Rules Part 2:
Each Turn has four phases: Diplomatic, Order Writing, Order Resolution, Retreat/Disbanding. In addition, each Fall turn has a fifth phase: Gaining/Losing Units.
The Diplomatic Phase:
The first phase in any turn is the diplomatic phase. This is the phase where players comminicate each other for wahtever reason. A player can try to establish a treaty with another player or players, make threats, coordinate action, collect intelligence, etc. While talking may seem unimportant, this is in reality the crucial phase of each turn. You will notice that each power has about as many units as they have fronts, if you count each bordering power a front. One unit per front will not get you anywhere, and so some degree of cooperation is necessary to make any progress in the game.
The diplomatic phase is the phase that takes the longest. For this online game, we'll establish a time for the diplomatic phase. (At present I'm thinking a week or so tops, but it will be something we establish as a group.) Communication will take place by means of the message board on the site, the forum here at TWG, instant messages here at TWG, private emails (the email addresses are listed on the site,) or through chat. I suppose if you wanted to phone, snailmail, or meet in person you could do that too whenever desired/convenient/practical. But I imagine most communication will be electronic.
There are no rules concerning the diplomatic phase except those regarding time limits that we will set. That means you can say whatever you want and you will not be obligated to live up to what you say. This is essential; players must (and will) be free to write whatever orders they choose, regardless of what was agreed upon in the diplomatic phase.
The Order Writing Phase
Following each diplomatic phase is an order writing phase. This is where each player will write down the orders they want their units to carry out that turn. The key here is clarity. The orders must be written spcifically enough so that it may only be interpreted one way. Ambiguous orders must be ignored. This is why: after all players submit orders and they are resolved and the results are revealed, a player may point to an order and claim "that's not what I meant, I wanted this army to do this." It very well may be the case that the player intended that, but it also may be that the player is unhappy with the result sof the turn and is trying to complain his way out of a bad decision. (Note: not that I think anyone might try cheating this way. I'm just explaining the justification for the rule.) So any orders that are not precisely clear will be ignored, and the armies involved with those orders will not act that turn. For transparency purposes I (the moderator) will post all orders exactly as I receive them so that all may see exactly what each player wrote and how those orders resulted in what happened on the game board.
So how do you write precisely clear orders? There is a guide on the site with instructions. If you follow that guide then you pretty much can't go wrong. Just be sure that what you write is what you want. When specifying locations, feel free to write out the entire name of the province or sea zone. If you choose to use abbreviations, make sure they are specific enough to only refer to one location on the board. One of the reference maps (I believe it's map B) is good for giving those abbreviations. It says in the top left corner to use the first three letters of any location, or if an abbreviation is given to use the given abbreviation instead. For places like Norway, North Sea, etc. "Nor" is not specific enough. Hence the map gives specific abbreviations (I believe Norway = "Nwy" North Sea = "Nth".) The abbreviations on that map are the standard and if you use them the moderator will know exactly what you are referring to.
We will decide on a set time for writing orders also. Orders should be submitted by the deadline. This is where slowdowns could happen. A player can go for a turn without conducting any diplomacy, but if they don't submit orders that's a problem. I will try not to be heavy-handed with enforcing the order submission deadline. I'll try and give leeway, and of course if there are extenuating circumstances we'll try and work around them. But I don't ever want the game to slow down to the point that people lose interest, and if a player just can't manage to get orders in then we'll assume their armies do nothing.