I am getting really annoyed with one aspect of the game. A sample is this: I have a large area controlled, and my opponent has 1 territory with 10+ armies. I reinforce 1 territory with enough to beat a reinforced territory, play an order priority card, and attack. Amazingly, they still are able to attack one of my territories first, and it completely ruins my game as they run around the map taking away my bonuses with one small force. I NEVER seem to get a first attack when I need it, even without the card. What gives?

An example would be this game (look at turn 7 in particular) - I should have EASILY won this game. However, one force continued to run around my part of the map, effectively shutting me down.

http://warlight.net/MultiPlayer.aspx?GameID=1753392

Ahuh, you both played an order priority card on turn 7, baby. What's more you won that and did attack first, man.

You set your attack order that you wanted last so a different attack went first.

Use an order priority card you gotta make your important attack first in the queue, baby.

You got the first attack on turn 7 but you put the wrong attack first. You did get very unlucky in the second half of the game with This Guy getting some crucial first moves but overall though, you got first move 8 times in a 16 turn game
It was just a pity about the timing.

yeah, you only get first priority on the first order on your list. The rest act normal. It's not like the Order Delay card where you get to do your entire turn before the other player.

So when you are playing the Order Priority card, be sure to put the 1 order you want played first at the top of your order queue.

On another note, if your opponent plays an Order Priority card on the same turn, it's just a coinflip of who gets to go first

I wish there was a way to know then (is there?) I am still relatively new to the game, and a lot of my ladder losses have come in this unlucky manner.

I believe there was a vote to make the ladder cyclic turn order, in which case it would be knowable who's turn it was to go first, with a little careful examinations... I think the motion failed though

@ "I wish there was a way to know then (is there?) I am still relatively new to the game"
know what precisely? I posted the best response I can reasonably think of..

Yeah, knowing turn order would make the game much more strategic and avoid lucky wins like that one. The luck element of this game prevents it from being one of the best in my books (Imperial [board game, not online], for example, is completely strategy based - attacks are 1:1, moves go in order by country, and the focus is on investments which are controlled solely by the players.)

"I wish there was a way to know then (is there?) I am still relatively new to the game, and a lot of my ladder losses have come in this unlucky manner."

To know what? Who will go first? Its random order for a reason... no one knows who goes first. You just have to make sure you order your moves accordingly to give yourself the best chance.

You are aware that you can set your attacks/reinforcements in any order you desire and then adjust their order from the order panel, clicking on the desired movement and pushing it up or down

"Yeah, knowing turn order would make the game much more strategic and avoid lucky wins like that one. "

To me, eliminating luck would make the game boring. Then it would become a matter of straight mathematics and be completely unrealistic (NOTHING in life is free from the effects of luck).

Also, that wasn't a lucky win by your opponent... he outplayed you thanks largely to your poor territory selection and attack order.

I see what you mean about the negative aspect of making a rotation. Still, I don't quite get how that's poor territory selection, considering I had a +4 bonus by Move 2. I had room for expo, and the reason it did not work out was the randomness of the move selection.

Dick Sharpe getting right to the point (pun intended) lol. Although the territory selection wasn't the greatest, having that first move on turn 7 wouldn't have made too much of a difference. As you would have just knocked his stack down, then he would be in caucasus, then you'd take his remaining stack. He'd still have left over armies in Tomsk in which he would still be messing with you there.

From what I have seen, the first-move randomness helped you as much as it hurt you... as it should given 50% odds.

As for the territory selection, I'll let you learn that on your own.

@xDerivative - yes you had a +4 on turn 2, but with the all your eggs in one basket strategy doesn't pay off that well in the long run. Example A being that FBG was at your home base causing you terror early in the game while his homebase was far away. Expanding from your area would be tough cause you're just playing defense while trying to expand. FBG could expand freely and he was still messing with you. With the right luck, you can end up with more income by turn 4-5 if you're spread out in the right spots