Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: Mus

AFAIK no more than 30ish divisions will engage in quick combat, although many more will stay in the routed section and suffer pursuit casualties if you lose. That is probably why Vienna went so badly for you guys. The exact battle limits are listed in the manual but with you having 200k+ and the French having 160k you were likely well over the battle limit while Austria was probably right about at it.

Well now Mus, thanks for that information. Better late than never. Is this something that a player confirmed? Is it written someplace in the manual? I wish I knew how to access a battle log-if one even exists.

It seems that there is a new approach needed.

Hi Maestro,

So from what Mus says, you will need to keep your numbers lower in battle?

Also, It must look very tempting to Russia to make a move. But with your loss in Vieanna he may still hesitate.

I was not aware of any cap on the total number other than 22 divisions on each side fighting at once. I thought that any additional amount could join as the others fell out. That is how it works in detailed combat-perhaps quick too. Instant combat is apparently another story. This has change the approach a bit. It adds another dimension to the operational challenges-lol.

The Czar is coming to recognize the situation more clearly. Fighting Matto the Great takes some getting used too. After this is over the Czar (and myself) will be somewhat more knowledgeable.

ORIGINAL: 06 Maestro

I was not aware of any cap on the total number other than 22 divisions on each side fighting at once. I thought that any additional amount could join as the others fell out.

These other divisions start in the routed column and have to make a morale check to join combat. So if you are getting the worst of things they are actually not likely to join combat and help and in the event you get defeated they are still eligible for capture and pursuit phase casualties. I think it is a flaw in the QC/IC system personally, but basically above a certain level more troops only seem to make your defeats super big.

I avoid more than 20-30 divisions in one territory because of it. Instant combat is just QC without the animation and no part played by where the player puts his units. My experience in watching QC (which I have been doing almost exclusively for some time to aid in figuring out PBEM combat) is that you nearly always win or lose with the units you can deploy under the limit (22 plus or minus due to various factors, oftentimes can be into the mid 20s) with a small chance of extra units (other than those that have been routed from the charge attack defend columns in the normal ebb and flow of battle) being morale checked in from the route area before the battle is over.

Another thing I have concluded is that allies should never jointly participate in battles together. You both take the same moral hit for a loss or a win and so does your enemy who is probably by himself. Allied totals determine the size of the battle and so if you both fight a major battle you both take a massive morale hit and your enemy gets a major boost.

Thanks for the added insight-it all seems so clear now-:) I just suggested this evening that going in with one army might be better-I even offered to go first...

January
Austria Overview

Both the 1st and 2nd Armies were ordered to stay in Krajina and charge the the walls. The French Army in Krajina moved to the N.W. The Russians made some quick moved westward-in one case it was a fortress too far.

January
Strength Comparisons

Nearly every Empire has experienced a drop in fighting strength last month. The O.E. losses have leveled off for the moment. Hopefully there will be an increase soon due to new units arriving.

January
Moral Comparison

Ottoman moral is on its way back up-and Austria's is falling again. The two are much closer that what they were 2 months ago.

January
Siege report

The Siege in Krajina barely has begun-just knocked on the door a bit.
The Ottoman troops in Vienna are doomed-I just hope they made a good showing.

January
Glory Changes

Even though taxes are sky high production of consumer goods is more than adequate. This is partially due to the falling manpower in the provinces. There is simply a better ratio of wine produced per the heathen consumers.

February, 1807
Glory Standings

There is not too much to celebrate at the start of this month, but there is still hope.
It is a sign of the times that no new provincial improvements were completed this month. Few are bing initiated and those already underway have frequently been slowed down.

February
Political Report

The diplomats are continuing to pressure Austria while the Armies take a break.

February
Diplomatic Report

Along with the usual communique of provinces changing hands is this interesting tidbit of Sweden rejecting an alliance with Spain-how interesting. It looks like the King of Spain is not secure with his single ally and is looking for help with his war against the British. What is more interesting is that Sweden does not feel it is in their interest to join such a venture against an existing enemy.

This whole thing still looks a bit phony to the Sultan and a few advisers. However, if the whole Prussian/British war was faked, just what could the aims be?

February
Moral

Ottoman moral continues to recover while Austria continues its downward movement. These changes are small, but if this is going to be a 5 year war it counts-each and every month.

February
Strength Comparison

Strength changes are also moving slowing regarding Austria and Turkey, but it is moving in the Ottoman Empires favor.

The actual number of allied troops in Austria has increased. The French are building up their forces in Munich and the Russians have moved yet closer to the heart of Austria. Although Emperor Matto the Great can be pleased with his recent successes, the war is not over yet-and he knows it. He was and still is in a nearly impossible situation-he needs the Czarina-or somebody to die.

March, 1807
Glory Standings

Ottoman glory is moving up at a rate of about 15 per month. This is a decent rate of increase. It is still outpaced by about 10 per month by Spain.

National moral had a good increase last month of over 75. Barring any new disasters, it will be back up to its normal robust level in no time.

A couple of provincial improvements were completed this month. A farm may not look very exciting, but Karaman is in the heart of the "White Belt:. It produces more cotton that most entire nations of Europe-and it is now taking a 10% increase.

March
Military Upgrades

As mentioned earlier, the universal mobilization upgrade was acquired last month. This has pushed Ottoman limits to 61 divisions or naval squadrons. It was already 3 short, so it is now possible to add 8 more divisions. 2 new divisions were just completed and 4 are in the "oven". I was waiting for a stronger treasury before ordering some cavalry and a new artillery regiment. It is starting to look like they won't be needed-in this war anyway. As I told my allies; Emperor Matto the Great cannot be lucky forever-it has come to pass. Once again I suspect he is considering surrender.
Of course, with his first time surrender he will get 300 army experience points to use for upgrades. This is going to make a very dangerous Austrian Army for sure. It is unlikely that I will be invading Austria again after this war. My crystal ball has been damaged, so I'm not certain of what will come. One thing I do know is that the Ottoman Empire is now getting 84 military experience points per quarter-the Army has greater heights to achieve.

March
Siege Reports

The great attack went in at Krajina. The results were not all that good. The walls were breached which normally means a surrender in the following month-one can hope. The place does have a "super fortress"-not an easy nut to crack. Ottoman losses were 10 times higher than Austrian losses, but it all counts towards the peace treaty limits.

March
Battle Reports

The amazingly good news this month is that Emperor Matto the Great decided to hit the French armies in the west. He would have had an assured success if he charged after the Russians to the east, but that would have just been a short term fix to his dilemma. It is interesting that Austria lost this fight. It had the home ground advantage with superior numbers. Austria's moral was also considerably higher than France's is at the moment. The French Army finally has lived up to its training standards.

Although the losses were not extreme Austria can ill afford any losses. Also, as the Austrian Army was forced to withdraw to the south, away from Vienna and supply, it will not receive any replacements-or supply. It is known that some divisions of the Austrian Army has the forager training, but certainly not all of them. A total of about 250,000 Austrian troops are in a province that support 60,000 foraging soldiers. I expect Austrian losses to be severe-more than the actual battle.

Southwest Austria

The combined Austrian forces moved from Vienna to Munich to engage French forces. As sometimes happens in war, the retreat was in a direction that was less than desirable for the Austrians. You can see that he has no supply available. It would be rational for Austria to surrender now before this turns into a slaughter.

This situation map shows the current movement of the Ottoman 1st Army into Croatia. It does not show the movements of the French or Russian forces.