You are the Commander: The Guide to Combat Orders

Day 2,166, 11:40 Published in USA USA by Haselrig


➜ You have a battle needing to be won, and it's your job to get it done. What do you do?

It would be really nice if you had a tool to get more soldiers to fight alongside you. Even better if you could get soldiers to use their fights efficiently towards winning each mini-battle. Plus if you could send some money the way of your best soldiers so they can have more fights in this important battle that would be perfect.

Enter Combat Orders, the new best friend to soldiers and Commanders alike..




Direct your soldiers in real-time to where they should fight and when they should fire. It’s the closest thing in eRep to barking out orders.

The revolution in eRep warfare is happening as we speak. Here’s how both soldiers and Commanders can get in ahead of the pack.





✪Getting Soldiers to the Battlefield✪



If you want to win this battle, you need people to fight for your side. So let’s mark your important battle with a big red important-looking bullet.




As a Commander, it’s time to use your special Commander screen on your MU’s page to start issuing orders. Let’s get that red bullet.

First things first, need to select your important battle from the Campaign list, and select your side of the battle.


Combat Orders have a huge advantage over normal Daily Orders here. As a Commander you can select any battle in the world for Combat Orders, only a select few MUs can do that with Daily Orders. You can also issue Combat Orders for either side of any battle, allowing you to set Orders to implement whatever grand war strategy you have drawn up.

You also need to select one Division for each Combat Order.

So if you are setting Combat Orders for fighters of all levels, you will set 4 Orders for each battle. The extra hassle of managing 4 Orders instead of one is worth it. You will be customizing and controlling Orders for each Division throughout the battle. The perfect opportunity for you to show off your superior eRep knowledge and your brilliant strategic mind.





✪Directing Fighters When to Fire✪



A good Commander like you knows that a well-aimed shot is much more valuable than firing aimlessly in the direction of the enemy.

Soldiers don’t always know that, and in the heat of battle you can’t always pull soldiers aside and teach them that bit of wisdom. But you can make that a part of your Combat Orders, your way of shouting “Hold your fire!” at the crucial moment.

Choose the domination level where you want your soldiers to stop fighting. Your way of posting a message right on the battlefield page for soldiers to fight when the domination level is below the level you set, and to hold their fights for later when the domination level is above your cutoff.





✪Targeting the Soldiers You Want to Fight✪



Different soldiers on the battlefield often need different orders to win a battle. Certain groups of soldiers are also more useful in turning an important battle. Your Combat Orders can be set as broadly or as specifically as your battle strategy demands.

You previously selected which Division your order applies to. Orders need to specify one Division.

Combat Orders can be issued to soldiers from every country in the world, or can be targeted just to soldiers of one country.

Targeting is done by citizenship and not by location, so soldiers are not overlooked for being citizens of a country with no regions or for being located behind enemy lines.

Citizens of every country probably won’t fight for you. Targeting soldiers from friendly countries can make Orders more effective.

Combat Orders can be targeted just to members of one Military Unit, or can be made for members of any MU and soldiers who are not members of any MU.

Issue orders specifically for the MU that will help you the most in winning your battle.

One word of caution. As a Commander you only get one Combat Order for each Division in a battle. Make the most of your options to target your Orders so they get to the soldiers you want and avoid the soldiers you don’t.





✪Managing Combat Orders✪



Commander, now you have your Combat Order set to go. But the art of managing Orders is as important as setting them up, and that starts with paying for them.

Combat Orders are paid for from the Military Unit's account. Any member of the MU can contribute to the MU's Combat Order account. But once you contribute the money is locked into the MU's account, the only thing you can spend it on is Combat Orders.

The MU's Combat Order account also belongs to the MU. I'm sure you will be Commander for life, but for MUs that do change COs that account balance will go to the new Commander when the old CO steps down. So if your #2 is sitting on evidence on the hundreds of illegal multi accounts you run then you probably shouldn't put your entire life savings into the MU account.

Each Combat Order lets you set a budget for how much the Order can pay out.

Your Order will never pay out more than you budget it for, so you will never use up the excess funds in your MU account if one Order turns out to be very popular. But you need enough money in your MU account to pay for the full budget. The full amount will be deducted from your MU account when you set the order. If the full budget isn't used by the time you cancel the order the remaining budget will be returned to the MU account.

On the All Combat Orders tab you can view all your Orders.

Each Order has a quick link to the battle your order is set to.

You can pause any Combat Order at any time.

To change the budget for a Combat Order or to change the price you are paying for damage you need to first pause that Order.

Pausing orders is also the easy way to stop drawing in soldiers and paying for their damage. If the battle dictates that you shouldn't pay for damage for a while in that Division it is easiest to pause the Order.

You can also permanently cancel a Combat Order.


If you want to change the citizenship, MU, or domination level settings for an Order you need to cancel it and create a new one.

You also need to cancel an Order once your battle is over. Combat Orders don't roll over to the next battle in a war. Orders also don't cancel automatically when a battle is over. If you want to get the unused portion of an Order's budget back to use it for future Orders you need to cancel the old Order.





✪Putting It All Together: Getting Smart Soldiers to Fight for You✪



Your Combat Orders serve as directions for soldiers on what battle to fight in and when during the battle to use their fights. But the amount of soldiers who will follow your orders depends on how much of an incentive you give them.

Effective use of Combat Orders allows you to not just get the attention of smart soldiers but supply them with money they need for fighting expenses. Really good Orders can even help soldiers do more damage towards winning your battle than they could do on their own.

Prices are quoted in Millions of Damage, but payouts are made fractionally for every point of damage. You will be paying soldiers for every single fight that meets the requirements of your Order. All types of damage (normal fights, bombs, rockets) gets a payout if the soldier applies to follow your Orders on the battlefield screen.

The more you pay, the more soldiers you will get to come fight in your battle and who use their fights when your Order wants them to.

If there are multiple Orders available for a battle, if you aren't paying the most then soldiers aren't going to follow your Orders.

Different Divisions demand different prices. Division 4 fighters do a lot more damage than Division 1 fighters, but the cost to each soldier for fighting isn't that different. If you are paying the same rates for every Division you will likely fail to attract enough soldiers in some Divisions while grossly overspending to win other Divisions.

Different types of battles, different times of day, and how many other battles have Combat Orders can also affect how much you need to pay to win your battle. Even in the middle of a battle the price your Orders need to offer can change. Strategically pricing your Orders is a challenge that will take all your expertise as a Commander to get right.





✪The End Result from the Soldier’s View✪



Well done Commander, you've done your part. Now it's up to your soldiers to follow your Orders.

That red bullet should attract plenty of soldiers to your Combat Orders.









If you've targeted your Orders correctly and priced them well, soldiers should apply to follow your Orders.





Then when they fight, if they are fighting when your Order's domination level setting tells them to, they will get their Combat Order pay for each fight.





Which you can track on your Combat Orders list to see how much damage you have paid for with your Orders and how much of your budget you still have left.


It's great when a plan neatly comes together.




That concludes your primer Commander. Now put that information together with your military skill to go win that battle.

✘ Attract more soldiers, and the right kind of soldiers, to fight in your battle.

✘ Get soldiers to use their fights at the right time during battle and hold their fire when they shouldn't fight.

✘ Plus put money in the hands of good soldiers so they can get in more fights for you.

✘ All while adapting to everything unexpected that the battlefield will throw at you.

It's a big responsibility. But that's why you're the Commander. We all believe that you are the person who can get the job done and win this battle.

Awaiting your Orders, Sir!


Co-written with: Mercurius100