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So war has indeed broken out. More scaled down then what was anticipated. But that is what makes the game interesting, for sure. So maestro. Is England bound with treaties to anyone

So If I understand.

Russia = not in the fight? And has no formal treaties?
England= not in the fight?Who is he allied with?
Sweden=Not important?Streghth is small
France=In battle alled with Turkey against Austria
Turkey=At war
Prussia= Not at war? Allied with Spain? Treaties with whom?
Spain= Not at war?


Does it look like this could escalate into something larger? Or do you think everyone not involved is just happy its not them being attacked. Can we compare them to vultures just waiting for the scraps. lol

Had an extra long weekend. Will leave friday morning for LV. We can get more accomplished with two days of work.

ORIGINAL: Zap
So war has indeed broken out. More scaled down then what was anticipated. But that is what makes the game interesting, for sure. So maestro. Is England bound with treaties to anyone

Yes, it is somewhat scaled down-that is a good thing. The starting lineup was a bit challenging under the old assumptions. Things can change abruptly though as I found out in the past. I am very optimistic under the current circumstances. England is my ally, however, I would be rather surprised if it joined in this war.

So If I understand.
Russia = not in the fight? And has no formal treaties?

Russia had a two year peace treaty with Austria-it expires-now. Austria had proposed a new treaty last month-apparently the Czar rejected it-hmm, one can hope.

England= not in the fight?Who is he allied with?

England is so far remaining out of this fray. It has many treaties, but seems to put a priority on its agreement with Prussia. I suspect those two will be allies to the bitter end.

Sweden=Not important?Streghth is small

Sweden has a decent army-one that should not be fought in the snowy north in winter-except by the Russians. Russia and Sweden are allies. Sweden is somewhat hemmed in by Great Britain. If the Swedish King ever wanted to go for the Glory he will have to tangle with Great Britain (it seems). Of course, it is possible that at some future date Sweden may stab Russia in the back, but I doubt that at this point.

France=In battle alled with Turkey against Austria

That is the current situation.

Turkey=At war

Sad, but duty calls..[;)]

Prussia= Not at war? Allied with Spain? Treaties with whom?

It has multiple treaties-some of which are clearly more important than others.

Spain= Not at war?

Spain is at peace, but is allied to Austria. This is a strange little situation we have now.

Does it look like this could escalate into something larger? Or do you think everyone not involved is just happy its not them being attacked. Can we compare them to vultures just waiting for the scraps. lol

I hope the war can be limited to Austria-and think it will be. I suspect that all the other powers would not mind seeing Austria knocked down a notch or two-it is simply to big Glory wise. Its military does have some unattained levels which make it a big (potentially) threat to every nation.

I will put a screen shot of the current diplomatic connections. The rest of the July report should wait until all turn are in.

Had an extra long weekend. Will leave friday morning for LV. We can get more accomplished with two days of work.

I'm tied to work through Saturday (6am start in the morn). Perhaps Sunday I can check out your progress if you are still in town. I'll contact you tomorrow evening.

July, 1805
Diplomatic Connections

Austria has three allies that could come to its aid. At this point I do not think any of those are really interested.

July 1806
Glory Report

Turkey took a slight hit of 20 points this month for the DoW. I should be able to recover that soon.

Another barracks was completed-on Crete. No corner of the Empire is being ignored.

July
Strategic Map

One area of particular interest to me is that the Czar has moved some large units closer to Austria. If he decides to join in the holy crusade, I hope he does it right-through an alliance with me. Otherwise, he could actually help Austria-(as I helped Spain inadvertently).

July 1805
Balkans

The war has opened with some good success. The move by the 1st Army into Grosswardien was swift-apparently taking Emperor Matto by surprise. There was a garrison of 25,000 troops there including one very good infantry division). It collapsed instantly. I thought there might be a large battle there. I assumed that the large garrison was to enable it to hold out until an Austrian army showed up to force a defensive battle on me. I think moving two provinces surprised Emperor Matto.

I was in turn surprised by a massive force of over 300,000 Austrian troops which crossed the Danube and headed south. Fortunately, I only moved the 2nd Army one province into Austina. I did, however, send one of the irregular cavalry divisions just a little to far north from Belgrade-they are gone-sort of the charge of the Light Brigade.

July
Strength Statistics

The Ottoman Empire now has a clear lead over Austria. This is comforting, however, one great battle going the wrong way can alter that situation-for a while anyway.

It seems likely that Austria will be overwhelmed in a short time. Even if 1/2 of the mighty French Army inters Austria; the odds are nearly overwhelming.

Emperor Matto proved himself a fighter. Although it might be best for Austria to surrender right away, I am not optimistic that will occur.

July
Economic Comparison

Austria's manpower has improved considerably since the last war ended. It is a factor for sure, but not as important as in the last war (War of Transylvania). In that war it was part of my grand strategy to wear Austria down little by little as it was not possible to simply crush its Army and occupy the capital. This time it can be different.

August 1805
Glory Report

Austria is still leading the nations, but not for long I suspect. If a quick surrender occurs the Ottoman Empire will be propelled into the leading position. It will be a weak lead though. As of now I still do not have the "arts" development to hold that spot very long against Spain. Great Britain will still have a slight advantage in that area also. It will, however, level the playing field a bit.

If the war is a long affair, the O.E. will end with a much more solid lead-and additional options. Of course, with this comes the pain caused by envy.

