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Now for the main course.

The Romanian/Ukraine front. Here is a look at how it is, before any movements. Notice the Ottoman unit just south of Czernowitz. It is theatening to flank. The Austrians are at war with the Ottomans, which means the Ottomans can move in an out of Austrian territory, whereas I can't do anything but try and catch these units, while they still have Russian territory next to them. If not I'll really have to guard these flanks.
Galatz also seems to be guarded. Time to get rid of the flanking Ottoman unit, but more importantly to capture Galatz. Here is a picture of how it looked there, after I surrounded the city, by using Cossacks. They are expendable, since I get the losses replaced, every half year.
Galatz was poorly defended. The staff unit was composed of 10 staff only, and the rest was remnants of an infantry division. The AI does a poor job of using staff correctly at times, and won't hesitate using them as troops. In this game however they are very much at a disadvantage, as they die like flies. This is another reason to keep a front, that has no room for breakthroughs. I took Galatz, and the remaining troops fled north, where they met their demise.

This is the situation after the offensive here.
I did get the stray Ottoman unit at Czernowitz. As I made the screenshot above, I realized something. The Ottomans have completely butchered the Austrians. They have fortress city Kronstadt surrounded, and taken Karlsburg and Klausenberg. Kronstadt might be hard to take, because it is in mountainous terrain, but ouch.

It may however be that I can take the cities they have taken from the Austrians. Now that would be nice, to expand the Empire with Austrian cities, without going to war with the Austrians.

I really tried to make a continuous front so as not to have my HQs attacked by Ottoman units, during the turn. However some places I had to plug the holes with Cavalry. Not the most solid defensive unit. Still they may delay, which is all that is needed, then I'll use the Infantry to attack whatever has hit them.

Finally, it is time to post the losses and kills for this turn:
I think that I can be pretty satisfied with the results. Only 8 Infantry II lost, against 31 Turk Infantry. I also now see that the staff unit in Galatz was only 5 staff. Anyway, you get the picture. Galatz was very poorly defended.

I placed two units. One infantry in Tanarog, which I am sending Eastwards, and One infantry unit in Kiev. Also I enacted a policy: Innovation. The extra Research may not look like much, but any way to jump ahead is nice, and since there are no other ways to do that... this seems reasonable.
My next investment into what to research, I am not sure yet. I am currently weighing Guards I, Cavalry II, Staff II or Artillery II. All three have their advantages.

"August 24th, 1800.

- Arrived in Minsk this morning. No real news from either Romania or the Caucasus, except that General Kiselyov has begun fighting there, with a few scattered elements of local resistance. The forces of General Ushakov and Nostitiz have advanced a towards [i/]Bucharest and the fortress city of Silistra but have yet to get there. Also here fighting has been scarce.

- This afternoon I will inspect the troops of General Mark Engelhardt, one of my better commanders. He is part of the Prussian diaspora, so perhaps he will be useful in that regard at some point, being able to speak the local language, of that area.

- Alexander, Tsar."

The turns at start message (turn 8). Not much news, except that the Ottomans again did not attack me. This is turning into quite the one sided AAR. Maybe that will change? I hope so.

I do get some notifications before I get to the map section of the game. All three of my officers that are in combat areas have leveled.
Ushakov got the Offensive Plan card, Nostitiz got a Rally card, which will allow to readiness back, when played, and Kiselyov got the feature that when he levels he gets staff points more easily. All in all not a bad bunch of abilities. Ushakov and Nostitiz have 18 staff points, while Kiselyov has 12 staff points.

Once their forces have been ground down to a more dangerous level, I am going to let Ushakov and Nostitiz get back to Kiev, or neat there, to get new formations, and bolstering old ones.

Now let's look at what is going on in the Caucasus/Eastern Turkey area.
Basically the Ottomans seem to have made a defensive line, a bit north of Trabizond and Erzufum. Which I confirmed as I moved closer. The line was still mainly Turk Levies, but there was a surprise too. Anyway, I advanced. Cossacks to the front, revealing what was there, then retreating to not allow attacks on them. Then I moved the Infantry into an attack position, and was able to hit the unit two hexes North of Trabizond (on the Road), and it retreated. I then made sure the line was kept intact.
Unfortunately there was a unit I had overlooked, or maybe just ignored. That is the unit you can see the screenshot of to the top right corner of this map. Some Mameluks. I have a great deal of respect for this troop type. They hit harder than heavy cavalry, and move at the speed of ordinary cavalry. They are the Ottomans best unit type. Unfortunately it is placed where it might exploit, and go behind my lines.

