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Section 7.16 of the game manual says that any port which has an enemy naval unit adjacent to it can not provide supply to friendly units within its supply range. But what does this rule mean in practice?

Ports always occupy two hexes: the coastal hex which has the port itself, plus an adjacent town or city. Both hexes have separate resource values. Two or more enemy naval units adjacent to a port hex reduce the resource value of the port hex by one factor per turn, as per section 7.15, but they have no effect on the resource value of the town or city. Does the rule in section 7.16 mean that supply from a port town to all land units sitting on it or adjacent to it is completely interdicted, i.e. reduced to zero, as long as an enemy naval unit is adjacent to the port hex? That seems extreme. Or does this rule in practice only apply to units that are receiving supply over coastal or ocean hexes through the port hex itself? Grateful for a clarification.

Part of my confusion arises from that fact that ports occupy two hexes. Whenever the manuals are updated, it would be good to have a section explaining exactly how ports work, as it is something that has confused me since I started playing Strategic Command.

So the port itself only occupies one hex. If there is an adjacent town/city then that is a separate resource. There doesn't have to be (e.g. Civitavecchia near to Rome has the port 1 clear hex away from Rome itself).

Since an adjacent town/city is a separate resource, it also generates supply at 10, 8, 5 or 3 depending on how well linked it is to a primary or secondary supply point.

If you want to destroy supply then you need to reduce supply values for both the port AND the town/city - e.g. strat bombers or shore bombardment as well as maintining a naval unit to blockade.

Hi

The port is only the hex containing the port, any resource adjacent to it must be treated as a separate entity.

So the rule only applies to supply that would have been received from that port.

Ok, that resolves my confusion. The example of Civitavecchia is very helpful in making the application of the rule clear.