Run solsearef.exe. Choose a scenario and click the left button. A window will open and you can start entering the locations of your task forces, air searches, and submarines. After entering your locations, you click on "next player" and the other player will get their chance. The program will hide the window until the other player clicks on the OK button that appears.
Note: this is just to avoid accidental viewing of the opponent's searches, it's not a security scheme. There are no passwords, the program works on the honour system. If you can't trust your opponent to not look at you searches, you also can't trust them to enter their task force locations correctly. Find someone else to play with.
The referee program (ref for short) will perform an air or surface search wherever specified by the player. In addition, the ref will perform an automatic ship search in any of the player's base hexes or in any hex where the player has a task force or sub. It will also execute automatic coastwatcher searches.
Simply click into the part of the window where you wish to enter Task Force or search locations and type (see "TYPING LOCATIONS" below).
"Check+Store"
This button checks for typos in hex coordinates, whether any of your task forces is placed on dry land, and similar errors. You have to click it before you can search.
"Last Report"
Opens a window displaying the last turn's reports for the side currently being displayed.
"Print Hist"
Writes all of the searches (for all turns of the current game so far) of the side currently being displayed and the results gained into a text file. The files name is the name of the side, the word 'history', and the current date. E.g., 'USNhistory050418.txt'.
"Next Side"
Switches to the display of the other side's search data. Repeated Switching is possible.
"Search"
Executes all searches and opens a window with the search results for the first player. Once that player has closed the results window, the second player's results window will appear. Afterwards, both players can normally enter their searches and TF locations for the next turn. Clicking on this button before both players have checked+stored their locations will return an error message.
Whenever the "next side" or "search" button is clicked on, a warning dialog will show, indicating that a particular player's searches or search results will now become visible in the window. The other player must move aside and let player in question take over. Simply hit the Return key or click on the 'OK' button to remove the warning.
Whenever you switch sides, the window will change colour to be appropriate for the side displayed - blue for the Allies, light red for the Japanese.
The window has three large entry areas, one to enter the locations of your task forces, one for the locations of your air searches, and one for your submarines.
Each Task Force entry must sit in a line by itself; type Enter to start on the next Task Force.
Each line has the form <Hex>, <Spec>, where <Hex> is simply a hex coordinate, e.g., A5, T4, L12.
Important: Always write the hex letter and number together, i.e.,
A5 C7 instead of A 5 C 7<Spec> is a specification of the contents of the TF. This can be written in two ways. Either in terms of
Players should agree before play which version to use.
If the ref rolls a '1', a more detailed report is provided if the first form was used. Therefore that form should be used when playing with the advanced rules, and the short form when playing without them.
Simply enter as many hexes as appropriate. You can put hexes in separate lines or multiple hexes in one line separated by spaces.
A7 S B11 C T9 T
B7 T10 B11 T9
A7 3 BB 2 CA 4 DD B11 C L T9 T
B7 T10
B11 T9