Janissaries Forward! PBEM 109 DAR

[06 Maestro]

September
Unit Count

This is the total Ottoman force. About half of the infantry count is actually militia.
There are two new merchant squadrons that will soon be entering service; one from Istanbul in February and another from Aydin in April. A total of 7 is allowed-those are all desired.

Note-the draft "target size" is actually 50% more than the amount shown. The "mass levy" (close) is not properly reflected in all draft figures.

[06 Maestro]

September
Total Production

Roughly 70% of the Empire is undergoing some sort of improvement. This has an effect of dragging down production. Everything has been maintained at an adequate level.

Spice and luxuries are somewhat over produced, but for a reason. There is a large trade activity with spice and luxuries. For the Ottoman Empire to be able to have a double consumption of those items, current production must be high enough even after subtracting the traded amounts. The huge reserve will only be drawn upon to make up the difference of Minimal (1X) consumption and the shortage of requirements for 1X consumption.

[06 Maestro]

October, 1811
Glory Standings

France is still slowly gaining on Sweden-too slow it looks like.

Another dock improvement was completed. The main reason for the big push is not so much as to beef up the small Ottoman Navy (although it certainly is helping) but to gain the added benefit for trade going through those ports. Level 7 ports should reduce the amount of time it takes to build merchant fleets also. 5 more merchants can be ordered up-those take 8 months with a level 7 port.

[06 Maestro]

October
Upgrades

The Navy has benefited from the increase in ports. Most ships have upgraded guns and hulls. There has also been a few good doctrines made available.

[06 Maestro]

October
Army Upgrades

Scouting and supply upgrades were taken this month. With a quarterly "experience" increase of 135 points, the Ottoman Empire has surged forward in military excellence. A recent rough count of all European powers clearly shows the Empire with a very significant lead in military doctrines. It is still far behind Great Britain in the naval area, and somewhat behind France.

[06 Maestro]

October
Provincial Improvements

During the past year investments have increased. There have been between 25 to 32 provinces improving in some area-each month. Time to completion varies considerably. Some may take 40 months-others 3.

The emphasis has been on culture. Generally, over half of new improvement starts have been for culture. There are still a few more barracks scheduled.

It has been a long term strategy not to build too much on border provinces. For a time there was the fear of loosing control of those provinces-temporary or not. That is no longer a concern, but there is a chance that I may sell off a province or two. Specifically; Venitia and Carniola (Trieste). Although booth those provinces are valuable for their docks and Venice has a rather large luxury and money production, I am not keen on keeping those in the Empire. However, those will not be let go unless there is some other new direction to expand-the Empire will not shrink (not planned anyway).

[06 Maestro]

October
National Comparisons

All nations seem to have an abundance of requirements-minus wine. Russia is also once again teetering on financial ruin.

[06 Maestro]

October
Prussian AO

It has been decided to move in for a decisive battle with the 1st Army. It has been ordered to move from Pressburg to Moravia. In November it will move into Prussia. It is anticipated that there will be a battle in Brandenburg no later than January, 1812.

The 2nd Army will slowly move north with "starve the city" orders-this leaves the option for Austria to take the province later-that is a possible option-sometimes the city falls anyway.

The Carpathian Army will speed march north to link with the Egyptian army in Masovia. A transfer of divisions will take place to build up the Egyptian Army for battle. The movement was planned earlier, but was overlooked when orders were issued.
I now have a former general as an oarsman on my vacation galley.

There is little consideration given to the likelihood of the Russian Army moving west in any threatening manner.

[06 Maestro]

October
Russia

The Czar did send some smallish forces out of Moscow. I doubt he will venture very far west.

[06 Maestro]

November, 1811
Glory Standings

It an interesting lineup. France could likely pull into 3rd place in 3 years, but what about the British Kings? Will he be happy with 2nd place?

The Sultan is contemplating making the Blake Sea an Ottoman lake-this is entirely possible. However, GB has pumped in a huge amount of money into Georgia. There may be some negative ramifications to such a move. In view of the new merchant fleets activating soon, it may be best just to leave best alone.

[06 Maestro]

Political Report

Several good upgrades were added last month. France and GB are spreading money all over the place.

[06 Maestro]

November
Upgrades

The Ottoman Empire now has over 30 military "upgrades" and approximately 6 naval upgrades. Of course, a large amount of "experience" has been used in upgrading individual units and ships. The artillery III alone cost around 215 experience points. The costs for the various upgrades vary from nation to nation. It seems that the important ones cost the O.E. more than those cost the European powers-so what, the Empire just had to work a little harder. [;)]

The result of these great expenditures is the finest army in Europe-I announce it as now... invincible.

[06 Maestro]

November
Prussia AO

The finale campaign has begun in Prussia. The 1st, 2nd and Egyptian armies will advance towards Berlin. There will be no stopping them.

[06 Maestro]

November
Prussian Treaties

The Prussia King is once again turning to diplomacy to attempt to soften his defeat-or at least to make things more difficult on a particular adversary.

[06 Maestro]

November
Sieges

Prussia has again taken significant losses due to a siege.

Not shown on this section of the report is the siege of Grodno. 2 Austrian divisions are likely lost after a 2 month siege by Russia.

[06 Maestro]

November
Trade

Most of the wool and cotton exports are going to Great Britain while all of the textile exports are going to France. There is a tidy profit-one that is very much needed, in these trades.

It looks like Turk pirates are raiding our own trades. Those pirates will be sent on shore leave.

[Graymane]

Hi! Great AAR. I'm also ready the French side. It has been instructive watching how you approach the game and handle alliances. I'll keep reading!

[06 Maestro]

ORIGINAL: Graymane

Hi! Great AAR. I'm also ready the French side. It has been instructive watching how you approach the game and handle alliances. I'll keep reading!

Hi Graymane-glad you are enjoying the aar.

Alliances clearly mean different things to different monarchs-it is a tool to be used in a way that might benefit your empire-that is the practical application. Of course, some personnel attachment to an ally or treaty is understandable. In this game I knew I had one treaty that was simply for show-the alliance with Spain. That treaty only gave Spain some cover while it went on an empire building race that took it to the top for some years. I knew it would be broken at a time of convenience-so I did it. [;)]

[06 Maestro]

December, 1811
Glory Standings

The position of the Empire continues to improve. With the looming great battles against Prussia, the glory lead should further improve.

The new port was not for trade purposes, but just to get some additional naval experience points. I still have no intention of becoming a real naval power, but just to bring in the Ottoman fleet to around 3rd place in power.

[06 Maestro]

December
Culture

The O.E. still holds first place in culture. It is entirely possible this could drop to 2nd place if Russia retakes all its lands that are currently under Ottoman occupation.