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01/04
Military Costs

These are the total costs of maintaining the forces. It could be much higher as many units are still in garrison.
The count of infantry divisions is not quite accurate-almost 60% of that total are militia units.

01/04
Glory

01/04
Military Doctrines

I am now ready to begin reaping the benefits of the barracks construction. In January I was finally able to achieve "Formation Drilling". That upgrade cost 270 army experience points. At my beginning rate of increase that would have taken nearly 10 years. That amount also represents about 2/3rds of the amount spent on all prior army upgrades since June of '92. I still have over 200 available, and will have over 40 more in April. During this year, Turkish military training will experience some major improvements.

Although I do not know for certain, I think that formation drilling was the primary reason for the clear disadvantage facing Austrian forces. This is one big step in leveling the playing field.

There are only 4 additional upgrades not shown-those that the O.E. started with. 2 of the above were added with naval experience. There will be some further naval improvements this year-but it is not a high priority-the lowest actually.

01/04
Spanish Glory

Here is the explanation for the rapid increase of Spanish glory.

Turkish Glory Increase

Turkey increases by 11 or 12 points per month-depending on luxury consumption.

In December, Turkey gained 31 points-it was needed. DoWing Montenegro cost 10 points, so some of that was just recovering the loss.

Russian Glory

Russia is really in the dumps these days. The Czar is building arts centers like a madman. In time that will help Russia, but what it really needs is a successful war-preferably against Austria-or Prussia.

01/04

Production is already benefiting from the lower taxes. Cotton and wool are being used in deficit amounts-that will soon change-even though textile production will be increasing.

A larger problem had just recently come to light; timber production. There is a large and growing discrepancy between textile and timber production. If this situation cannot be reversed, it will impact on barracks construction. It seems like trade is not going to be any avenue of help-somehow I must increase production. It is not possible, from what I have seen so far, to match textile production. This is a bit of a problem. I will be able to reduce the difference to a reasonable level-I hope.

April, 1804

The first quarter of the year was quiet. Montenegro has been absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, however there will be several months before any improvements can be initiated there. There is some "unrest" going on there-7 months worth of trouble.

At the beginning of this month the O.E. had a 95 point lead in Glory over Spain. I will add the end month report just after this one-it won't be long before Spain overtakes the O.E.

A few more non barracks projects were completed this month. According to the Sultan's desires, non barracks development is to be on hold for a year. There are a few projects that must be continued/added to such as courts. If there is something that can be pursued without interfering with barracks construction, then that may go forward also.

04, 04

The ending glory report shows how fast Spain is catching up-9 points per month. Also, due to its construction on arts centers, that advantage is likely to grow. The Ottoman Empire cannot afford to compete with Austria's military and Spain's culture-the military will take priority for now. If all goes well, this cultural business can be addressed in a couple of years.

04, 04

Production has been favorably affected by the lowering of taxes. The tax rate is now down to about 16%-it will go lower.

04, 04

Military Upgrades

At the beginning of April I had about 250 points to spend on doctrine training. I decided to acquire the "Engineers" doctrine. The lack of that doctrine had a major impact on some operations in the war with Austria-next time that will be less of a problem.

The cost was 112 points. There were several others that could have been had at the same time, but I want to maintain a reserve of points to counter a new threat. I may need to spend some directly on unit upgrades-or possibly acquire desert operations in the event of any threat from the south. I will try to maintain this reserve until a war actually forces me to take every doctrine I can.

04, 04

Strength Comparison

The Ottoman Empire is finally moving ahead of Prussia again. Both Spain and Austria, the two most likely threats are both still stronger. The situation is being addressed-in a cost effective manner. [;)]

04, 04

The Ottoman Empire compares well in the various stocks.

This is a handy report to see what is happening with manpower reserves around Europe It is possible to take an educated guess as to what Austria is building by watching its iron and horse stocks in relationship to its manpower.
Its still a guess, but better than no info at all.

May 1804

I usually focus only on Austria's use of everything, Great Britain's stocks of wool and cotton (of which the O.E. is a prime supplier), French moral and money, and occasionally look in on the other powers training doctrines.

In the May report it is possible to see that Austria did not build any more units. Its manpower actually jumped by 2-very unusual. Also of interest is that G.B.'s stock of wool is falling. At some point I expect a British attack-maybe for not another 10 years, but it is likely. I think it is a good possibility that if the O.E. were to embargo G.B., King Kingmaker would promptly DoW the O.E.

05, '04

France has finally passed Austria in strength. The Ottoman Empire continues its casual increase in power.

05 '04

These are the newest upgrades acquired. The colonial regiments was purchased with naval points-and it was a waste. I have not received a single unit from that-so far. It has been a few years.

The last two, formation drilling and engineering cost 382 points together. At the starting rate of 7 per quarter, that would have taken about 12.5 years. That amount can now be reached in less than 2 years-things are looking up.

05 '04

Spain has overtaken Sweden-and catching up quickly. I am not too worried about this in the short term-in a year or two Spain will be cut down to size (likely anyway [;)]). What is more troublesome is how quickly it has recovered from the last war-and increased on that rate. Even if it losses the French provinces, it will be coming back up at a rapid rate-not quite as fast though. At some point I will need to invest in arts to build up culture. So far the O.E. has added about 2o arts centers. This had resulted in a gain of one point per month additional gain in glory.
Each new development cost the OE about 10 times more in gold than the other powers, this is an expensive way to advance glory, but it must be done.

05 '04

The culture war continues. As of now the primary contestants are Russia and Spain. The other powers have made modest advances. Austria acquired much of its culture when it conquered Poland.

June 1804

12 long years have elapsed since the beginning of this era. It seems like a good point in time to compare current statistics to 1792.

There have been big changes in various areas, but culture really stands out.

Here is the situation in July of 1792.

And here is the June 1804 culture standings.