Hello,

Just started playing yesterday, so don't yell at me if these seem stupid. I have scoured the rule pages (at least I think I have, but someone usually points out something I missed), and I have 2 questions about using ships. First deals with Support roles. The rules for support say "Ships may support a battle taking place on an adjacent land area." So my question is; Can a ship (or land unit) support a battle when it is not adjacent to the same-house units that are attacking, but IS adjacent to the battle area?

My examples of this are: A Greyjoy army at Moat Cailin marches on Winterfell (Stark house), but has a ship(s) in the Bay of Ice. Can the ship(s) support? Or can the ship only support an army attacking from The Stoney Shore?

Ex #2 For a land unit: Lannister has an army at Blackwater marching on Tyrell at Stoney Sept. Lannister has units on Lannisport, can they support the battle? Or do they have to be adjacent to Blackwater & Stoney Sept?

Question 2 may be obvious, but the opposite would seem opposite as well. Are Ships considered part of an attacking unit during a March transport or do they have to have a support order? Ex; Baratheon armies at Storms End want to use ship transport to March on Tyrell armies at Sunspear. Do the ships add combat strength or do they need support order? Page 9 top right blue section says "Ships can only move into and do battle in Sea areas (against other ships). It just seems to me like ships would add to the combat strength to a force it's transporting. Also if it is only with a support order does that go for the Neutral areas as well? Ex; Player has march order (+0) for 3 units (knight, 2 footmen) and ship to transport to Sunspear; Does the ship count as combat strength or need support order?

Thanks for indulging me, esp. since I maybe over thinking this.

--Low Thunder

For Question #1: A unit adds its support as long as it is adjacent to the area of battle. It does not have to be adjacent to the area the attacking units are coming from.

For Question #2: A ship that transports units to a battle does not add its strength. It just transports. If it had a support order, then it could, as you say, add its strength.

About finding these in the rules; these are the answers simply because they aren't found in the rules. The rules don't say a supporting ships adds its strength, so they don't, even though it doesn't specifically say that. Same deal with being adjacent to the area units are attacking from; the rules don't say you have to be, so you don't. You could have looked in the rules till the next New Year, and you wouldn't have found a spot that specifically said one way or the other.

I think question 2 is about whether you can support when you're only "adjacent" because of ships, not about ships supporting the battle. I'd have to check my rulebook, but off the top of my head, I'd say no. I believe that ship transport makes areas adjacent for purposes of marching and retreating only.

jasko said:

Oh, sorry if I misunderstood.

In this case, you are correct. Ships do not make areas adjacent for purposes of support. The rules allow you to march and retreat across ships. There is nothing in the rules about making areas adjacent.

Question 2 was about using ships to transport supporting units. That isn't allowed and says so in the rules. My question was about this:

3 Baratheon armies at Storms End, use a ship to March (attack) Tyrell armies at Sunspear. Does the ship automatically add +1 combat strength or do you have to give it a support order?

Thanks again

Chip

For gaining any support You have to have support order present. As stated above, ships that provide transport don't add their strength to the attacking force since as stated in the rules they can't attack land regions.

And just to be sure, ships can move as far as they want,even while transporting units as long as they don't pass through areas occupied by other ships?

Ships don't move when transporting. They act as a bridge so units can move through as many sea zones as they have currently occupied. They move regardless of fleet to army size too, so an army of five could cross two sea zones (Karhold to Crackclaw of whatever) even if there's only one of your ships in each zone

Gatha said:

Ok,thanks for the clarification.

Can ships support other ships in an adjacent sea area? If so can you point me to where this is stated in the rules/faq.

Example: Baratheon has a ship with a Support+1 in Blackwater Bay. Can this ship be used to support Baratheon ships in Shipbreaker Bay if they are attacked?

Thanks!

Ships can support sea and adjacent land battles (which annoys people for some reason). I think the only support rule is that land can't support sea.

FTWard said:

I'm hoping someone can answer this, as the search function didn't prove very helpful.

Greyjoy's ships attack from the Sunset Sea into the Bay of Ice. Greyjoy wins over Starks ships. Assuming Stark holds Winterfell, do the Stark ships have the option to retreat into Winterfell's ports?

Yes, they can.

FAQ page 6.

Q: Can a fleet that is defeated in a sea area retreat to a friendly Port touching that area?

A: Yes.