Understanding Supply in Unconditional Surrender!

The Five Keys to Understanding Supply

There are five key elements to understanding supply:
1. Where does supply come from?
2. Which units need to trace supply?
3. When is a unit’s supply state determined?
4. How is a supply line traced?
5. What are the different supply states and their effects?

In this article, we’ll take each of these elements and examine the rules and their effect on the game.

1. Where does supply come from?

Firstly, it’s important to understand that there are two types of supply source, Unlimited and Limited. Unlimited is
what you want if you wish to keep your units at full combat effectiveness, Limited basically just keeps units from
deteriorating due to a total lack of supply; this will be covered in Section 5 in detail. Unless you actually occupy a
supply source, a unit requiring supply will need to trace a supply line from the unit to the source, which is covered in
Section 3.

What constitutes an Unlimited supply source depends on the nationality of the unit tracing supply (Rule 7.3.2):
 A German unit can use any city in Germany (including cities in the disputed areas of the Polish Corridor or
Alsace-Lorraine if they have been ceded to Germany) as an unlimited supply source. There are no other
unlimited sources for German units.
 A UK unit can use any city in the UK as an unlimited supply source and also the Eastern North America box
and the Western Indian Ocean box. The Western Indian Ocean box is particularly important as a supply
source for units in North Africa.
 A USSR unit can use any city in the USSR (including cities in disputed areas that have been ceded to the
USSR) as an unlimited supply source and also the Central Russia box.
 A US unit can use any city in the UK as an unlimited supply source and also the Eastern North America box.
 All other countries can only use a city in their mainland home country as an unlimited supply source.

Limited supply sources, as mentioned, can only maintain units in a state of Low Supply (see Section 5) and can
provide limited supply to only two units per turn.

Limited supply sources are as follows (Rule 7.3.1):

 A factory in a friendly overseas area (See Rule 16.0 for a list of overseas areas) is a limited supply source for
two units of the country owning the overseas area only. Note that this means, for instance, a German unit
in North Africa can’t use Tripoli as a limited supply source, only Italian units are able to do so.
 A friendly controlled capital in a conquered country is a limited supply source for two units of any country
or countries belonging to the faction controlling that capital. The faction tracing supply doesn’t have to be
the one that conquered the country, it just needs to control the capital of a country that has been
conquered. For example, Germany could conquer Norway and use Oslo as a limited supply source as long as
Oslo is Axis controlled; the Western faction could gain control of Paris after France was conquered by
Germany and then use Paris as a limited supply source for both a UK and US unit.
 A friendly capital in an Axis country other than Germany is a limited supply source for two German units (as
well as being an unlimited supply source for units belonging to that country). Other member countries of the
Axis faction are unable to use friendly foreign capitals as any kind of supply source.
 A friendly capital in a Western country other than the UK is a limited supply source for two UK and/or US
units (as well as being an unlimited supply source for units belonging to that country). Other member
countries of the Western faction are unable to use friendly foreign capitals as any kind of supply source.
 A friendly capital in a Soviet country other than the USSR is a limited supply source for two USSR units (as
well as being an unlimited supply source for units belonging to that country). Other member countries of the
Soviet faction are unable to use friendly foreign capitals as any kind of supply source.

Carl Sizmur Understanding Supply in Unconditional Surrender! Version 1.0

2. Which units need to trace supply?
In basic terms, all units are required to determine their supply state each turn but there are some exceptions. It’s
easier to look at the exceptions and understand that any unit not listed here is required to determine its supply state
each turn:
 Convoy units
 Any unit in a Map Box
 A UK Garrison ground unit in Gibraltar. Note, a garrison only, not field army.
 A Garrison ground unit in a port on an island. Again, just a garrison, not a field army. See Rule 1.3.3 for the
definition of ‘Island’.

Each type of unit listed here is always considered to have traced a supply line to an Unlimited supply source (see
Section 1) and is therefore always in Full Supply (See Section 5).

3. When is a unit’s supply state determined?

It’s important to consider the timing of the supply check and how that impacts other factions’ actions.

