Can monsters in Dungeons and Dragons 4.0 share turns?
In the first encounter of the Dungeons and Dragons 4e Redbox it states that you should make one initiative roll for the two goblins and one for the two wolves. Then under tactics it says that the wolves should move in and attempt to flank, attack, then move away. This seems to state that they should be taking a turn as if they were two parts of one monster (like a monster split in half that gets two move actions, two standard actions, two minor actions), however when I look at their shared stat block there is nothing, other than the "2 wolves" part of the stat block, that indicates they should be moving simultaneously. Later in the book there is a stat block that says "8 Goblins" for example; should I move those 8 monsters all at the same time as well?
When I say "move at the same time" I mean, move both of them, then attack with both of them, then use their special shift to shift them away (4 spaces each). If the 8 monsters later on are moved in this manner that would allow me to move all 8 of them completely surrounding my PCs and then attack as one.
This makes sense in "real life" terms, but in game turns this gives NPCs an unfair advantage over PCs. Why couldn't my PCs all move at the same time to all get into position and then all attack at the same time?
I feel like I am missing something here and am pretty confused.
My question is multi-part:
- Do I move these wolves at the same time and then attack at the same time (after each has moved)?
- How do I know if monsters are supposed to behave in this manner (Is the key just that if they share a stat block they move as one and that this stat block sharing isn't just to save space as I assumed?)?