So.. I had to react. I transferred some of the Militia I had in Stavropol to Tiflis, and the newly formed Malyy Korpus (Small corps), that I had made there sprung into a bit of premature action. Some heading for Tiflis, others south along the road towards the action of the sector.
I think they will be in time, if the Ottoman Mameluks decide to exploit. We will see. General Branicki is commanding those troops, and he is not the greatest of commanders.

The Romanian sector is quiet, but that may not continue long. Here is a snapshot of the way my troops were lined up at the beginning of the turn.
You may have noticed I am no longer shrinking the images, and thus you can really see what is going on. Please let me know, if you want me to keep shrinking the pictures.

Ushakov is taking card of the flank while Nostitiz is doing the main brunt of the fighting. Bringing up the rear is the new guy Pogorelsky, who has yet to see action.
I am still after the moves have been made very wary of what might be coming from the area from Kronstadt to Klausenberg. It seems to me that the Austrians have little reason to keep fighting for that strip of mountain lands, that they are holding, and that would allow the Ottomans access to my rear. So I keep my forces there.

The attack I did make which was against some Turk Levies, I had to move Ushakov's HQ closer to the fighting, to get the full bonuses of the attack. I did so, and then moved it back. Don't be afraid to do something like that. Yes, they won't get the full defensive bonuses once out of the 3 hex range of the HQ, but your HQ will no longer be exposed.

Unlike in standard ATG, the commanders don't risk dying when playing cards, but, they do risk it for being too close to the enemy (2 hexes), or their HQ getting overrun. They can also get injured in situations like that. They can die to random diseases as well...

"September 13th, 1800.

- Pskov is nice this time of year. I am traveling through here to get to Novgorod and then St Petersburg. From there I will travel back through Novgorod again and eventually reach Moscow. I will of course inspect the troops where I arrive, and I will expect everything to be better than top notch.

- From Romania there is good news. Bucharest has fallen to the forces of General Nostitiz. It was a battle where we encountered new weaponry that the Ottomans had gotten a hold of. The muskets were certainly not of the same type as previously, Nostitiz writes. I am elated that the city is now ours.

- At the other end of Turkey near the Caucasus, General Kiselyov reports that Trabizond has fallen. Success on both sides of the Ottoman Empire. Can I ask for more?

- Alexander, Tsar."
Start of the turn. The Ottomans have again, not chosen to engage me. My production focus on PPs remains. Soon I will have to make a decision with regards to what I want to research. I have 18 research points. Guards I costs 25.
Let us zoom in on the Caucasus/Turkey area. Here the Mameluks from last turn, have decided not to move. I choose to attack it from two sides, with a unit of Cossacks and 2 divisions of Infantry. It is eliminated completely. I then move southwards with my remaining Cossacks trying to find the battle line that the Ottomans surely must be presenting. I didn't really find it, or rather, it must be somewhere south of Trabizond, because it was abandoned. I moved in with my Cossacks, and then later some infantry, moving the Cossacks out again.
Erzufum is the next target for the offensive. After that I am not sure what... but I guess I'll move further along the coastline.

On the other end of the Black Sea in Romania we see how the front looks.
A pretty large unit can be seen 2 hexes from Kronstadt. I have put it as a picture on the map in the lower left corner. I decide that this unit cannot be allowed to be there. It is too strong I feel, with all the bonuses it has in offensive capability. I attack it from the East, from two hexes. I use 3 Infantry divisions and a cavalry unit. The battle was better for me than I thought it would be, see below.
8 Infantry II lost, and a Cavalrist. I don't recall if it was a Cavalry Subformation or a Cossack one. Probably Cossack. I don't follow the attack up, or take the hex. I instead make sure that my line is intact, and await his move. Should there be one... The Austrians may yet kill the unit.

Speaking of those. They seem to be extraordinarily interested in preventing me from reaching Bucharest. They have sent an advance force to cut me off. That is how I choose to think of it. So I must act fast. I once again ask my trusty old General Nostitiz, to do it for me. He comes through.
Pogorelsky I have tasked with keeping the flank to the East free of enemies. He has yet to fight, but that only means his troops are fresh, and ready... I hope.

