The contest continues, just because the Cavalry Soldier has switched
skills it does not reset the AP.
[See basic rules for Extended contests]
So though the Cavalry Soldier may now have a better skill and the
advantage of the horse he still only has 8AP and the
foot soldier has 33AP. So it is unlikely that he will be able to just
brush past him in the one round unless he bids really high.
I think this is one of HeroQuests strengths though it is rather counter-intuitive to begin with. The place where this problem often comes up is the archer versus foot soldier and it is a fundamentla of HeroQuest.
When beginning a contest you have to think carefully about what the objectives of each subject in the contest is. It is the objectives that determine what the final results will be.
In this case each subject wanted to get across the bridge first. They began in a non-combatative way throwing insults to see whether someone would back down. The cavalry soldier was being intimidated by the trooper and so charged his horse - this switches skills as Andrew said and the trooper has to decide what to use to counter this. The AP totals show that the cavalry soldier has been made unsure of himself and if the trooper wins the next round it means that the charge wasn't successful and (if his total is brought to zero or below) the trooper gets to cross the bridge first.
The intent of the contest was not to cause injury and so it is unlikely that any injury will be cause to either party. A marginal victory might mean that the voctor gets to cross first but there is still grumbling etc while a complete victory might mean that the voctor gets an apology from the loser as he now recognises the better man.
The point is, make sure you know what the objectives are before you start and then use the results to construct an entertaining explanation of what happened _after_ the final results are known. The rulebook tries to help by showing how to describe results. The trooper swearing at the cavalry soldier has either reduced him to a quivering wreck at the vitriolic language being heaped upon him or has become so incandescent with rage at the implication of what his troop get up to with their steeds while on manoeuvres has made him launch an ill-planned attack upon his tormentor. Depending on the reaction of the trooper and the result of the dice this could result in anything from the cavalry soldier falling off his horse as he yanks at the reins, allowing the whistling trooper to stroll across and be on his way to a full on combat where the trooper has some advantage due to his earlier AP gains.
Hope that helps.
Stephen
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