The Annals of the Tsar - A Napoleonic Europe AAR

[ernieschwitz]

"December 22nd, 1800.

- Today I learned that the troops at Ruschuk were not attacked. So the city is now ours for sure. I have also heard from General Pogorelsky, who is withdrawing his troops, buying time ... so the forces of General Nostitiz can move into position to replace his forces. General Ushakov is still covering the flank towards the Austrians, though now it would seem that this has been unnecessary.

- The Ambassadors from Italy and Spain got into a quarrel, and I hear they will duel each other tomorrow morning. Swords being the weapon of choice. It probably has something to do with the Spanish declaring war on the United Italian City States. Life at court is not dull.

- Alexander, Tsar."

turn 15 start messages.jpg (32.85 KiB) Viewed 124 times

The start of the turn, as usual. Disappointingly the Ottomans did not contend me taking Ruschuk. I begin eying the possibility that I may first get them to fight me, when I near Constantinople. At least in the West..

As per usual we had an officer leveling. This time it was Pogorelsky.

turn 15 leveling.jpg (65.18 KiB) Viewed 124 times

He will have his Malyy Korpus (Small Corps) upgraded soon to a Bolshoy Korpus (Large Corps). The difference lies in the amount of staff, as can be read earlier in the thread. The extra staff allows for more troops. A Malyy Korpus is 2 cavalry and 4 infantry, where a Bolshoy Korpus is 1 cavalry and 2 infantry units more.

The Velikiy Korpus's (Grand Corps) that are commanded by Ushakov and Nostitiz are 8 Infantry and 3 Cavalry. Kiselyov who is the main thrust in the Caucasus has earned the right to Command a Korpus (Corps), instead of his Malyy Korpus. This change comes with an extra cavalry and an extra infantry.

turn 15 Romania before.jpg (470.16 KiB) Viewed 124 times

Above, Romania/Bulgaria, the West front, as it looked before the turn was played. I notice that the Ottoman officers are beginning to have levels too, because the troops have combat bonuses too. I try and shore up my lines, with new troops, and move the troops from Ushakov slightly towards the south.

turn 15 Romania after.jpg (475.25 KiB) Viewed 124 times

Also as can be seen, the troops with the white stripe (Pogorelsky) is moving a bit backwards. Several Ottoman units have 50+ strength. The weather makes offensives difficult.

[ernieschwitz]

turn 15 Caucasus before.jpg (282.11 KiB) Viewed 123 times

The Caucasus Area. Here you can see the situtation before the turn. The weather makes it so I can really only move 1 hex at a time in the mountains. So that is annoying. I decide to do something about the Levy unit to the north. It loses all its troops as it surrenders, mostly. I then play the card "Forced March" that gives a HQ and units under it, within range of it, a bonus of up to +40 APs. This allowed me to move them two hexes. Since there are no opponents there, that I think will attack, the -25 Defense and -25 Attack rating as well as the 25 readiness penalty mean very little.

turn 15 Caucasus after.jpg (266.99 KiB) Viewed 123 times

As can be seen I also moved some of my troops under the command of Kiselyov (Brownish stripe). They attack the unit that is closest to them down the road towards the heartland of Turkey, it is another Levy unit. I follow up the very successful attack, with a cossack only attack on them, and my cossacks suffer 2 losses to their 2. Can't win them all as dominantly as elsewhere, I guess.

turn 15 New HQ to Caucasus front.jpg (145.6 KiB) Viewed 123 times

I have assembled a new HQ (Malyy Korpus) in Stavropol, over the last couple of turns. The units are now moving southwards, as can be seen in the picture above. Their commanding officer is.. not great.. but he is free. He'll get better, I think, I hope. Rodion Imereti. Let's try and remember his name, in case he gains some fame, or infamy.

turn 15 totals and losses kills.jpg (32.58 KiB) Viewed 123 times

I figured it would be fun to see the total war casualties taken by each side. They are at the top of the picture. Left side are the Ottomans, and to the right the Russians. Below that is the turns losses and kills.

Before I ended the turn, I decided to enact the Policy Innovation again. I was close to doing Recruitment. I have plenty of manpower to be able to do so, but, it is winter, and I think I could use the PPs better, for now. I use the PPs this turn to buy a cavalry unit in Taganrog, and an Infantry unit in Kiev, and two Infantry units in Moscow, which I march towards Finland... it's a long road.