Before the turn ends, I look at the Economic Report:
It is a nice way of keeping track of if you have any policies running, and what they do. In my case, as written earlier, Innovation. I also take a glance at the victory report. It says I am the 3rd most powerful nation. Someone has fallen below me, since I was number 4 to begin with. A look at the Strategic map reveals that France (of course) has more than me. The two next obvious candidates to be the second most powerful nation is the Ottoman Empire and Austria. It seems Austria is the odd man out.

"October 3rd, 1800.

- After a quick stop in Novgorod, we headed to St Petersburg. I am not sure I am going to make the trip to Moscow before after the end of winter. I do not like rain, and the season is changing. You can feel it in the air. Soon it will be fall. Then the roads will be more difficult to travel. Still I wonder, as I look out over the Baltic Sea.

- Once again there is good news from the forces in Romania. Silistra has fallen. It was General Pogorelsky that led the battle and storming of the fortified city. I expect good news to keep coming from my Generals in that sector. Maybe Ruschuk can be reached before the rain and mud makes advances slower.

- From the East I have heard good news too. The city of Erzufum has been taken by the forces of General Kiselyov. That conquest secures the safety of the Caucasus. Now for the conquest of Asia Minor proper. Surely these Ottoman Turks cannot resist us. Their forces have yet to attack us, they are completely on the defensive.

- Alexander, Tsar."
Another turn has begun. This one is turn 11. As can be seen, the Ottomans have not attacked me. I keep producing mainly PPs, and some troops in the Ukraine and Caucasus area. I wonder if the Ottomans got a very peaceful roll on the determination of their DOW setting. Then again they are doing a lot of damage to the Austrians.
I get the above messages at the beginning of the turn. The victory status message is shown every 10th turn, not counting the first turn, and as can be seen I am third. Nice, and my opponent, the Ottomans are 2nd. France is as to be expected number one. I also get a message that I get "a refill" of Cossacks, but only 4. I guess I could use them more aggressively.

Finally I get the messages that two of my officers have leveled. It is Ushakov, and Nostitiz. Both of the Generals that are fighting in Romania. Ordinarily I would begin marching them back towards Kiev to get new troops once they were ground down to around 2/3s starting strength. Instead I decided to march the reinforcements down to them. A whole host of units are coming their way.
Ushakov has gotten the Feat - Learner. This means he from time to time get extra XP, and thus level faster. A nice little feature. The bonus is not too big, but something is better than nothing.

Here is a glimpse into how the Caucasus looked before I made any movements. Notice the forces of General Branicki, heading down south, now that the threat of Ottoman troops making their way northwards is somewhat neutralized, with the destruction of the Mameluks.
One worry I have is that Kiselyov's forces are spread a bit thin, but it seems that the Ottomans don't have a very strong presence here. Anyway, I decide to risk taking Erzufum, even if my forces are going to spread a bit thin. I also make Branicki's forces do forced march. When that card is played, you get one each turn, the troops under the HQ get an extra 40 APs to move. They also lose 25 Readiness, and get -25 to Attack and Defensive operations. I give them that to make sure that I have very few holes in my rear.
Erzufum was attacked only by 1 Infantry divison, but it was only defended by a HQ with some staff in it, and a small unit of Turk Levies. These units are the Turk version of Militia. They are worse, but they are free, just like the Cossacks.

The main battle in Romania took place at Silistra. But there was also a small skirmish just to the south of Bucharest, where a unit of Staff was repulsed. Anyway this is how it looked before that.
As can be seen there are more and more Ottoman forces assembling. They are forming a line, and that could mean that my advances may become slower. That and the rain and mud season is approaching. When it hits troops move slower, and it costs more APs to enter battles. Supply lines also get strained.
North of Kronstadt I also hit a Turk unit that was moving towards my rear there. I moved into the mountains there, and that is good defensive terrain. Maybe the Austrians can save themselves. Speaking of Austria, they have somehow captured Nicopolis, which is surrounded, but still. That must be a major thorn in the side of the Ottomans.

This is how the "butchers bill" looked for this turn:
I am running into more and more Turk Infantry II. The AI doesn't upgrade its troops, which annoys me, but it would be a pain for me to code it so that they did. Thus I am also running into Turk Infantry I.

