In a game recently, Stark land units attacked Baratheon land units. Stark received support from the sea with a Support +1 order. Baratheon then played Salladhor Saan. If the Support +1 counted as +1 towards Stark's final combat value, then he would win. If it was negated by Salladhor Saan's ability, then Baratheon would win. Does Salladhor Saan take away the +1 contributed by the special support order? Looking at the official rulebook of A Game of Thrones the Boardgame I thought that Salladhor Saan woul indeed take away the +1. If I could post pictures I would, but I will just have to quote instead. My claim centers on the section called "Calculate Initial Combat Strength." The bulleted list that follows details the sources from which Initial Combat Strength is obtained. The first bullet says, "Attacking/defending units." The second says, "Defense order bonus (for the defender only)." The third says, "March order bonus/penalty (for the attacker only)." The fourth says, "Supporting units and Special Support bonuses." Finally, the fifth says, "Garrison token." The overall question is whether the special support order bonus is considered part of the supporting unit strength or if it is seperate from the supporting unit strength. I believe that because they are both included in the fourth bullet of "Calculate Initial Combat Strength" then they must make up a single value. If they were meant to be individual, the they should have been on seperate bullet points like the items on the first and third bullet points (seen above). The section entitled "Calculate Final Combat Strength" merely denotes, "* Some House card text abilities may cause a player's initial Combat Strength to be recalculated." It should be realized that an area's supporting combat strength is determined by the two factors of the strength of the units in the area and the special support order bonus. Logically the reduction listed on the card would apply to both as they make up a single value. Based on this evidence, Salladhor Saan should negate the +1 bonus of the special support order of any non-Baratheon ship. What do others think about this logic? Read the rulebook to see if I missed anything. I would love to have an official ruling from Fantasy Flight Games as they are the only ones who have the authority to definitively decide this circumstance.
Ruling for Salladhor Saan v Special Support Order
Forgive me for the massive text block. I tgped this up on my phone so it seemed harder than necessary to format.
Yes, the Card salladhor saan negotiates the Points of fighting ships from the enemy. The order to support doesnt have anything ot do with the Card. The Bonus is still active.