Despite having a rather formal structure to writing orders, there are a number of shortcuts and abbreviations that have come about over the years. Below, I'll list some of the more common variations on order writing. At the end of the day, the important thing is that the orders are human readable, so bear that in mind when writing them. Remember: you can never have more than one unit in a tile at a time!
| Order abbreviations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard form | Abbreviations | Examples | |
| Hold |
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| Move (Attack) |
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| Support |
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| Convoy |
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| Note: Because only one unit may be in any given tile at a time, it is always acceptable to simply reference a unit by geographical location (you don't need which type). | |||
| Location abbreviations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Province | Province Type | Abbreviation |
| Adriatic Sea | Water | adr adriatic |
| Aegean Sea | Water | aeg aegean |
| Albania | Land | alb |
| Ankara | Home supply center (Turkey) | ank |
| Apulia | Land | apu |
| Armenia | Land | arm |
| Baltic Sea | Water | bal baltic |
| Barents Sea | Water | bar barents |
| Belgium | Supply center | bel |
| Berlin | Home supply center (Germany) | ber |
| Black Sea | Water | bla black |
| Bohemia | Land | boh |
| Brest | Home supply center (France) | bre |
| Budapest | Home supply center (Austria-Hungary) | bud |
| Bulgaria | Supply center | bul |
| Burgundy | Land | bur |
| Clyde | Land | cly |
| Constantinople | Home supply center (Turkey) | con |
| Denmark | Supply center | den |
| Eastern Mediterranean | Water | eas emed east eastern eastmed ems eme |
| Edinburgh | Home supply center (England) | edi |
| English Channel | Water | eng english channel ech |
| Finland | Land | fin |
| Galicia | Land | gal |
| Gascony | Land | gas |
| Greece | Supply center | gre |
| Gulf of Lyon | Water | lyo gol gulfofl lyon |
| Gulf of Bothnia | Water | bot gob both gulfofb bothnia |
| Helgoland Bight | Water | hel helgoland |
| Holland | Supply center | hol |
| Ionian Sea | Water | ion ionian |
| Ireland (impassable) | Land | ire |
| Irish Sea | Water | iri irish |
| Kiel | Home supply center (Germany) | kie |
| Liverpool | Home supply center (England) | lvp livp lpl |
| Livonia | Land | lvn livo lvo lva |
| London | Home supply center (England) | lon |
| Marseilles | Home supply center (France) | mar mars |
| Mid-Atlantic Ocean | Water | mao midatlanticocean midatlantic mid mat |
| Moscow | Home supply center (Russia) | mos |
| Munich | Home supply center (Germany) | mun |
| Naples | Home supply center (Italy) | nap napoli |
| North Atlantic Ocean | Water | nao nat |
| North Africa | Land | naf nora |
| North Sea | Water | nth norsea nts |
| Norway | Supply center | nor nwy norw |
| Norwegian Sea | Water | nwg norwsea nrg norwegian |
| Paris | Home supply center (France) | par |
| Picardy | Land | pic |
| Piedmont | Land | pie piemonte |
| Portugal | Supply center | por |
| Prussia | Land | pru |
| Rome | Home supply center (Italy) | rom roma |
| Ruhr | Land | ruh |
| Rumania | Supply center | rum |
| Serbia | Supply center | ser |
| Sevastopol | Home supply center (Russia) | sev sevastapol |
| Silesia | Land | sil |
| Skagerrak | Water | ska |
| Smyrna | Home supply center (Turkey) | smy |
| Spain | Supply center | spa |
| St Petersburg | Home supply center (Russia) | stp |
| Sweden | Supply center | swe |
| Switzerland (impassable) | Land | swi switz |
| Syria | Land | syr |
| Trieste | Home supply center (Austria-Hungary) | tri |
| Tunis | Supply center | tun tunisia |
| Tuscany | Land | tus |
| Tyrolia | Land | tyr tyl trl |
| Tyrrhenian Sea | Water | tys tyrr tyrrhenian tyn tyh |
| Ukraine | Land | ukr |
| Venice | Home supply center (Italy) | ven venizia |
| Vienna | Home supply center (Austria-Hungary) | vie |
| Wales | Land | wal |
| Warsaw | Home supply center (Russia) | war |
| Western Mediterranean | Water | wes wmed west western westmed wms wme |
| Yorkshire | Land | yor york yonkers |
| Table originally published here | ||