Political Status Adjustment Problem

[sgtpepper]

On the Political Standings window, a PS value of 34 is worth 11 VPs and -2 PSA.
I'm finding that the game applies a PSA of -3 for PS 34.

As GBR, I ended the June 1805 land combat phase on PS 34. In the economic phase, when I looked in the message log, I saw there had been no adjustments to my PS during intervening AI moves. For the victory points step, the game had applied to me a PSA adjustment of -3, as well as my economic manipulation adjustment of +1. This PSA adjustment should have been -2.

I looked in the Political Standings window, and saw my new PS was 32 (being 34 - 3 + 1). It should have been 33 (being 34 - 2 + 1).

I've attached a save file. If you click end phase, the problem will be duplicated if the AI do not change GBR PS during their moves.

[Jimmer]

You are applying them backwards. Manipulation comes first, then adjustment. So, if manipulation moves you to a higher adjustment value, you will drop to the same position (the delta is always 0 or 1).
 
I cannot recall the PSD well enough to know whether position 35 is -2 or -3, but my guess is that it is -3, since it's in the top half. If so, 32 is the correct end point.
 
Note that there are many points on the PSD where this effect happens. The most-used one is 29: The top 8 VP position. If one is manipulating for +1 from the 29 position, one would have been better off not manipulating. However, manipulation is set the quarter before, so it's always a gamble: Will I be in a no-op zone at the end of the quarter?

[sgtpepper]

The 35 position is -3, so if the two adjustments are sequential in the order that you say, then there isn't a problem after all.
The rulebook does not specify the sequence. How did you know the sequence?

[Jimmer]

To tell you the truth, I was going from memory (memory of the boardgame version).
 
However, the same logic applies: The rules go in the order they are stated in the manual, unless specified otherwise. So, naval comes before land, for example. This was explicitly stated in the old rules, but I'm not sure it is in these rules (because some things happen simultaneously).
 
Manipulation goes in 12.4, and PSD adjustement in 12.6.