"October 23rd, 1800.

- I have decided to stay in St Petersburg, where I will reside in the Winter Palace. I have asked for a a lot of big maps of The areas surrounding the Black Sea, Asia Minor, and the European areas that the Ottomans own, for now. I will monitor the progress of my Generals on it, as the messages from them arrive.

- The newest information from the Romania are not very exciting, nor are the reports from the Caucasus. Seems that my Generals are meeting more resistance, and adopting a more defensive stance.

- Alexander, Tsar."
The turn start. No losses to the Ottomans. I must be good at presenting a defensive wall, that they have trouble exploiting. There is some news from my officers. Two of them have leveled. It is the old reliable General Ushakov, and newcomer Pogorelsky. After taking Silistra last turn, he had enough XP to level twice. Since the game only allows for gaining one level a turn, I will likely have positive news about him next turn too.
Pogorelsky got the Offensive Plan card too. I keep forgetting using the cards. Did use one of them this turn though.

Here is the Romanian Front area, before the turn began. Perhaps I should call it Bulgaria soon.
My plan this turn was to advance on Ruschuk, and that was basically it. The troops just south of Bucharest could be a problem, so after taking care of the staff east of Bucharest and next to Silistra, I moved troops in there, so as to be able to attack that big concentration of two turk infantry divisions.

I moved my HQs in place to get the maximum bonus, while keeping them at bay, and then played the earlier mentioned Offensive Plan card, giving my troops in that single division a +63% bonus to attack on the infantry, and +70% on the artillery. The attack was a complete success, I believe. Though I lost enough troops to have to merge two units, when it came to the infantry. The spare Artillery I sent towards the rear, as best I could.
The troops belonging to Ushakov I didn't really move, though I am considering it, especially since the Austrians have now surrounded Klausenberg. If they take it, the threat from the Ottomans from that direction would cease. One of the final acts of the turn was to send 12 staff to Nostitiz HQ, which is now going to be a Velikiy Korpus (Grand Corps). Not a bad "promotion" from a Malyy Korpus, which in itself is 12 staff.

The above picture shows how the Caucasus general area looked. Notice that a group of Turk Levies has moved northwards in the mountainous terrain. This is what I feared could happen. I now need to devote forces to prevent these kinds of incursions. Also Erzufum seems to be threatened, whereas Trabizond is not, for some reason.
I moved swiftly to attack the Levies that were threatening northwards, and pushed them back. Did lose a bit of cavalry doing that. Not the best place for those to attack. My infantry in that attack did fine. I still hate having to have these troops there. Imagine what they could be doing down south, where my HQs commanded by Kiselyov, could begin to advance, rather than stay on guard mode.

Finally here is the turns kills and losses report. Still a net positive for me.

I have 26 Research Points this turn. I have the following options that I am considering researching next...
The Guards would be nice, but, I need (I feel) forces that are able to cover broad fronts. Guards fight great, but are more expensive. So I would be able to field fewer. But it was a tough choice not to research them immediately. I could research Heavy Cavalry, but I feel that mobility on the battlefield is worth more at the moment. That concludes the researches I could get right now.

Cavalry does not get faster, but does survive better, and attack better than level 1. The real impact would be to get either Infantry III, Staff II or Artillery II. Artillery is the more expensive of the three options, and I don't think that will be my first priority. Instead I am thinking Staff II. Mostly because it gives double the Combat bonus of the current one, for troops under that HQs command. Infantry III would survive longer though...

While pondering what of these researches I am going to get, I deployed an Infantry unit to Kiev, and another to Taganrog. The Taganrog unit I moved towards Stavropol. I think I might need it, since I do want to go on the offensive there.

"November 12th, 1800.

- A delegation from the Germanic States arrived today. They wanted me to declare war on "the countries that border Russia and are at war with them". It sounded intriguing. This would put us at war with the Kalmar Union, something I have been toying with in the back of my mind, ever since getting here, and Prussia, for whom I have no love. Then I was given a message that had just come from my Foreign Minister: The Austrians had declared war on the Germanic States. Obviously this changed everything. I politely delivered the message to the delegation in person, and then offered them Asylum, if they would serve at my pleasure. They asked to be excused to discuss the matter, and that was the end of that audience.

