Sorry to post what should now be obvious to me, but somewhere along the line an error has crept in.
My understanding of what defines a supporting unit:
In summary:
A stand may support if it is touching a unit in combat
Provided it is not itself in combat
Provided it is not confused
Provided it is exactly behind or alongside and facing the same way.
A stand can be supported if it is touched by an enemy unit to its front and also its side or rear.
A stand
can not be supported if it is attacked in their rear or flank, i.e. no attack to front.
To calculate which stands are supporting:
After combat remove stands that have fallen casualty. Only now do you see which stands are supporting.
A stand that was supporting a destroyed stand, no longer has anything to support.After result then:
Supporting units do not purse.
Supporting units do not retreat, instead they may choose to make way, if they do not make way then the retreating stand(s) is/are destroyed.
It is possible to affect combat results by using adjacent infantry stands to support fighting infantry units. This represents the ability of a unit to threaten the enemy’s flanks or to provide solidity through depth. Only infantry can support and be supported in this way.
A stand can only support if it is not touching an enemy and the unit it belongs to is not confused. The stand must be aligned either exactly behind or exactly beside a stand that fought to its front during the combat round. The supporting stand must also be facing in the same direction as the supported stand as shown in the accompanying diagrams. Note that a stand touched by enemy to its front and sides or rear during the combat round can be supported, but a stand touched by enemy only to its sides or rear cannot. A supporting stand can be from the same unit as the fighting stand it supports or from a completely different unit. See Diagram 44.1.
Each friendly supporting stand in position once both sides have fought adds a +1 bonus ‘hit’ to the combat result of the supported side. Stands that fall casualty during the fighting cannot support or be supported.
This can turn defeat into a draw or victory or increase the effect of a victory in an ensuing pursuit. Note that supporting stands only add a bonus ‘hit’ to the combat result. They do not actually inflict hits, though the bonus counts towards the side’s overall score and so affects the defeated side’s retreat distance.
A unit placed directly behind a fighting unit to support it as shown in Diagram 44.2 is not engaged in combat and cannot therefore pursue if the enemy retreats (see Pursuit and Retreats). If the fighting unit in front is forced to retreat, an unengaged supporting unit does not retreat with it but must make way for it or refuse to do so. This is explained under Blocked Retreats and in more detail in the Confusion section of the rules.
The error that has crept in:
I believe there is some confusion in my club over which stands support.
I've seen people including myself count as 'supporting' stands that were supporting at the beginning of combat.
I believe this might be a Warmaster Ancients variation.
I thought I'd read somewhere or learnt that this was now a Warmaster errata/amendment.
I'd appreciate being pointed in the correct direction.
