A problem with Pike & Shot and Zombies

[Argonor]

Skrapwelder asked me a while ago how actions work in close combat in PSZ.

After reading up on the rules, I honestly haven't got a clue!

The combat rules state, that different weapons need a different # of actions to use. Very well - that must mean that you have to save actions for combat, right?

The rules also state, that 'combat occurs when figures move to within half an inch of an opponents base'. So, what if neither the moving figure or the opponent has any actions left?

Finally (actually, firstly), when creating a survivor, you roll for his Attacks, and 'This attribute represents the survivor figures speed and agility in close combat and will determine the number of attacks that can be used in each phase of close combat.'

Oops... wasn't the number of attacks determined by the number of actions left, relative to the number of actions needed to wield a weapon??

The only close combat example does not use actions, only attacks, and not relative to any weapons stats.

My only solution to this would be to substitute the word 'action(s)' in the combat section of the rules (and the close combat weapons table) with the word 'attack(s)', but I have no idea whether this would be right or wrong.

I have tried to find Stephen Danes/AB One Games, but he/they do(es) not seem to have a web presence of his/thier own.

Can anyone shed some light on this issue, please?

EDIT:

I now think that the wording

''This attribute represents the survivor figures speed and agility in close combat and will determine the number of attacks that can be used in each phase of close combat."

should be changed to:

'This attribute represents the survivor figures speed and agility in close combat and will determine the number of combat actions that can be used in each phase of close combat.'

As on page 20 the rules state that actions can be saved for the opponent's phase - but ONLY to make 'reactive fire'; hence no actions can be saved to use for fighting back at the zombies in their phase.

[Argonor]

I finally found Stephen Danes at the Father Tilly Yahoo Group and asked him - heres the answer:
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Hi,

I'm happy to answer PSZ questions here -

The 'attacks' attribute is the maximum number of attacks that the survivor can have each round of combat. Each weapon requires the player to spend a certain number of actions when delivering an attack - for example, one action to strike with an infantry sword, two actions when using a two-handed axe. This means that the survivor can only use their maximum number of attacks if enough actions are used to allow this to happen. A survivor that has a sword and can deliver four attacks per turn would have to allocate four actions that turn to get those attacks. If the survivor moves into contact range with a zombie and has no actions remaining, the survivor will not be able to use an attack that turn - but the zombie will! So its obviously a good idea to move into contact only when you have sufficient actions for combat. During the zombies phase, any survivors that are in contact with zombies will get all of their actions to use in close combat.
I hope this clears it up a bit. If you have any further questions - let me know.
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So, this means that the Actions characteristic should be defined as the # actions a survivour can use in each PHASE instead of each TURN. The survivor just don't get to use the actions for other purposes than fighting in other than his own phase.