Thanks a lot! This is exactly the way I interpreted the current state of the rules.

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Regarding timing:

Player A and B both have Heroes with Epic Strike.
Player A has priority and declares a Duel on Player B's Hero.

Would declaration of Epic Strike still have to follow the same order, or can either react to the other? In other words, since Player A has Priority would they would have to declare if they intend to use Epic Strike first, and then Player B can then react to that decision? This obviously puts the advantage squarely on Player B, but if you're doing "live" declarations then you could get stuck in a round-robin of "I will if you do…" that can go on for minutes.

The other option, which we used in SBG for cases when each side has an option to commit one more more Might to a roll in order to beat the other side, is to have each player write down their intention (or use a hidden die to indicate it) and then reveal simultaneously. This would be my suggestion unless there's a specific rule from GW somewhere I have overlooked. So to carry on the above:

Player A and B both have Heroes with Epic Strike.
Player A has priority and declares a Duel on Player B's Hero.
Player A and Player B each secretly mark a "Yes" or "No" to indicate if they will use Epic Strike.
Both Players reveal simultaneously and the Duel / Fight are resolved.

Of course, my guess is that this will be a prisoner's dilemma situation.

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

Just treat it the same as for other actions. Eg 'heroic charge', if you have priority and you don't declare one, then the other player does, then you have the option to change the declaration and the dice-off resolves who goes first.

In the case of ES, who goes first does not matter, since both go off before the fight. So you just do the bit with declarations.

This is just my reading of the rules btw, though I am not the only one who reads it this way.

Well, if I'm Player A, and my EH has F7 and Epic Strike and I declare a Duel against Player B. His EH has F6 and Epic Strike. The odds are already in my favor and I'd rather not burn the Might, just being happy taking a chance with the normal roll. But if I knew my opponent was going to call Epic Strike then I would as well as a counter.

To be sure I'm reading your interpretation correctly the phase would go something like this.

Player A has Priority and declares Duel
Player A now has the option to declare Epic Strike (he has priority and goes first)...but for reasons given above decides not to.
Player B declares Epic Strike
Player A is SOL

The interesting thing behind this is it would mean if you have a Hero with Epic Strike you almost never want to be the one to declare the duel against another ES Hero as you're better off reacting (and possibly catching them off guard). Likewise, if you ever do declare a duel against another ES Hero then you must declare Epic Strike as well for the same reason that if you don't they probably will (hence prisoner's dilemma).

And if you were Player B, would you remind your opponent about the option by questioning them ("were you going to call an Epic Strike?") or just sit quiet until their part of the turn is over and then spring it on them. If the later and they say "Oh yeah...I forgot to do that too"???

This is where I was thinking it might be best to have a hidden indicator that you each select if you're going to do Epic Strike and then reveal. Avoids possible hard feelings and keeps things level.

_________________
Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

As in the case of eg Heroic Charges, I was suggesting that the consistent way to play it was that Player A is not SOL, but rather, player A retains the ability to change the initial declaration in response to player B's declaration. It is player B who only gets to make the choice once.