Black Blood and Magic

My Warrior Priest casts Soulfire. It manages to wound a Possessed model while that model is in close combat. Does the magic trigger the Black Blood mutation?

Here's the relevant rule: "If the model loses a wound in close combat, anyone in base contact with the model suffers a Strength 3 hit (no critical hits) from the spurting corrosive blood."

If you strictly follow the rules, I think the warrior priest must take a S3 hit, because he's in close combat with the Possessed, and the Possessed lost a wound in close combat, so...
But perhaps you can house-rule the warrior priest is safe...

The real question is what "in close combat" means. Does it refer to the close combat phase (I hit you with my sword--oh noes! blood and pain!) or to being engaged period (eat magic evil-doer--on noes! you're bleeding on my friends!) ?

(For the purpose of my example, the warrior priest wasn't actually in the combat.)

DRD1812 wrote:

The real question is what "in close combat" means. Does it refer to the close combat phase (I hit you with my sword--oh noes! blood and pain!) or to being engaged period (eat magic evil-doer--on noes! you're bleeding on my friends!) ?

(For the purpose of my example, the warrior priest wasn't actually in the combat.)

The second one, that's why I answered that In close combat means "engaged in hand to hand combat", that makes sense

A valid interpretation!