[ernieschwitz]

"Jaunary 11th, 1801.

- The New Years Ball and Banquet has come and gone. It was a nice occasion to have some fun. To dance, and to mingle among the dignitaries from abroad, and some of the nobility as well. I have my eye on some of them, for having potential to be new Generals, for what might be a new adventure in Kalmar Union controlled Finland.

- The winter has really hit Europe now, even in the south where the Ottomans are doing their best to prepare for when the weather is more clear. General Pogorelsky has withdrawn from battle, awaiting reinforcements, while General Nostitiz & Ushakov each are controlling their sections of the front. There have been some battles, but nothing big. Things seem to move a little more in the East, in the Caucasus, where General Kiselyov has begun advancing.

- Alexander, Tsar."

The turn, as I have come to expect, not revealed any attacks by the Ottomans on my troops, here at the beginning of turn 16.

turn 16 start turn.jpg (28.05 KiB) Viewed 89 times

Three Generals got new levels: Branicki, who went from being able to confer bonuses to from 8 Staff to 11 Staff. Much more acceptable. Pogorelsky leveled as well, from the kills he did the turn before last turn (you can only gain 1 level a turn), and Kiselyov leveled as well, from his actions last turn.

turn 16 levels.jpg (182.43 KiB) Viewed 89 times

[ernieschwitz]

turn 16 Caucasus before.jpg (268.8 KiB) Viewed 88 times

The Caucasus, or perhaps more appropriately Georgia, front as it was before the the movements of this turn were made.

turn 16 Caucasus after.jpg (300.27 KiB) Viewed 88 times

I my forces (Branicki, blue stripe) have reached Erzufum, and surrounding areas. I should be able to station them there, and kill of any nearby troops, if I want to. Maybe I'll push forward with them, but the terrain won't allow for supplies to travel too far there, so I am bit hesitant. It seems like a waste though, to just have them standing there.

The other HQ (Kiselyov, Brown? stripe) is moving along the road westwards, from Trabizond. Still a bit away from Sinope, but that is their goal. Capture it, and I have a port that supplies can come in through... or maybe not, since the Ottomans might have ships in the Black Sea. There were some battles there, but I presently cannot remember exactly what was lost and not. I do remember following up with my Cossacks though.

[ernieschwitz]

Here is the view of the Bulgaria/Romanian area, before my moves. Notice the White striped units, they belong to Pogorelsky... more on them later.

turn 16 Romania before.jpg (472.13 KiB) Viewed 88 times

I have now for two turns, had my HQs there get supplies partially from the conquered cities, but it is not quite enough, but enough to keep them from completely losing readiness.

turn 16 Romania after.jpg (563.42 KiB) Viewed 88 times

As can be seen, Pogorelsky's troops are no longer on the Eastern part of the front. They have been pulled back, and instead Nostitiz troops have taken over their place. Also, some of Nostitiz troops made some attacks to the west, where some units had been moved to by the AI. Pogorelsky's forces, as they left, transferred as many Infantry as they could to the nearby units, to get them back to 20 Infantry II. Why take them with him, to be reinforced, when they can serve as reinforcements here.

Before I show you the Kills and losses, I want to mention that I had two dilemmas this turn. One was if I should produce more troops in Moscow, to send towards Finland, or get extra supplies. I had not been getting enough supplies to the HQs in Kiev and Stavropol, and figured I'd bump them up quiet a bit. That is what I chose to do, get more Supplies. I then got two more Infantry formations in Kiev.

The other dilemma was if I should get Infantry III, Staff II, or wait for Artillery II, that was just a few turns away. in the end I settled for Staff II. I've never these researches in that order before, but, I am not averse to trying something new. I then went to the button on the statistics menu, where you can upgrade everything, by pressing that, and it told me I had enough supplies to convert everything, except for ... 6 units, which were surprise, those that are furthest away from the parent HQ. In other words, the frontline stuff. Having pressed the button I also realized that the Supplies from almost all of my HQs except for the one in Moscow, had been drained completely of whatever supplies they had. So I had to bump up the amount to pull extra, for the HQs in Kiev and Stavropol. Live and learn...

