Gloria Desvanecimiento (Fading Glory) pbem 109

[IronWarrior]

June 1796




Spain gains her coveted alliance with Great Britain and Turkey piles on to declare war on Austria! Also a great month for developments in Spain!

[IronWarrior]

July 1796




Austria begins to get hammered simultaneously on three fronts!






Time for some tough decisions! Below is a view of the strategic situation. It appears that Austria will attempt to focus on Turkey. My guess is that Austria hopes that Prussia will take on Russia and that Spain will do the same with France. What to do... what to do...?

Ironically enough Matto and I have always ended up as allies, and it appears this one is heading in the same direction. I am in a good position and some of the choices I have are:

(A) Sit on the fence and let Austria go down as they are second in the Glory standings, padding Spain's lead. Doing this will surely mean facing France and her allies alone, not to mention Matto has come to my aid in the past and would make me feel terrible lol.

(B) Send a secret proposal to Austria where I could ask for Tuscany in exchange for going to war with France. If victorious, I could demand Lombardy as terms of surrender.

(C) Turn my back on Austria and ask France for Lombardy in exchange for enforced peace, possibly retaining subsidies each month as well.

[IronWarrior]

August 1796




A brilliant move by the Russians gives us our first decisive battle. I think everyone was surprised by this except the Russian player Anthropoid. [:D] In any case, this really puts a sober face on the situation. Joining up with Austria like I would like to do may be even more detrimental now. Of course if I don't, it might be detrimental times 10. I can only hope that Great Britain decides to help Prussia against Russia, or this could start to turn into a rout fast.






Russia has isolated the disordered Prussian Army:



Austria continues to advance on the Turks:



Spain's diplomats attempt some trickery in Lombardy. If successful, we may be able to cut France's supply lines and cause some attrition:



The mighty Spanish forces assembling in Rome:

[Mus]

Seems like if you don't help Austria the French/Russian/Turkish alliance comes out the other side of the war as monster strong, particularly France. Especially if Austria goes down fighting to the bitter end. The French war machine will be pretty big and really experienced. Turkey will in a similar fashion be hardened, particularly when it comes to their troop morale which starts super low but will increase rapidly on campaign due to march attrition and siege loss replacements being of much higher than their average quality.

[IronWarrior]

Oh yeah absolutely! [;)] I try to inject a little drama and/or suspense into the AAR, probably comes off as though I'm naive lol. The obvious choice will be to help Austria out and my guess is that once France notices my insurrection attempts in Lombardy this turn, Spain will no longer be a spectator. [:D] Besides, France is unable to venture very far into Austria with the threat of war with Spain looming so it's only a matter of who declares on who at this point. Austria's morale has been pretty resilient so far, so I was looking for the best opportunity- possibly causing some attrition before even firing a shot.

[Mus]

Naw, I can kinda see what you are already contemplating through the insurrection attempts and what not. I was just thinking out loud for the edification of the peanut gallery.

OTOH You are jumping in to help your greatest rival, and Austria could actually come out the other end strong enough to give you a run for your Italian possessions which are pretty fragile so it is a bit of a Catch-22. Then again maybe Matto would feel indebted and that it was dishonorable to do that, so maybe that doesn't matter.

Russia is a loose cannon! Sneak attacking Prussia like that and pulling England into the conflict. What is Sweden doing? Anything? I noticed from the battle reports that Anthropoid was actually accidently (I hope!) plundering his own territory in Russia.

[:D]

Will be careful to moderate my comments so that I am not revealing any unknown information, unlike many other posters.

[IronWarrior]

That's true about Austria, and is worth considering, but the tiebreaker is definately Lombardy. Acquiring that one province would be huge for Spain as I would then get two spring levee's each April- Kingdom of Naples + Kingdom of Italy. I also don't want to sit on the fence while everyone else's armies gain experience. I don't think that Austria would be able to hurt me in Italy, but I could be wrong.

Heh Russia did appear to have plundered her own territory, but I think it was a really good move to basically dismantle the Prussian army. I've noticed in another game that Russia is really starved for Glory Points and probably needs to be played aggressively to keep up. Conversely, Spain can seem to take the "moral high ground" and pick and choose where to act. Sweden has taken the usual neutral stance so far, which they pretty much have to under normal circumstances.

[IronWarrior]

September 1796




September had a little bit of everything. Battles/sieges, treaty proposals, declaration of war, and some fun message board diplomacy full of rhetoric and propaganda. [:D] Britain declares war on Russia and threatens France unless they back down from Prussia as well. The Ottoman Empire seems to be softening their stance as well in the current scheme of things as Russia's aggressiveness is brought to their attention. Spain's diplomats fail miserably in their insurrection attempt in Lombardy. France was well prepared for that possibility. Russia mauls the remnants of the Prussian army, but invokes the ire of Britain in the process.











