The following set of steps will teach you all you need to know to start you on your way to becoming a great American Civil War General playing Line of Muskets.

The steps show the Confederate brigades in the Battle of the Crossroads (the tutorial scenario). However, the steps described below work as equally well with the Union forces. Play the tutorial, following the steps below. By the end of this exercise you will be completely able to fight the most complex battles with Line of Muskets.

Once you feel you have intimate knowledge about how this works, it is recommended that you read the Line of Muskets rules.

1. The battle has started. Select a brigade by double clicking on it.
2. Move the cursor to the orders menu for the brigade.
3. Click on the orders menu.
4. Scroll down to "move" and select "move" by clicking on it. The battlefield will be highlighted with the area that the brigade can move to.
5. Click on the purple/blue hex and drag it to where you want the brigade to move to.
6. Then select the next brigade and repeat the above steps.
7. Now double click on your Commander.
8. Select move for him, exactly as you did for the brigades
9. Move the purple/blue hex to where you want him to move to, exactly as you did for the brigades.
10. Now you have completed you moves. Go to the Orders menu and click.
11. Now scroll down and select Send Orders.
12. Now you will see the turn execute (after your opponent has also sent their orders in). This means your brigades and commanders will now attempt to move to where you ordered them to move to.
13. The turn number advances by 1, and the Victory Points for this turn are updated.
14. This turn you will want to change the formation of your brigades from March Column into Battle Line, a better formation for fighting than March Column. Select a brigade and click on the orders menu.
15. Scroll down to Turn and select
16. To the right a new pull down menu opens up. Click on that and select the arrow direction you want the column to face.
17. To the right another pull down menu opens up. Click on that and select Change Formation.
18. To the right yet another pull down menu opens up. Click on that and select Battle Line.
19. If you have another brigade, do exactly the same for this brigade, to have it form Battle Line.
20. Now send in your orders by, once again, clicking on Orders, and then select Send Orders.
21. You will see Turn 2 execute.
22. This turn you will have a cavalry brigade move onto the board as a reinforcement. Give it move orders in exactly the same way that you ordered your brigades.
23. You also have an artillery battery move on as a reinforcement.
24. Click on the artillery battery and move it exactly as you would a brigade. Move it to a good firing positin, such as the top of a hill, or a woods.
25. When you have put in all your orders for Turn 3, send your orders in and the 3rd turn will execute. You will see the results of the turn on your screen.
26. Now turn 3 starts. And it is time to give orders to your artillery to fire.
27. Click on the artillery battery and click on the orders menu for the artillery battery. Click on "unlimber" as the battery has to be "unhitched" from the horses before it can fire.
28. To the right a new pull down menu opens up. Click on that and select the arrow direction you want the artillery battery to face.
29. To the right another pull down menu opens up. Click on that and select the fire order. Now a red hex appears on the screen. Drag that to the enemy brigade you want to fire at.
30. Once you have given an order to all of your brigades, batteries and commanders, send your orders in. The turn will be processed.
31. Continue repeating the above steps for several turns. You will see the turn number progress with each turn that is executed
32. With each turn the battle will get harder and tenser, as the casualties grow on each side. The turn number will increase each turn, and the Victory Points will change to reflect the changing fortunes of each side.
33. At any time you can check the scenarios objectives by going to the Objectives menu and clicking on it, and selecting the appropriate objective hex. It will appear, showing which side currently occupies the objective, if any.
34. Eventually, the game will end and the winner will be declared depending on which side has the most Victory Points.
35. This will also be shown by the menu at the top of the screen.
36. Now the battle is over, and the winner has been declared. Have another battle by going back to Clubs or the Line of Muskets Home page.