Whereas you can string a series of movement orders one after the other, you can only have one attack order per execution phase, and if that attack order cannot be fulfilled then it is deleted. Also, once an attack order is given then a little yellow highlight shall appear around the particular attack order button so that the particular attack type is known for latter on. On the hex map, attack orders are displayed as red arrows.
Attacks are ranged as a series from very light commitment to serious, all-out commitment. A unit that provides a light commitment to an attack will only provide a small contribution to the attack, but if there are casualities then these shall be rather mild. On the other hand, a unit that provides a serious commitment to an attack will provide a massive contribution to the attack and if there are casualities then these shall be corresponding larger.
Very Light Attack - this is meant to represent an attack where the unit puts in very little effort, and because of this shall experiance very few casualities, although the odds of success are severely dropped through a lack of commitment.
Light Attack - this is meant to represent an attack where the unit puts in only a little effort, and because of this shall experiance a few casualities, although the odds of success are dropped through a lack of commitment.
Moderate Attack - this is meant to represent an attack where the unit puts in a moderate effort, and because of this shall experiance moderate casualities, although the odds of success are starting to approach half-and-half.
Heavy Attack - this is meant to represent an attack where the unit puts in a substantial effort, and because of this shall experiance substantial casualities, although the odds of success are starting to appear much better. Of all the attacks, this is the one that I recommend for the majority of attacks, although you should experiment and find which battles require which attack type.
Very Heavy Attack - this is meant to represent an attack where the unit puts in one hundred percent effort, and because of this shall experiance huge casualities, although the odds of success are as good as they get.
Something important to notice about attacks and their consequences is that if an attack succeeds the the defending unit reveals more information about itself to its enemy, whereas if the attack fails then the attacking unit reveals more information about itself to its enemy.
Success or failure also has an effect on fatigue. Success tpyically comes with less faitigue than failure, although attacks are generally more tiring than defense.
To make some of the above comments more clear, we shall go through some examples of giving attack orders:
The first step in giving an unit an attack order requires one clicking on the unit in the hex map to make it the active unit. An active unit is shown on the hex map by the green highlight as is pictured to the left.
Some units can't recieve attack orders (like artillery), but if an unit can recieve an attack order then some or all of the attack order buttons will appear in a selectable state in the toolbar. I want to give the fourth most powerful attack as an order so I move the cursor over that attack order button.
Clicking will result in the fourth attack button dropping to a down state and thus showning that it has been selected.
We then move the cursor down to the hex map and over the unit that we wish to attack.
Pressing down the Cmd key will result in the cursor changing to a broad, white arrow.
If I then Cmd click while the mouse located over the unit that I wish to attack, then a red arrow will appear on the hex map, showing that I have given an attack order and in what direction that order lies.
Immediately after the attack order is given, there is a change in the toolbar as shown in the picture to the left. Notice how a yellow highlight has appeared around the attack order button that I wanted as the attack order. Latter on if I were to work on the other order types, or look at other units before coming back to this one, then this yellow highlight gives me a means to see which attack order that I've given, as on the map all attack orders are shown as red arrows and something needs to change in order that one can tell the difference between attack orders types.
After having given an order I might want to change my mind latter about the attack type. All that I need to is to move the cursor over the relevant attack order button - in the image to the left, I have chosen the most powerful attack availalbe.
Clicking on this button will cause the previous button to pop out and the new choice to pop into the down position. Notice that there is still a yellow highlight around the previous attack order selection - I've not yet deleted the previous order, I have merely indicated to the game that I'm thinking about changing the order, and if I were to stop at this point then the previous attack order will be acted on come the execution phase.
My intent is to not just change the attack type but its direction as well, so I move the cursor down to the hex map and over the unit that I now want to attack.
Pressing the Cmd key will cause the cursor to change from the familar arrow to the broad attack cursor.
Clicking with the mouse will result in several things happening at once. The first is that the previous attack order is finally deleted. And the second is a new attack order for that unit is created.
A third change is that the yellow highlight in the toolbar has now switched to the new attack that I've requested.
Instead of changing the order you sometimes want to undo the order altogether. To do this you must first make certain that one of the attack buttons is selected (in the down position), then secondly you must press the delete key to delete the attack order. Notice that once an order is deleted that the red attack arrow will disappear from the hex map, and the yellow highlight will disappear from around the attack button in the toolbar.
If you are combining movement and attack orders you will quickly notice that the attack arrows are drawn over the movement arrows, and because the two arrows are the same size, shape and are drawn in the same place then it can be rather difficult to tell if you have given a movement order or not. One little trick is that if you are unsure, then select a local movement order button like walking or running and hold down the Cmd key as you move the cursor about the map: if the possible choices are centered about the active unit then you haven't given a movement order that is hidden by an attack order, but if the movement cursors are centered about the hex that you are planning to attack then you have given your attacking unit a movement order that is covered over by the attack order. An ugly little trick, but better than nothing.