Rules Clarifications
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 2:11 pm
A couple of you have privately asked me about the rules regarding support, and I thought it would be best to post an answer here.
There seems to be some confusion as to how supports work. The basic principle is that a unit can only support a move it could legally make itself. Thus, no unit in Paris can ever support a unit in Munich or moving to Munich because they are not adjacent. The space to look at is the one being acted upon, not the one a unit originates from. This is why Russia’s support of an attack on Budapest failed from the Ukraine, because the unit in Ukraine could not legally move to Budapest. This can cause an overestimation of the threat any one unit presents. For example, there is no threat to a unit in Piedmont from a unit in Marseilles unless there is a fleet in the Gulf of Lyon or enemy behind the lines in Tyrolia (A), Venice (A), or Tuscany (A or F). An army in Burgundy cannot support an attack into Piedmont by anybody since Burgundy is not adjacent to Piedmont. It follows logically that no attack can succeed without the support of an adjacent unit(s) that could legally move into the space in question.
This principle is universal in Diplomacy, and there are no exceptions. If a unit cannot move to a space itself, it cannot support a move into or hold in that space.
There seems to be some confusion as to how supports work. The basic principle is that a unit can only support a move it could legally make itself. Thus, no unit in Paris can ever support a unit in Munich or moving to Munich because they are not adjacent. The space to look at is the one being acted upon, not the one a unit originates from. This is why Russia’s support of an attack on Budapest failed from the Ukraine, because the unit in Ukraine could not legally move to Budapest. This can cause an overestimation of the threat any one unit presents. For example, there is no threat to a unit in Piedmont from a unit in Marseilles unless there is a fleet in the Gulf of Lyon or enemy behind the lines in Tyrolia (A), Venice (A), or Tuscany (A or F). An army in Burgundy cannot support an attack into Piedmont by anybody since Burgundy is not adjacent to Piedmont. It follows logically that no attack can succeed without the support of an adjacent unit(s) that could legally move into the space in question.
This principle is universal in Diplomacy, and there are no exceptions. If a unit cannot move to a space itself, it cannot support a move into or hold in that space.