First thing I do.

[Cipher]

It's wrong if there isn't any text or shows #REF -these are the only 2 error conditions I've seen. It is a single line of text with padding so the program reads the fields in properly.

[The Gray Mouser]

I was pleased to see that my method is not too different from Cipher's. I just put the food and gold consumed on the two right most columns of the main sheet, with a @sum function a row past my max orders, and my calculated available food and gold below that. Orders like 200 or 209 or selling fleets are negative numbers, of course, freeing up more resources.

I have the Powerpoint map updated as indicated with the kingdom colors, US, etc and open. I have the Excel order entry file open as I mention above. I have the PDF for usually my current results, the previous results, sometimes Turn 0 (so I can look at what players are what positions), and sometimes even the dossier, The Commands and the General Rules, so maybe 6 PDF files open. And I find myself making notes on a piece of paper as to what to remember to do or not to do that's key for the turn or where certain characters are.

The main thing I would add is I also try to review all recent correspondence on the game, which I have in separate folders, one for each game, so Game 100 is a folder in my Outlook, to which I move emails concerning Game 100. Some players may not have any trouble remembering all the promises and agreements without that, but I find it helpful and so far I don't think I've intentionally or accidentally reneged on anything. Plus reviewing that helps me remember what is going on outside of my sphere of influence, and I try to piece together those fragments to try to get a bigger picture than I get from my own results.

I start with the political orders, especially early in the game. That's where a lot of the gold goes, and are generally the most important, so what else I can do comes after those are down in stone. The rest depends on what else is going on, but if possible - influence high enough - I would like to not have a wizard not doing something useful, like a Raven Familiar or Create Gold. I'd rather use a Raven than an Agent for Recon as the Ravens don't tell who they're working for and they are happy with just some corn instead of gold. (BTW, another stolen idea by George Martin from Alamaze. I'm surprised he's not playing. But then I don't think Stephen Colbert is currently, either.)

I try to get my preliminary orders done well before the deadline. One can never predict an electricity brown out or internet interruption, and since Cipher says early orders not a problem and may be helpful to get them loaded prior to deadline, that seems like a good idea. If I have allies, I try to email them prior to submission in case they have decided something, ah, baffling isn't the word, but something afar from what I expected. You know, some Charge of the Light Brigade kind of revelation they have had. I might try to coax them off the ledge.

Then, time to submit final orders, check the ingest tab for "REF" (not good), delete my food and gold entries (not the columns themselves, that results in dreaded "REF"), make sure my turn is updated, save, email to activegames@alamaze.co (not .com) making sure not to forget the attachment. One thing I could probably do better is double checking my orders prior to the next turn being processed, instead of recognizing my mistake(s) when the results arrive. But that would eliminate part of the drama, right?

[Lord Diamond]

I have a similar Excel worksheet. I create a new tab for each turn though.

[pedinski]

By no means am I the best player in the game, but I have learned a trick or two that have served me well. Most are just an expansion on a common theme:
1. Your first standing order should be to increase you capital. What I mean is that standing order 1 should be a 600 order increasing your Gold/Food or defense. If you do this turn 1 for both (-8k gold/-6k food) by turn 8/6 you will recoup the initial cost and everything else will be profit. I also used this as my "recruiting" town. This means that I "recruit" at cost.
2. Use all of your orders. If I find that I have an order kicking around and a group doing nothing, then "rest" them. You could always use the moral boost.
3. An envoy is a cheap recon unit. 350 an envoy to a space, if there is a PC then he will relocate there and you will know there is one. Even if there is a group there, you will still know that there is a PC, cheap and easy.
4. "Churning" your Navy is a good way to get free gold every turn if your strapped. 1st turn, scrap your Navy in a sea. (More is better) and "repurchase" 1 navy with an increased level. (16 is the goal) After this you will need 2 standing orders. 1: scrap the fleet (8x1000x1=8k) 2: re-buy the fleet at the same level, 6k. So every turn you get $2k. A free "village" income. Again, this is only if you have the orders.
5. Need an impregnable fortress? Have a town in the water. (use #1 to boost it) Keep a spare 1 brigade group there to block emissaries and then patrol the waters for enemies. Most people scrap there sea power early for gold. Keep the Navy in whatever sea you have your town and you have cheap defense.
6. Hidden ore is better than create gold. A level 4 that casts hidden ore is like casting create gold (2.5k) every turn as long as you keep the PC. You are also free to continue to use the Level 4 the following turns while the PC is still churning out gold. Remember, this is an economic game.
7. Magic kingdoms, after combat, when attrition is starting to climb, sacrifice your summoned creatures to bring down attrition and not recruits. Recruits are worth more when trained to vets and summoned creatures (Monsters and Skeletons) will always only be slightly better than recruits.
8. Don't stack your groups. If you have an empty group, put a brigade in it and park it at another PC. Blocking enemy emissaries should be a top priority. It also causes dis-information. (I have spent the last 22 years in military intelligence.) 2-4 groups at different towns gives merit to those towns, even if it may not deserve it: i.e. enemies that are blocked by a group might think that that is the capital, when it may not be.

Anyway, these are only a few. If anyone is interested in other tips, let me know and I will post a few more. Just don't want to bore anyone. (I may be too late) Hope these are able help some of you, just not against me.

Pete

Impressive stuff. We can all take something away from that. I would love other players to post on, for example, how do you get organized to submit your commands? Do you have a routine? How many windows do you have open? Do you print anything or write any notes?

I have 2 windows open. the orders form and my own economic turn .xls spreadsheet. The spreadsheet goes order by order and calculates what I am spending. I can't tell you how many time in game 101 I ended up running out of money by the time the 800-900 series orders rolled around.
To fight orders errors I complete order on 1 day, wait 12-24 hours and then check the orders against my turn again. I find that if you do an entire turn in 1 session I am more likely to make careless mistakes.
I will gather additional tips and post them later this week.