Here is the turns Kills and losses.

turn 16 losses kills.jpg (12.2 KiB) Viewed 88 times

[ernieschwitz]

"January 31st, 1801.

- Ever since I apppointed a minister for foreign affairs, the nobles have been scheming and conspiring against each other for the hopes of getting appointed to become minister of commerce. It is a very influential position, but ultimately they all report to me. I expect loyalty, and the truth. I am unsure as to whom I will appoint at this juncture.

- The snow falls gently outside. Everything, including the roads are covered in white. Still the gears of Russia must turn. Supplies are getting to the troops fighting in the war against the Ottomans, but not quite enough. I have high hopes that this situation can be rectified, sooner rather than later.

- Alexander, Tsar."

turn 17 start messages.jpg (26.71 KiB) Viewed 47 times

The turn's messages. There were none apart from a report on how many troops, PPs, Supplies, etc. that I have made this month (or actually 20 days). It is turn 17.

This is how the Caucasus/Georgia looked this turn, as I looked at it before any action.

turn 17 Caucasus before.jpg (445.94 KiB) Viewed 47 times

I am beginning to suspect that the Ottoman troops in those mountains have some of the same problems I have. That is they cannot move much, or maybe at all, if their supply situation is very bad, and they've started to lose readiness because of it, and thus have less APs. Nevertheless I am keeping my line there.

turn 17 Caucasus after.jpg (418.36 KiB) Viewed 47 times

I did attack a unit that contained only staff. So when you look at the overview from the turns kills, those are the kills on this front. They of course were in the mountains. The forces of Branicki were behind that attack. I moved into better positions, and expanded the front a bit where Kiselyov was. Imereti, of little renown, has been forcing his troops to march even more, to get into a position where they can either take up the front where Branicki is, or Kiselyov. I haven't really decided yet.

[ernieschwitz]

The other front, Romania/Bulgaria:

turn 17 Romania before.jpg (527.27 KiB) Viewed 47 times

This is how it looked before I made my moves, and a single attack. I am also pulling back Pogorelsky's troops, but not too far, as the troops I want to use to reinforce, and upgrade his command, are relatively close by.

turn 17 Caucasus after.jpg (418.36 KiB) Viewed 47 times

... and by close by, I mean that most of those forces are now under the command of him, as can be seen, in this after the movements occurred screenshot. The hex that I attacked was on the road away from Ruschuk towards Constantinople. Cutting it may mean that my forces, next turn, can begin hitting a bit more troops than now.

I still don't have enough supplies to upgrade all of my staff I to staff II. So I investigate. I should have enough, thanks to the trick I showed earlier with reserving supplies... but... it seems that feature is currently broken! So ignore what I wrote earlier. Hopefully it can be fixed soon.

Here are the results from this turns (2!) battles:

turn 17 kills losses.jpg (11.71 KiB) Viewed 47 times

[ernieschwitz]

"Feburary 20th, 1801.

- I have found a minister of commerce. Someone who can satisfy the old guard's need for their clique to be represented, while also being someone who believes in progress. His name is Rumyantsev, and is the son of a war hero. He is 48, so well up in age, but very much with a young man's mind. He has been a diplomat and trader for many years, all over Europe. This I think will help immensely.

- On the battlefields to the South, where my armies are fighting the Ottomans, the ground has begun to thaw. General Nostitiz has begun an attack, and reports to have routed several Ottoman divisions, near Ruschuk. I have asked that Ushakov gets his troops ready to join in the attack. Pogorelsky's troops will need some rest and training before they are ready for more battles. So they are bringing up the rear, and deploying to Ushakov's old positions.

- Alexander, Tsar."

turn 18 start messages.jpg (26.53 KiB) Viewed 29 times

Not much new to report here. I would like to mention that my betting on making most of my units via cards, is paying off, in the sense that my manpower is the same, or growing. Manpower as you may recall is used to produce troops, but not to get troops via cards. Later I'll use that manpower to produce more troops, with the Recruitment Policy.

