of NPCs. Let’s say you need to organize some villagers into a hasty defense. Roll marshal if you direct their efforts, or roll the appropriate action rating if you participate alongside them. You don’t need to roll for each NPC individually: the group rolls its threat level—from 0d for untrained, under-equipped villagers to 2d for elite groups of welltrained, finely equipped mercenaries. Whoever leads this group action will suffer stress from covering for the NPCs."
This seems to indicate that, as an exception to the “everybody rolls the same action in a group action” rule, one could lead a squad in any group action by rolling marshal. Is that what the Soldier in the example should be doing ? (So : Sniper rolls shoot, Soldier leads the group action and rolls marshal, squad rolls 1 dice for Threat).
But is is confusing to me, because I’ve never seen that played like this and it seems contradictory to the text describing the difference between marshal and group action on page 226.
What’s your opinion on this? (error in the example? Correct way to handle the situation?)