Using Point and Click
The primary method for entering orders is point and click. This is how it works.
- 1. Click on a space in which you have one of your units.
2. Select the appropriate order from the drop down list.
3. Click on the appropriate target space.
So, how is this adapted for different orders?
Move
The basic principle is move from SPACE to SPACE.
- 1. Click on the or origin space.
2. Select MOVE.
3. Click on the target space.
Hold
There are two ways which produce the same result.
- 1. Click on the origin space.
2. Select HOLD.
- 1. Click on the origin space.
2. Click on MOVE.
3. Click on the origin space again.
Support
- 1. Click on the space hosting the unit that is being issued with the support order.
2. Click on SUPPORT.
3. Click on the space hosting the unit receiving support.
4. Click on the appropriate order:
(a) If supporting to move, click on MOVE then on the target space.
(b) If supporting to hold, click on HOLD then on the target space (the space the unit is in).
Convoy
- 1. Click on the space hosting the unit being issued with the convoy order.
2. Click on CONVOY.
3. Click on the space hosting the army to be convoyed.
4. Click on the target space to which the convoyed army is moving.
If using point and click, the important thing is to remember to click on the space not necessarily the unit. Occasionally the unit may be partially outside the space. So click on the space!
However, there's another way to enter orders. Below a game map is the option to use "menu based order entry." If you click on this button, you can "write" your orders by using a drop down menu for each unit.
Another top tip is to activate unit and territory information. This helps if you're colourblind or if you're otherwise struggling to differentiate between colours on the map. To activate this...
- 1, Go to the MY ACCOUNT section of the site. It's right at the top of the screen on the Home page, next to your name.
2. In the YOUR SETTINGS section, go to the check box next to game DISPLAY OPTIONS.
3. Check the box and you'll be able to hover the cursor over a space on the map and it will give you:
- The name of the territory
- The power that owns the territory
- The power that owns any unit in the territory.
What else do you need to know?
Well, if the space has 2 coasts, the orders relating to the units involved in action in the space MUST MATCH EXACTLY. So, if Austria is ordering their fleet in the Barents Sea to St Petersburg, they must specify the coast. If Turkey has an army in Finland and wants to support this attack on St P, they must order support to the same coast. On Playdip, all orders must match exactly.
An army in a coastal space moving to a neighbouring coastal space may require you to pick whether you want the army to move there "by land" or "by convoy". This assumes that a convoy is theoretically possible. If you want the army to move by land, select that option. This prevents "Kidnapping": the unwanted convoying or an army in this situation. Warning: if you click "by convoy", and a convoy isn't ordered, you're stuffed.
Playdip allows you to enter illegal orders. If you're daft enough to order your fleet in Ankara to Vienna, Playdip will let you order it.
While we're on illegal orders, a unit ordered to do something impossible will have that order converted to a HOLD order. It can, indeed, be supported to hold in this situation.
It's worthwhile reinforcing that supporting a unit is always supporting FROM ... TO. The same with a conovy: convoy FROM ... TO.
There was something else I was going to mention but it's gone out of my head. It's Friday, the end of the week, and that's my excuse *hic*
