In the FAQ re: the Sword, it says that you can move multiple mice with a push. Does this mean that you can push mice on both “legs” of the move, that you can push a whole “stack” (i.e. a connected column or row of two or more), or both?
Secondly, when a Stronghold move forces a push, are these always just the next single space? Or can it push a “stack” (as above) or cause a “skip” (i.e. move over another piece)? I.e., if there is immediately a piece behind the to-be-shunted pawn, but a gap behind that, does it: it skip over, push both, or is it invalid and goes on to checking for side move? Similarly, do these extra options exist on a side move, or does simply being surrounded (rather than near edge) count as enough barrier to prevent the stronghold push?
a) Both. If you push the “rear” mouse off the board edge you capture it, even though the mouse directly touching the Sword mouse wasn’t.
b) The stack pushes the same as with a sword move. The only difference is that you follow the stronghold retreat rules (back if possible, side if not) for all mice getting displaced instead of capturing. If any of the mice in the chain cannot legally move (such as being boxed in with an already-existing stronghold), the stronghold cannot be built.
What order of operations are you using for the (potential) cascade of moves? Stronghold-er chooses? All primary moves first? All moves resulting from one primary move first?
I think it’s up to you, but in the (very very rare) case that you displace 2+ mice with one stronghold AND one of those mice bumps another mouse AND order of movement matters, I’d do primary moves first, then bumped mice, then mice bumped by bumped mice. Yes it will mean that some mice will technically be colocated while other moves are resolved, but it’s the cleanest for guaranteeing that any given bumped mouse only moves once. In the 7 or 8 games I’ve played though, I don’t think I’ve yet seen a situation where this came up since the positioning requirements to get this to work are very specific.