As can be seen from the picture below, the thaw has really come. Some places the bad weather is completely gone, and I assume it will look even better next turn, where a new month has been entered. Imerti's forces from the north are almost at the front line. I am considering letting Kiselyov get them, and let him head back to replenish his forces. It helps somewhat with the amount of ground they can cover, when I play the forced march card on them.

turn 18 Caucasus before.jpg (349.78 KiB) Viewed 29 times

I decide to attack the unit just two hexes south of Erzufum, and the result was surprisingly bad. Not that I didn't win, but much more casualties than expected for a Turk levy unit. That being said, it did have quite a bit of entrenchment. I also hit another unit on that front. Branicki is slowly gaining experience.

turn 18 Caucasus after.jpg (338.99 KiB) Viewed 29 times

Then I decide to be daring. I move my Cossacks as far along the coast I can. Perhaps I could get to Sinope, the city that is the only Coastal city in the North of Turkey. The only other city they have that has a port into the Black Sea is Constantinople, the Ottoman Capitol. I got stopped on the way by a unit of Levies. I gathered both my Cossack units, and drove it back, to just the other side of a bridge. I then sent my cavalry backwards to regroup.

[ernieschwitz]

turn 18 Romania before.jpg (542.12 KiB) Viewed 26 times

Above are the starting positions on the Romanian/Bulgarian front. Ushakov's units (Purplish stripe) where they have been for the last who knows how long, and Pogorelsky's troops (White stripe), Gathering around Ismael and Galatz. To the South Nostitiz has the entire battle line covered.

Notice how Nicopolis is now no longer Austrian, they were thrown out this turn. Karlsburg continues to change hands every now and then. I'd say they are very occupied with each other. They really should be looking in my direction, the Ottomans, that is.

turn 18 Romania after.jpg (635.65 KiB) Viewed 26 times

Above is the entire picture of how the Area looked at the end of the turn. You can see how Ushakov's troops are slowly crawling southwards along the front, as Pogorelsky's forces replace them. Now I know these pictures are a bit broad, thus they become smaller to look at. You can still see them by right clicking and select open as picture. But... I decided to make some smaller map snippets too.

This is the Southern map, and a look at what it looked like before the battles that I am about to describe.

turn 18 Romania south before.jpg (272.21 KiB) Viewed 26 times

The Ottomans appear strong on the west side of Ruschuk. While they are weak to the East side of it. That is the road I conquered some of last turn. This turn was more ambitious.

I moved my cavalry to help with the first attack I was going to make. The hex with three units in it. It is actually not that strong. Only one real infantry division, the rest is staff and some levies. It is blasted away. I continue to follow up, and before I knew it I was near Nicopolis. Of course I also advanced down the road towards what eventually will end in Constantinople.

turn 18 Romania south after.jpg (246.58 KiB) Viewed 26 times

I could spin it like I am trying to rescue the Austrians that have been kicked out of Nicopolis, but honestly, I am just looking to grab the city.

[ernieschwitz]

Before ending the turn, I look at my supply situation. It seems the problem is not that the HQs in Kiev and Stavropol can supply the troops that are under them. They are all within the supply range distance, where they should get full supplies. So the problem is getting the supplies form Moscow to them. I decide to swallow my pride, sacrifice some of my production of troops in Kiev and Stavropol, and instead produce supplies. It hurt.

But Speaking of supplies, Nosititz finally got his Forage card ready to play. I use it and gain 135 supplies or thereabout. Enough to supply most of his army for one turn. I also use some of it to upgrade his remaining Staff I to Staff II. Realizing he won't need quite as much supplies funneled to him by nearby cities, I redirect that to some of the other HQs.

turn 18 leaders.jpg (171.04 KiB) Viewed 25 times

I also figured that it would be a fine time to present how the leaders of the different corps's look like now. Some have been faster to get the EXP than others, but all in the Romanian theatre, seem to be well on their way to becoming good officers, and one of them Nostitiz is actually very good, having both good combat and morale bonuses.

The eastern officers are a bit lacking in experience, but that is because of less resistance, as well as the difficult terrain, and perhaps my timidness. Kiselyov is ok, Branicki might become good. Imereti has no experience at all!

Turn 18 kills losses.jpg (15.26 KiB) Viewed 25 times

Finally, above you can see my kills and losses. I am quite satisfied with this report.