So I'm pretty sure that when the BRB says that there can only be one challege per combat it means one challenge per combat no matter how many turns that combat lasts. One of my WoC buddies argues that it means a challenge per combat during that turn. So from my perspective if a chaos lord calls for a challenge on turn 3 against my TG/SMP unit and I accept with my champion then after he kills the champion he doesn't get to call a challenge again until he breaks that combat and joins a new one. From his perspective the turn after the champion dies he gets to call another challenge since it's "one challenge per combat". I've tried to refute this with the BRB but I can't find anything. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks!
Page 102 is ambiguous. The relevant language says, under "Issuing a Challenge" that "Only one challenge can be issued per close combat ..." Standing alone, you could read this to mean only one challenge no matter how long the combat lasts. But when you look over on page 103, it is clear that the limitation is per round of combat. Under the heading "Round Two?" the rulebook says that "Further challenges cannot be issued in that combat until the existing challenge has been resolved." This indicates that there can be multiple challenges over the course of an extended combat.
Thank you guys! Good stuff. I'll have to give my counter-part the good news about him being correct. Looks like I'll have to rethink a few strategies. This basically means that in a TG/SMP unit that lost the champion an oponent can effectively disable the SMP BSB by constantly issuing a challenge. That is a scary thought!
Or do what I did, make the slann hard to kill and accept the challenge and neuter his hero with a long fight that his hero isn't contributing to.