Normally, combat in Planets is resolved by having pairs of two units fight each other. The winner will then fight its next opponent. Thus, it is very important to order your ships in a sensible way to achieve a battle outcome that pleases you. For example, if you have a capital ship escorting a freighter, you would want the capital ship fight first. This way, an attacker will face the escort ship first, before being allowed to attack the freighter.
Battle order is defined by using numeric friendly codes. See Order of Battle for PHost's battle order rules.
