We had to send the manual to the printer before we had multiplayer done so that's why there are no instructions for Multiplayer. So here's some instructions on how to create or join a multiplayer game.
First of all, make sure that your firewall is configured to have UDP ports 6000 and 6112 open and forwarded. If you still get an error telling you to open your ports, you may need to also open and forward ports 6001 and 6113.
For Windows Firewall, one of these articles may be helpful:
http://windowstipoftheday.blogspot.com/2005/01/manually-opening-ports-in-windows.html
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/4da18300-9044-47b6-9038-595c78db81ab1033.mspx
If you have a router, you will need to consult your router's manual or the manufacturer's website for help. If you are running a security program like Norton 360, you should check that manual.
Once you have your ports configured, check Impulse to get the latest version of The Political Machine 2008. If it prompts you to reboot, make sure that you do that before continuing or some of your files will not be updated. Launch The Political Machine 2008 and click the Multiplayer button. The Login screen will come up.
The login screen gives you two options: to login to impulse (default view) or you can click on the LAN button to play a lan game. There is also a button on the impulse login to allow you to create an Impulse account if you don't have one.
On the lobby screen, you can change your username by typing in the field in the upper left hand corner of the screen, but make sure that you hit enter when you're done typing.
Impulse games:
If anyone has created a game, you can click on it and then click Join Game. If you get an error about your data version not matching, the other user may have modified their data files, or either one of you may have had something go wrong while installing/updating. Once you join a game, if you are able to connect to the host player, you will be taken to the Multiplayer setup screen where you can change your candidate or immediately check the ready box.
To host a game, click on the Create Game button. The multiplayer game creation process is the same as the single player except that after choosing your candidate, you are taken to the Multiplayer Setup screen to wait for someone to join your game. You will still be connected to the lobby at this point, so you can still chat with other players.
LAN games:
If you are playing a LAN game, it will list your IP address as the server by default the first time. For future sessions, it will remember the last IP that you used for the LAN server. If you are trying to join a LAN game, type the host address in the server field and hit enter to cause the list to refresh. You should now be able to see the game created on the LAN.
I hope that this helps. We are continuing to work on the multiplayer to try and make it easier to use, so I'll update this thread as we make changes.
Update:
I found a site that has instructions on how to do port forwarding and how to open ports for various programs and routers. The example I'm linking to uses only 6112 UDP, so you'll have to do the same thing for UDP port 6000.
http://portforward.com/english/applications/firewalling/Dawn_of_War_Host/Dawn_of_War_HostindexIn.htm
