The Annals of the Tsar - A Napoleonic Europe AAR

[ernieschwitz]

In Turkey things look very quiet. There are some troops in front of Sinope, and some in the area south of the forces of Kiselyov.

turn 21 turkey before.jpg (417.29 KiB) Viewed 74 times

From the beginning I eye that I might be able to get Sinope this turn, so that is what I concentrate on first. I send my cavalry south of the city, and they move freely. There is no opposition. Even more incredulous the City which has 10 troopships in it, is only defended by a unit of two turk levies. I move the infantry in a position to make the attack on the city from the other side. This is a view of the map, and what happened.

turn 21 Sinope battle.jpg (202.37 KiB) Viewed 74 times

Not much of a battle, but, very important. It means that I now have a place that I can get supplies from Stavropol, that is easier than the road connection, but, I choose to block it with the "Supply block feature", which allows you to block your own supplies from entering or leaving a hex. I do this because I am pretty sure the Ottoman fleet would just interdict it, and that would mean not getting the supplies at all. After the battle I also attack the other now surrounded levy unit.

turn 21 Turkey after.jpg (278.99 KiB) Viewed 74 times

After a few attacks along the line north of Kiselyov, the turn is over, at least when it comes to movement and battles. I buy some units, placing two Infantry in Kiev, and move them southwards. These can serve as reinforcements. I already have a steady stream of those going southwards. Not so much on the Caucasus side. Here the combat though is less bloody.

I also decide to research Guards I, and I expect I will buy some next turn. Before ending this entry... here is a look at the kills and losses.

turn 21 kills losses.jpg (15.4 KiB) Viewed 74 times

[ernieschwitz]

"May 11th, 1801.

- I am pondering delegating even more power to another minister. Rumyantsev is doing well as the commerce minister, but I will need someone to consult when it comes to warfare. I have several young candidates in the wings, but the old guard might need some representation too. Thus I am going to partition the post into two posts, maybe even three.

- The wet weather of recent times are over. I expect big things of my generals in the south. One of them, General Kiselyov has recently reported of the fall of Sinope, and I have ordered him to go deeper in land, to take Angora and Amasia. In the North the commanders are reporting they are ready for an attack on the Kalmar Union. In the far South, things are looking good too, there are many battles and struggles there.

- Alexander, Tsar."

turn 22 Start turn.jpg (35.03 KiB) Viewed 41 times

The turn began with an incredible combat result. 71 Infantry, 11 Cavalry and 11 Artillery, lost by the Ottomans, and just a little less than a 10th of that lost by my forces. Wow! I also get the news that Ushakov's troops, as discussed last time was a possibility have been trained, and got more experience.

turn 22 levels.jpg (63.26 KiB) Viewed 41 times

Noztitiz has yet again gained another level. He is my highest level commander. By now I will soon need to upgrade his HQ to an Army of some kind (Armiya), which will mean more troops, or maybe some specialized troops, like Guards.

[ernieschwitz]

As mentioned above, there was combat occuring. Three attacks by the Ottomans to be exact. I have marked them on the map. None of the attacks resulted in any retreats from my forces, though one Infantry division was reduced to 8 Infantry and 3 artillery. I sent that to the rear, to get more reinforcements.

turn 22 Balkans before.jpg (700.95 KiB) Viewed 41 times

The Ottomans stacks are getting big. So big I am considering how wise it is attacking them at equal odds. So I am doing my best to attack from multiple sides, remembering to play offensive plan cards, when I have them.

turn 22 Balkans west after.jpg (294.11 KiB) Viewed 41 times

Above you can see my end position after combat and moves in the western end of the line, where Ushakov is located. I hope I will get to Sofia soon, unless the Austrians do so first. They are already at Nish, and they are doing very well in the western Balkans. They've gotten so far south as Tirane, in modern day Albania.

turn 22 Bulgaria East after.jpg (241.99 KiB) Viewed 41 times

In the Bulgarian theatre I am moving forwards, I feel at a snails pace. Even if the progress is slow, the stacks big, I am confident I will eventually get to Constantinople.

[ernieschwitz]

turn 22 Turkey Georgia before.jpg (535.77 KiB) Viewed 40 times

The positions in the Turkey/Georgia area, as seen above, are pretty much unchanged now for a while. Except of course that I last turn got Sinope. This turn I drove southwards.

turn 22 Turkey after.jpg (407.38 KiB) Viewed 40 times

I am now next to Amasia, and I have had to make some holes in my lines, to cover the area that is being fought over. I made these lines with another thought too in my mind. Perhaps when the Ottoman AI sees these holes, it will try to go through them, and then I can actually trap them between two units, and hopefully kill them off.

Now, for the tradition. The Kills and losses report:

turn 22 kills losses.jpg (14.36 KiB) Viewed 40 times

A very nice report, if you ask me.

Then came the dilemma that I had to think really hard about. Do I pay for some supplies, to make sure I have some next turn (20 PPs, per 3000 supplies), A new Policy (20 PPs) or some troops (Guards 11 PPs, Infantry 9 PPs) with the 41 PPs I have.

Now I know my plan was to play the Policy of recruitment, but, those supplies I believe take precedence. Moscow was running low. So I play the Supply card, then was the question, Policy or troops. And I had to choose troops, and since I want some PPs next turn, so I eventually can declare war on the Kalmar Union and also get the Policy, I chose the cheaper version. 1 Infantry unit in Kiev. This left me with 11 PPs for next turn. Declaring war costs 15 PPs.

[ernieschwitz]

"May 31st, 1801.