- The war with the Ottomans has made some small progress in the general Romanian area. Russian forces now stand before Ruschuk. The battles they say are getting tougher and more bloody down there. In the Caucasus, not much news. General Kiselyov has taking a defensive stance, and is just fighting off incursions.

- Alexander, Tsar."
The turn began with the following. There had been no casualties, from enemy attacks, and then there were three messages of War being declared. One of them by France on Italy and Two of them on Germany. Not surprised by the wars declared on Germany... This is what Germany looks like at the moment.
The "orange" colored areas are what is left of Germany. Three cities, that are split in three areas: Munich, Nuremberg and Lubeck. They are so small now, that they are attracting wars, like a buzzard to a carcass. The Blue colored Areas are France, "pink" is the Kalmar Union, the "whitish" color is Prussia, and the final color, found next to Munich, among other places, is Austria.

As can be seen they've each taken bites, and Austria is about to be able to take Munich.

After that aside, I can say that the next thing that came to my attention was my officers leveling. Pogorelsky, the new guy, got his next level, as predicted, and gained the Card Entrench. Nostitiz gained another level too.

As has become tradition in this thread, I am going to look at what the map looks like the two places there are fighting, before the action took place.

The first place to look is the Caucasus area.
Here it can be seen that Ottoman Levy unit has retreated southwards, and Erzufum is getting threatened. At Trabizond the Ottomans are more careful, and have made their line a hex away from it.
I decide to concentrate on getting the enemy troops away from Erzufum. I do this by moving my infantry located at the southern tip of my lines, and then attacking the hex below the city. It is a Brilliant success. Then I hit the HQ, with the unit located in the city itself, and that too is a great success, as the HQ is completely destroyed! I then remake my line.

The northern troops I move southwards, in the mountains, without leaving too leaving a gap, except at the extreme north. I don't think this will attract my opponents attention.

The Romanian front is a bit more interesting. My troops south of Bucharest seem to be threatened from two sides. Also my Eastern located troops have met the Ottoman line.
I swing into action by attacking the forces Southwest of Bucharest, then I hit the forces Northeast of Ruschuk, and advance and then from multiple sides attack the forces just south of Bucharest. This allows me to move towards Ruschuk. The forces of Nostitiz and Pogorelsky were involved in this. Ushakov's still remain vigilant on the Austrian border.
The above shows how the battles went. Pretty well!

Then I notice something. Since it is fall, the mud has appeared across most of Russia. This means that the Supply lines are shorter. This especially hits the Kiev HQs (Ukraine) and the HQ in Stavropol (Caucasus). They are getting 25% less supplies from Moscow.
I have outlined in Red the amount sent out from each HQ. If this continues, the frontline forces would get have less and less supplies, until the mud and rain disappears. While they are carrying a bit of supplies, battles also cost extra supplies, as they need to regain readiness.

Something has to be done. I manually transfer some supplies to Ukraine from Moscow. But, there are simply too few I can get there, to solve the problem. So Instead I do this:
I select the Log button, next that is between the unit Icon and flag, and the troops/officer picture. It is outlined in red. I didn't know it existed, until a few years ago. One of the many easter eggs in the game I guess you could call it. Here you can ditch extra supplies, if you want to, or reserve some to get into a stockpile. I do the latter. Not much, just 350 for Ukraine, and 250 for Caucasus. This should be enough for next turns supplies, I think. It will count these extra supplies as the total supplies to draw from Moscow, but it won't keep them, until they are full, and since they transfer supplies to units first, they will not get a full stockpile, and next turn draw more again, than needed.

Hopefully the bad weather doesn't hit my troops south of them, and cause those supply lines to be too long. If they do there are two solutions, that can be combined. One is to make them have stockpile too, which can restrict their movement if they are carrying more than their weight allowance, the other is to redirect closer cities production to them, and set those to build supplies.

Finally, since I have looked at Germany, and their situation, I figured it would be interesting to see how they have done during their wars. This is something that can be done in statistics, since all information is not fogged of war'ed.

This is what that looks like.
It looks like they gave as good as they got. But ok, they have had many opponents...

This is btw how the force graph looks like:
This is a good way to see if you are falling behind in military strength. Notice how Germany is really going down on the graph, while the Ottomans have been gaining, and now are flattening, and losing as many as they produce. France is as expected quite uncontrollably ahead. Surprisingly Austria has a lot of troops too, and then there is me (aside from Britain)...