It takes a standard action to Cleave & Greater Cleave, so you give up your iterative attacks to do so. Your 2nd scenario is possibly correct, it depends on if the extra attack from Improved Cleaving Finish interrupts a current action or not, the answer to which I am not clear on.
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I believe it works like this:
Standard action 'cleave':
Note: All attacks are assumed to hit and all targets are in a row and within your reach. You are assumed to have Improved Cleaving Finish with all prerequisite feats.
Cleave: Attack 1st target
Cleave: Attack 2nd target (dies)
Cleaving Finish: Attack either 1st or 3rd target. Let us assume 1st target (dies).
Cleaving Finish: Attack target 3.
Cleave: Attack 3rd target.
In short: every time you drop a target make an attack using (improved) Cleaving Finish then proceed with your regular (greater) cleave attacks.
- Gauss
That was also the impression I got from ICF, personally.
I've got a related question regarding Cleave and Cleaving Finish. Given only two adjacent targets within reach, assume that all attacks hit and are declared and occur in this order:
1. Cleave - Attack 1st target (dies)
2. Cleaving Finish - Attack 2nd target (lives)
3. Cleave - Attack 2nd target (no further actions taken)
Is the third action legal? The player contends that the third action's cleave continues from the first initial attack of the 1st target.
I believe that is correct fizzboy.
Fizzboy: yes, that is legal. Just think of cleaving finish as an 'interrupt' bonus attack that has nothing to do with the normal sequence of attacks.
- Gauss
Good to know. Thanks, everybody.