Supply is only checked during the Supply Check Sub-Phase. There is never a requirement to check supply at any other
point in the sequence of play as you may find in some other games. As each player’s Supply Check Sub-Phase follows
immediately on from their Actions Sub-Phase, supply effects are applied before both other factions get the
opportunity to perform actions. So if you have a unit that goes to low or no supply, your opponents are going to get
a chance to act on that before they also have to check supply.

4. How is a supply line traced?

This is where it can appear to be a little complicated if there’s a requirement to trace overseas supply, but once the
process is understood it’s not so bad and is actually one of the highlights of the game.

A supply line is made up of ground and possibly sea movement paths, and the possibilities are as follows:
1. A single ground movement path traced from the unit to a supply source. This is the most common type of
supply line.
2. A sea movement path traced from a unit in a port to another port and from there a ground movement path
from the port to a supply source (if the port traced to is not a supply source itself).
3. A ground movement path from a unit to a port followed by a sea movement path traced from the port to
another port and from there a ground movement path from the port to a supply source (if the port traced to
is not a supply source itself).

Land Supply Line

I don’t think it’s necessary to go into much detail on tracing a land supply line using only a ground movement path.
The basic rules are:
 Trace a supply path up to 2 hexes through which a ground unit would be capable of moving, to either a
supply source or a transport line.
 If traced to a transport line, then continue to trace the path any distance along the transport line to a supply
source.
 An enemy controlled city, an enemy fort (occupied or not) an enemy unit or an enemy zone of control will
block either of the above paths and prevent a successful supply trace. Note that the presence of a friendly
city, fort or ground unit negates an enemy zone of control when tracing supply.

One important thing to remember is that forts or units in a fort don’t project a zone of control, which can make a big
difference to getting around the Maginot Line during an Axis invasion of France, for both supply and movement.

Carl Sizmur Understanding Supply in Unconditional Surrender! Version 1.0

Sea Supply Line
A sea supply line is slightly trickier as it actually requires the activation of one or more units: either a warship unit
that’s tracing its own supply; a convoy unit tracing supply for a ground, air or warship unit; or a convoy unit and
warship escort tracing supply for a ground, air or warship unit. A non-phasing warship or air unit within interception
range is able to activate and intercept any of the three types of sea supply trace using the normal interception rules.
This is the only occasion on which units can activate outside of the Actions Sub-Phase.

A Warship unit tracing its own supply from the port it occupies to a friendly port connected to a supply source (or
that is a supply source) activates and traces a naval movement path of unlimited length, though the unit does not
actually move. This can be done even if the warship is marked with 6 sorties and would usually be unable to activate.
This is the usual way of tracing a supply line for a warship unit.
 If the warship unit is not intercepted, the supply check is completed successfully and no sorties are added to
the unit.
 If the warship unit is intercepted an air/naval combat is fought and a number of sorties added to the unit
according to the combat result. If the interception results in a successful interdiction, the supply trace fails.

Note that as a unit is able to make more than one supply check in a Supply Check Sub-Phase (Rule 7.2) a warship can
never be out of supply as long as the owner is willing to let it get to 6 sorties. For example, a warship on 4 sorties
that attempts to trace its own supply line can be intercepted and gain 2 sorties and be interdicted; it’s then on 6
sorties but can try again as many times as the owner desires with no further increase in the number of sorties.
Attempts to intercept a warship unit on 6 sorties that’s tracing its own supply are pointless as nothing can be gained,
but the intercepting units will increase their sortie count according to the combat result. See rules 7.4 and 7.4.3
exception.

For a ground or air unit, or for a warship not tracing its own sea supply path, a convoy unit is required. The unit
tracing supply must either be in the same port as the convoy or be able to trace a ground supply path to the convoy
that will be used. Even a warship unit is able to trace a ground supply path to a convoy in this way. For example, a
warship unit in Alexandria could trace a ground supply line to Suez and then a convoy in Suez could then trace sea
supply to the Western Indian Ocean box. This could be useful if an enemy unit could intercept the warship in Sea Zone
26, for instance.

