Group combat
Proximity strengthens a group; pursuit can pull it apart.
[Q] calls available kin to the controlled slime as an escort. In an appropriate attack context this becomes a joint advance. Members move autonomously, keep some distance from one another and support a deliberate attack by their leader. This also applies to a reachable animal while the leader explicitly keeps it bound as a target.
Escorts defend members nearby, but pursue opponents only a limited distance from their leader. When the group moves away, they return. Several attackers can strike at once; nearby kin also influence retaliation and protection according to their species. Superior numbers help, but replace neither a clear route nor sufficient health and energy.
Changing focus and retreating
[Shift]+left-click takes control of another slime of your colony. The previous one may continue a nearby fight autonomously, but will not pursue it indefinitely. The blows of the newly controlled slime remain your own actions.
Deliberately moving away releases its target. An existing escort still follows its leader and its limited pursuit range. Badly wounded members may choose to retreat themselves. [R] releases the escort completely; it frees its members rather than guaranteeing a shared journey home.
Fighting over nests
A surface entrance leads into a particular burrow. Defenders orient themselves around its valid entrances. A target underground first requires a real descent; an attack order cannot move anyone through the earth.
When a queen falls, her nest stops its ordinary births. Other nests of the same species may survive. Losing a queen is therefore a serious blow, but not automatically the end of the whole colony. Such a victory can grant another founding right.
