Michael Gorman on 11 Dec 2002 17:19:01 -0000


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Re: [eia] evasion attempt off Naples


At 11:39 AM 12/11/2002 -0500, you wrote:
As regards interceptions, I would assume that a stack ending its movement in
the same area as an enemy stack, declaring an attack upon the enemy stack,
could be intercepted in an _adjacent_ area by that enemy stack, but not in the
same area where the attack is being declared.

In other words, a would-be attacker could be ambushed on the way to the naval
battlefield, but once the sea area where the battle will take place is reached,
an interception is no longer possible since a battle will already take place.

I am not trying to say that once an attack is declared, the defending stack
cannot intercept other stacks moving nearby, since the rules seem to allow that
for some reason.

Would everyone agree with this interpretation ?

-JJY
No.

6.2.3.1 INTERCEPTION PROCEDURE: When a phasing stack enters a sea area occupied by or adjacent to one or more enemy stacks, those enemy stacks may attempt to intercept the moving stack. An "enemy stack" is any stack containing fleets at war with any fleet or fleets in the phasing stack and/or at war with any corps that the phasing stack may be transporting.

        This is before the regular naval combat phase.  The interception is declared upon entering the adjacent or the same space and the interceptor does not know if the stack will opt to continue movement or stop.  I suppose if they're on their last movement point you know they will stop, but otherwise there is no compulsion to declare this is the end of your movement until after the interception attempt.  If you win the interception battle, you might decide you want to keep moving even if you had not intended to before the combat.
        The regular naval combat doesn't occur until after all the movement steps so that's why an intercepting fleet might move away.  During the movement phase, the regular naval combat has not yet begun.  If a target fleet intercepts and moves away, then it means they slipped away before the regular naval combat could be declared.
        I would say that since 6.2.2 says that all the fleets of a major power, or of major powers under combined movement, are considered one stack when in the same area, that an interception of an arriving fleet would also allow already present fleets to fight so long as they meet the who may fight rules in 6.3.1.  Those rules saying that you have to be at war with the attacking stack in order to fight it with one exception that won't matter in this turn.

Mike