- There has come a lot of news in from the South, and the war with the Ottomans. In Asia Minor General Kiselyov has taken Amasia, one step closer to Angora. He warns that his western flank is exposed, but I encourage him to push forwards anyway. On the western front, from the Black Sea to the eastern Balkans, there has been movement too. General Ushakov has reached Sofia, and General Nostitiz has the city of Adrianopole in his sights. The battles to get there have been bloody.

- Here in St. Petersburg things are much more quiet. Yes, troops have been moving towards what might become the new War I am planning, against the Kalmar Union. Their uniforms are spotless as they pass. Their officers must be commended, however, they will not stay spotless forever. I hope these new generals are up to it.

- Alexander, Tsar."

turn 23 Start turn.jpg (40.3 KiB) Viewed 20 times

The war with the Ottomans is heating up, despite the losses not being so high, there is action. On the diplomatic front, France declares war on Portugal, something that at this point seems to be irrelevant, as the Portuguese only own a few hexes, and no cities. Ushakov has once again trained his men. Nice.

Speaking of Ushakov...

turn 23 levels.jpg (127.71 KiB) Viewed 20 times

... he just gained a level himself. Nostitiz also gained one, level 10, impressive. None of them gained any new cards, or features, but that is ok. As long as they get better stats, they are useful. Ushakov has 25 staff points, where Nostitiz has an impressive 35! I can't keep up with the amount of staff these guys need.

And now to a quiet front...

turn 23 Finland.jpg (242.88 KiB) Viewed 20 times

This picture is an after movements have occurred. My forces are ready. Just waiting for the PPs, which again, I found other uses for his turn, but more about that later.

[ernieschwitz]

turn 23 Balkans before.jpg (642.56 KiB) Viewed 19 times

The Western front, in the South.. not sure what to call it.. but down in Bulgaria and the Balkans, there was this turns only battle initiated by the Ottomans. It was a limited success, the AI attacked from two sides, and drove back my infantry unit, that survived the onslaught, mostly. It did lose two artillery, and 6 Infantry, out of 20.

I look at the front, and I think, this is going to be rough. However, I remember that attacking in this scenario is better than defending. The AI has formidable stacks, but, they are of lower quality. Perhaps I can concentrate my forces, for better results.

turn 23 Bulgaria after.jpg (246.66 KiB) Viewed 19 times

I begin by attacking on the flank to the east, and push back the unit there. It was equal size to my two units, but I had the quality, and experience, so I beat them back, and enter the hex, with that one unit on the flank.

I see that I can send some of my forces from elsewhere on the line into the fray, by taking some of my newly reinforced units to take their places. So I move them to the Hex where my main thrust will come from. I then attack from both sides, and beat back the Ottomans again.

Now I can really follow up. So I continue the attacks, finally reaching the gates of Adrianopole. Unfortunately, despite the defenses being very weak in that city, I run out of APs, and can't attack it. That is ok, I think. Yes, he may reinforce it, next turn, but probably won't be able to beat my troops back. He is simply too weak, in my estimation.

turn 23 Balkans West after.jpg (266.62 KiB) Viewed 19 times

Spurned on by this success, I begin making plans for the attacks i am going to make in the west. I realize that if I am going to have any sort of success here, I need to bring forward the troops under Pogorelsky, that has been guarding the flank. They are, I realize, guarding mostly air. Meaning that the Austrians likely won't attack me, and the Ottomans by now are beaten out of the area.

The hexes they enter free up units for attacks by Ushakov. I start out by attacking the unit right in front of Nicopolis. I want to secure the city. It gets beaten back, hard. I then attack units on it's flanks. They too retreat. So, now the unit in the center, is just before Sofia.. and it was already beaten back once. I attack, and push it back into Sofia itself. Sofia is now defended by a lot of beaten up troops. Next turn I will likely try and take it.

[ernieschwitz]

This is the entire Turkish/Georgian front before I move and attack.

turn 23 Turkey Georgia before.jpg (580.48 KiB) Viewed 18 times

My strategy of making holes in the line, did not work, except that of course now I know I can spread out my forces, or keep them like this for a while. This is good news, because I will be using the same amount of troops to cover a broader front.

There were no attacks along the Georgia-Turkish mountain like terrain. So I am not going to show that. However there were a couple of battles in central Turkey.

turn 23 Turkey after.jpg (350.19 KiB) Viewed 18 times

Again, I begin by attacking the flank, this time to the west of Amasia. The opponent forces retreat southwards, which leaves Amasia with only Turk Levies defending it. I make short work of them, and Amasia is mine. I then push my forces along the road towards Angora on the extreme west of my wing. My flank is completely exposed, but there are no cities or roads in that direction, and hopefully the Ottomans are more worried about Constantinople, than my small forces on this side of the Bosporus. I push forwards, meet an enemy unit, and push it back, more levies...

After doing all that the losses and kills on the Ottoman side are understandably large. Mine are acceptable, more than acceptable.

turn 23 kills losses.jpg (14.25 KiB) Viewed 18 times

One thing though. The Turk artillery I was facing is now Artillery I. So the same quality as mine. That might be a problem. It will cost me 75 Research Points to get the next level of Artillery, and 60 Research points to get the next Infantry level. I have 27 Research points. With only 5 a turn, now that the Innovation Policy is over, this will take some time.

I am worried that I have to little supply production. Currrently I am running about 1000 short each turn. I can buy 3000, for 20 PPs, which is cheaper than making it on my own, but, it is still a lot of PPs. Perhaps I should produce more supply. It certainly would be needed when/if, ok when, I play my Recruitment Policy. This turn however I will play the supply card, and now I have some respite. Next turn, I won't need to buy them again. I am then going to have to decide... war with Kalmar Union, Recruitment policy, or both. The recruitment policy will roughly halve the cost of troops I produce, while it is in effect. Of course more troops equals more supplies...