August
Culture Ratings

With the Ottoman seizure of 4 provinces from Austria there has been some added temporary "arts" to the Ottoman Empire. This month I also ordered the the initiation of "plundering". This, with a little luck, while result in an occasional permanent relocation of an arts development to an Ottoman province. Any other real value is limited unless I can capture about 20 more arts centers. I may gain an additional point or two in "glory" each turn should that occur.

France has also added to the reduction of Austrian arts/culture by capturing some western provinces.

August
Provincial Development

The struggle to bring the Ottoman Empire up to modern standards is still ongoing. Due to the war and the preparation for the the war the number of provinces without improvements taking place has increased. There are still 27 provinces, out of 43, that have improvements underway. There are 10 more barracks facilities being worked on.

There is no doubt that development will slow to a crawl very soon. The treasury is hard pressed now just to fund the war. It was still possible to continue 3 high priority additions, 2 courts and 1 barracks-at a cost of 170-Austria might have paid 7 or 8 for the same.

August
Economic Comparisons

Austria's treasury has suddenly plummeted. With a little bit of G2 work, the likely cause was identified. Austria's stock of horses also dropped by nearly 300 and its manpower fell by 3 points. It is a very safe bet that there will be 3 new Austrian cavalry divisions showing up. Fortunately, cavalry takes considerably longer to create than infantry divisions. It may be 5 months or more before those new units are deployed. Hopefully, by that time, it will not matter.

August
Strength Statistics

France had taken considerable losses in its march into Austria. Hopefully the depots in Prussian territory will function.

Austria took a slight dip-they lost 25,000 troops in the Grosswardien garrison. The 2 province march also certainly added to that through attrition.

Spain is adding to its strength-looking ahead.

This leaves the Ottoman Empires Army second only to Russia's in size. There are more additions to come.

August
Battle Reports

These were very quick (surprisingly so) sieges. Austria had 2 militia divisions and one very good infantry division in Grosswardien-they are eliminated.

The map of the area's of operation is still classified-I will have to wait until next turn to show the Ottoman movements.

It is more likely that there will be a great battle next turn-If Matto does not surrender. As I mentioned before; he is a fighter. I suspect this will be a long and sordid affair. Perhaps Austria can last a year with some good luck, but I doubt it.

A warning regarding plundering. I found in a recent gain that contrary to the manual which says that plundering raises morale of units participating that it was actually destructive to unit morale and lowered their morale automatically down to 4.0 morale. FWIW.

Hmm, very interesting-thanks, Mus. I will keep an eye on that to see what happens. I certainly do not need a loss in unit moral right now.

As of your last post. From your and France's report you have taken away some provinces but have yet to meet the austrian grand armies. You mentioned that France has had some problems. France did not report any details as of yet.

Interesting, austria, it seems has the only option to fight.(at least from my perspective). Since he has nothing to gain from a surrender. The prospect of less to loose if he surrenders does not sound like much of an option. (I would say honor has a role to play) so if he does fight on I can understand that. I wiuld try and cause as much damamge as possible to my attackers.

ORIGINAL: Zap

As of your last post. From your and France's report you have taken away some provinces but have yet to meet the austrian grand armies. You mentioned that France has had some problems. France did not report any details as of yet.

It turns out that the only cause of losses for France was march attrition-the depots are fine. There has not been a major battle yet. However, there are currently 2 main Austrian armies adjacent to 2 Ottoman armies. A major battle is not guaranteed, but it is very possible.

Interesting, austria, it seems has the only option to fight.(at least from my perspective). Since he has nothing to gain from a surrender. The prospect of less to loose if he surrenders does not sound like much of an option. (I would say honor has a role to play) so if he does fight on I can understand that. I wiuld try and cause as much damamge as possible to my attackers.

I am assuming Matto will fight on. However, there is good reason to surrender quickly. There are two things to be gained by avoiding the long war. The surrendering nation will get 300 points in military experience for one. The other is that the peace treaty will be very lenient in comparison to what it will be after a long and bloody war. With each battle fought adding hundred's, if not thousands of points to the victory tally, the finale peace could see huge losses for Austria; lost general's, reduced fortifications, reduced walls, claims on Austrian income-up to all of it if points are available. If Russia were to join in the province loss from such a war would likely cause the destruction of the Austrian Empire-it would be returned to a nation status-with a loss of monthly "Glory".

Early, or quick surrenders is a common tactic. It is viewed by many as a gamy exploit, but not by all. Without a battle I may be able to claim one province and a little money. With 2 battles I should have enough victory points to take 5 or more provinces, 50% of Austria's income for a year, some fortification reduction and much more. There is a very big difference. The surrendering party still will only get the 300 experience points. Of course, each side gains experience from each battle. As France will not be able to use any of its victory points on the large point terms of taking provinces, the monetary terms will be harsh indeed.

This is a tough decision for Matto to make. I am not sure that I would continue under such circumstances-although I certainly would want to; it does not seem like the smart thing to do. Of course, Austria is fighting on its own ground (has a "patriotism" upgrade and is fighting on interior lines. It is possible for him to cause a great many casualties-and actually win battles. For him to actually win the war, or to hold out for two years, is extremely unlikely if not impossible.

Well Maestro,

How goes the war? The latest report from France he has lost a lot of men in transit. Do you have any screen shots?

Oh, me and the wife, are taking of the week of memorial day I think the Sept 7th thru 11. We hope to accomplish much in LV.

The war is going fine so far. I have some shots-will put up a little later.

I will likely be able to visit during the weekend-or you folks can come on over here.