Spain continues to advance north and finish consolidating her forces. An attack on France is looking more appealing every turn. Not only do we want to avoid being seen as uncaring towards an ally, but I am also salivating at the prospect of gaining Lombardy and creating the Kingdom of Italy. France is starting to expose her supply line by advancing deeper into Austria, but they have taken a good route through rough terrain which would cause any advance by Spain to pass a "red line" initiative check.




The position of the Austrian and Turkish forces. It is starting to sound like Turkey is willing to call a ceasefire from public diplomacy (message board).




The remnants of the Prussian army now routing into Russia.




British positions after declaring war on Russia.

[IronWarrior]

October 1796




Some surprises this turn as things that were discussed on the message board did not match with events in game. Expected were the ceasefires from France and Turkey with Prussia, Russia's ceasefire with Austria came as a surprise, as did Austria's attack on Turkey who seemed willing to cease hostilities. Britain's new alliances come as good news and makes a Spanish attack on France even more likely.

I decide to go for a new upgrade that will increase my chances of moving through the rough terrain surrounding my forces, and also in Spain. I also want to keep my forces together and not have the armies seperated by a failed initiative check.

Elsewhere, France sends a secret proposal to Russia and Turkey. The Turks win big and fend off an attack by Austria. Prussia wins a small battle against Russia, and the British Royal Navy picks off some Russian targets at sea.













Austria's morale is starting to take a dive after losing the battle against the Ottoman Empire. It appears time for Spain to step in and help her ally.



France captures Munich and drives deeper into Austria. If France reaches Vienna, Spain's window of opportunity will be over quickly. Also shown are the French forces, there is another army beginning to form up in Paris. These forces could be used to counter-attack Spain's homeland, which is cause for concern. The good news is that Britain's stance is beginning to appear as Francophobic and hopefully this army will stay to defend against a possible flank attack from Great Britain.





The Austrian and Turkish positions after the battle. I was surprised as I had thought that the Ottoman Empire was ready to sign a ceasefire. Perhaps the Austrians were looking for some revenge. In any case, Spain is happy to stay out of this feud between two allies.



The Russian and Prussian positions... the main Russian army is in my fog of war in Pskov I believe.



The British forces continue to advance east.

[IronWarrior]

November 1796




The orders are given and Spain comes to the aid of Austria. Using the element of surprise, Spain launches a sneak attack on Lombardy. This province is the source of the French supply lines and we quickly isolate the French army. A second upgrade is purchased this turn to take advantage of the massive amount of Spanish cavalry. The excess 7 experience points left over are to gain the engineering unit upgrade for an infantry unit to help speed sieges.

Turkey declines a ceasefire offered by Austria after being attacked last month and Britain continues to pick off Russian targets at sea.








France advances deeper into Austria, but are now cut off from supply. I hope for a quick siege of Lombardy which is the only source that the French forces can draw from.



Austrian and Turkish positions.



British forces continue advancing east.

[Marshal Villars]

Wow. Incredible AAR.

[IronWarrior]

Thanks Marshal, glad someone's following along.

I also forgot to mention last turn that I am also now at war with Russia. There is also some "public diplomacy" happening. Surprisingly Britain is angry with Spain now?!

[IronWarrior]

December 1796




Some good news and some bad in a busy month of December. The siege of Milan was indeed quick as Spain captures Lombardy! Our atack on France seems to have upset our relations with Great Britain however, which also comes as a surprise considering that we share many of the same alliances and are both at war with Russia. Looks like I didn't understand Britain's stance as well as I thought.

Austria wins a battle against Turkey and France marches on Vienna, taking horrendous losses from attrition as far as I can tell.










The broken alliance with Great Britain is an unfortuate event for Spain. This will force Spain to think about an even more aggressive Francophobic strategy as I will need a path between the homeland and Italy as it appears that Britain cannot be relied on. This was the public diplomacy from the message board [:D]:

From, the Earl of Evenwood; 1st Minister & Foreign Secretary to his Majesty King George III.

To the King of Spain.

It is with considerable repugnance that His Majesties Government learns today of Spain’s adoption of the barbaric Eastern practice of going to war without a due declaration of intent. That sort of uncivilised behaviour should be severely frowned upon by all Nations that would have the respect of their peers.

As his Majesties government has no wish to be associated with Nations that sink to that form of uncivilised depravity we hereby give due public notice of the termination, with immediate effect, of our Alliance with Spain.

Your humble Servant.

Evenwood.

1st Minister & Foreign Secretary to King George III

To the Earl of Evenwood and Ottoman Sultan,

When did France announce intent in attacking Spain's ally, Austria might I ask? And how barbaric would it be for us not to help our ally? France continues her unwarranted attack even after Russia has signed a ceasefire! If it is His Majesty's intent to turn his back on an ally on a whim, then so be it. Spain does not need such an ally. Let it been seen by all- such injustice dealt by the heavy hand of Great Britain! Strange that Great Brtain would look to undermine Spain's efforts to help Britain's new ally- Austria. In Spain we have a word to describe people who turn their back on a trusted friend... barbaric!

