GAME MANUAL - Steam

HEARTS OF IRON DARKEST HOURSpecial OrdersSUPPORT ATTACKThere will be occasions whereyou’d like a field command toparticipate in an attack againsta province but not move tothat province if you arevictorious. This can be doneby issuing a support attackorder. Select the fieldcommand that you would liketo have support the attack andright-click on the province thatis being attacked. The OrdersInterface will appear and youwill see the default “attack”pre-selected. Change this toselect the “support attack”option instead. The divisionswill then participate normally inthe battle, and if you arevictorious, they will not beginmoving to occupy theprovince. You may also issuethis order by clicking theorders box for the fieldcommand and selecting the“support attack” option fromthe drop-down list. You willbe given a list of possibleprovinces against which youmay support the attack, andyou then need only select theappropriate one from the list.SUPPORT DEFENCEJust as you may support anattack, you may also support adefence, although the effect issomewhat different.To issue this order, you mustbe adjacent to the provincethat is being attacked or thatyou think might be attacked.Select the field command,click its orders box, select the“support defence” option, andselect the province you wish tosupport from the drop-downlist of possible orders. TheOrders Interface will bedisplayed, allowing you tospecify how long you wouldlike the support defenceorders to remain in effect. Ifthe province you intend tosupport is already underattack, you may simply clickthe OK button. If you aresetting this order as a contingencyagainst a suspectedattack, you will need to specifyhow long you would like thefield command to continuewaiting for the attack to occur.When you click OK, the fieldcommand will not begin itssupport until the province it issupporting is attacked by anenemy. If this doesn’t happenby the time the order expires,you will receive a message toinform you that your order hasbeen completed.You may also issue this orderby holding down the Ctrl keyand right-clicking on theprovince you wish to support.This will immediately displaythe Orders interface, but youwill need to change the orderfrom the default attack order tothe support defence order andthen set the mission parametersexactly as before. I findthis a more convenientmethod to issue the order.The effect of the supportdefence order is that thefield command will wait untilthe province it is supportinghas been attacked, at whichtime it will immediately andautomatically march to theaid of the defenders.Because it was anticipatingthe attack, it will be able toreach the battle in half thenormal time it would take forit to move into that province.This may be a particularlyeffective means of withholdinga portion of your forces backfrom the front lines, thusenticing your enemy to attackwhat he perceives as aweakness. Once he hascommitted his forces, you willthen have your supportingdivisions arrive and hopefullyturn the tide of the battle.RESERVESThis order is very similar to thesupport defence order, exceptthat you will exchange thespeed of response for anadded degree of versatility.The reserves order does notrequire a province to bespecified. You simply select itfrom the orders menu or hold122