The convoy unit being used to trace the sea supply path must be activated and trace a naval movement path of
unlimited length to a friendly port connected to a supply source (or that is a supply source), though the unit does not
actually move. A convoy must have at least one sortie available to activate for a supply trace. If there is a warship or
an air unit in the same port as the convoy, it may activate as an escort, using the normal naval escort rules (6.4.2). It
is possible to have both a warship and an air unit escorting a convoy.
 If not intercepted, the convoy (and escort if used) adds one sortie and the supply trace is successful.
 If an escorted convoy is intercepted, first the intercepting unit and one of the escorts selected by the owning
player fight an air/naval battle, adding sorties to both sides according to the combat result. If there is a
second escort and the first is interdicted, this is repeated if the intercepting player wishes to continue.
 Following the successful interdiction of all escorts, the intercepting unit can activate again to fight an
air/naval battle against the convoy and sorties are added to both sides according to the combat result. If the
convoy is interdicted, the supply trace fails.
 If there is no escort, an intercepting unit can activate to fight an air/naval battle against the convoy and
sorties are added to both sides according to the combat result. If the convoy is interdicted, the supply trace
fails.

Any unit may attempt to trace supply multiple times during a Supply Check Sub-Phase, so if one check fails due to
interception and interdiction, it can be attempted again. A convoy is able to activate for a supply trace as long as it
has sorties available, even making multiple attempts for the same unit.

Carl Sizmur Understanding Supply in Unconditional Surrender! Version 1.0

5. What are the different supply states and their effects?
There are three supply states:
 Full Supply – This is the ‘normal’ state for a unit and is not marked with a supply counter.
 Low Supply – There are enough supplies to prevent depletion but the unit’s effectiveness is reduced.
 No Supply – The situation for the unit is serious and it will have to reduce its strength or possibly be
eliminated in the No Supply Phase.

The supply state of a unit is determined in the Supply Check Sub-Phase only (see Section 3) and depends on being
able to trace a supply line (see Section 4) to a supply source (see Section 1). The supply state of a unit is determined
as follows:
 If the unit can trace a supply line to an unlimited supply source then it is in Full Supply regardless of its
currently marked supply state.
 Otherwise, if the unit can trace a supply line to a limited supply source then it is in Low Supply regardless of
its currently marked supply state.
 If the unit is unable or unwilling to trace a supply line to any supply source, then its supply state is reduced:
From Full Supply to Low Supply; or from Low Supply to No Supply. A unit already at No Supply can’t be
reduced any further.

A unit is never required to trace a supply line unless it’s being used to satisfy a Home Defence Policy requirement. A
unit’s supply state can’t be reduced by more than one level per Supply Check Sub-Phase, so can’t go straight from
Fully Supplied to No Supply in one phase. The full effects of each supply state on a unit are:

Full Supply
 There is no effect, the unit can activate with no penalty. This is the normal state of a unit.

Low Supply
 The unit has its available movement points halved (4 for leg, 5 for all other unit types).
 The unit has a -2 DRM applied to its combat rolls, both attacking and defending.
 It cannot be improved in the Replacements Phase.

No Supply
 The unit has its available movement points halved (4 for leg, 5 for all other unit types).
 It has its modified combat roll result halved (rounded up). This applies to a unit attacking/defending alone,
or to an entire assault if a unit with no supply participates.
 It cannot be improved in the Replacements Phase.
 It cannot perform Strategic Movement.
 It cannot satisfy a Home Defence Policy requirement.
 It is reduced in the No Supply Phase.

During the No Supply Phase a unit currently marked with No Supply suffers reduction or possibly elimination:
 A full strength ground unit is flipped to its reduced strength side.
 A reduced strength ground unit is removed and placed in its faction’s Eliminated box. National will is not
reduced if a field ground unit is removed in this way.
 An air or naval unit has all of its sorties removed and is removed and placed in its faction’s Eliminated box.

Voluntary Elimination can also be carried out in the No Supply Phase:

 Any Ground unit marked with No Supply may be removed and placed in its faction’s Eliminated box.
National will is not reduced if a field ground unit is removed in this way.
 Any Air/Naval unit regardless of supply state may have all of its sorties removed and be removed and
placed in its faction’s Eliminated box.

One reason to voluntarily not trace supply is if you have a Low Supply field unit that’s in danger of being eliminated.
If the No Supply Phase will occur before an enemy unit is able to attack it, the unit will then have No Supply and can
then be eliminated voluntarily with no loss of National Will.

Carl Sizmur Understanding Supply in Unconditional Surrender! Version 1.0