I do hope the Sultan sees through the French pandering. It was the French who denied a lasting peace and declined such an offer from Spain more than once in the past.

Cordially,

Jose Canusi
Foriegn Minister and Undersecretary to the King of Spain

I send two units of irregular cavalry to block any possible paths of supply for the French forces in Austria. Indeed it seems to have worked as a depot appears in Lorraine this month and my guess is that this was to be a source of a supply line. It looks like Austria had a similiar idea and retake Munich with irregular cavalry.




Austrian and Turkish positions after Austria's victory at Grosswardein. The Austrians will need to boot France out of Vienna quickly to stop their National Morale from plummeting.



Now that Britain has cancelled the alliance and I am now at war with Russia, my view of this area is deteriorating. It appears that British forces could take some nasty attrition from the Russian winter. Perhaps bad timing for a Russian campaign!



The end of year charts and graphs. Much different than past years is the diplomacy overview... what a mess! Other things of note are the massive downturn for French strength, which leads me to believe that my war of attrition is having an effect. France is also now 18/20 empire status and should lose it next month. Austrian National Morale is starting to dive, now at 297.

[IronWarrior]

January 1797




Austria's morale is really taking a beating as they "decline to rally" this month. I believe this means an unsuccessful attempt to attack- meaning Austria was unable to boot France out of Vienna. This is dire news and means I will need to come to Austria's aid soon! This month, however, I had sent Spain's forces to Genoa and hope for a quick siege next month.







Some more funny diplomacy on the message board. A nasty letter from France and Spain's reply [:D]:

Aha so THAT is what Spain claims to be her reason for the attack?
Well let us look at the facts;
a) Russia DoWed Austria
b) France had an alliance with Russia, and as such were obligated to DoW Austria as well. France never wanted this war, but when we start something we will finish it, Austria is of course welcome to offer a limited surrender and we will accept.
c) Spain did not issue a DoW but instead saw a possibility to inflict damage by a sneak attack, and as such decided to put all of Europe a flame.

If these events makes France to be the bad wolf, then so be it.
But Spain should be warned, Italy might suddenly dissapear from the Spanish realm, as might her colonies. And if Spain believes that the losses inflicted on France will be decisive I must inform you that while you inflicted 60.000 casualties with your loathsome actions, more than 80.000 recruits are ready to bolster the French divisions.

All over France the people calls out for revenge, and when our armies have plundered their way to Madrid, be warned that the peace treaty will not be kind to Spain!

And I find it strange that Spain claims that France has turned down any offer for peace throught the years, a few points is worth noting here as well;
1) Every month France has shared her wealth to keep the Spanish nation up and running as we believed that a strong Spain would benefit all of Europe.
2) Spain and France made a deal where Spain were allowed to keep alot of troops, troops France could have killed off rather easy.

L'Terje de France

* attached to a crate of food with the words stenciled: "Buon Appetito!" *

To: L'Terje de France

It has come to Spain's attention that the mad ruler of France has not been feeding the men of his army! Please be sure to send them this care package with regards from the King of Spain.

If you say this attack on Austria was out of obligation to Russia, then it should be no surprise that we are obligated to our ally as well. We didn't want this war, but certainly when you last refused peace arrangements under the Piedmont agreement, we have no choice but to consider France and her ruler as hostile! We waited for your ceasefire as you were no longer indebted to Russia, but it appears as only an excuse after all and we could not allow our ally to be harassed for no reason!

Italy will not vanish like your army in Austria has done. Please visit, there is plenty of food for everyone!

Cordially,

Jose Canusi
Foriegn Minister and Undersecretary to the King of Spain

Spain moves on Genoa much in the way I conquered the North African territories, by blockading the port to make it easier. This will also make any movement between Italy and the homeland a little easier, and will become instantly conquered once successfully sieged. Always nice to capture a port for extra money and less for France. Genoa also appears to be fairly well built up already to boot.

A bonus for us this turn is that it appears France was attempting to run a supply line through Italy. It looks like my fleet blocked it and then a militia unit, that ironically failed a movement check because of rain trying to get to Milan, blocked it again at Venice. It also looks like Austria had the path covered behind me as well. At Vienna I guessed right that Matto would move his cavalry to Upper Austria and I block possible paths to the north of the French army. It doesn't appear that there was an attempt to run supply in that area though.



Austria's morale is getting dangerously low at 49.

[IronWarrior]

February 1797




Spain quickly sieges Genoa and France loses empire status this month causing them to take a big hit to National Morale! Austria and Russia continue to "decline to rally", and the Armee du Nord pulls out of Vienna. France is now marching towards Spain!










Now it gets tricky, and Terje doesn't disappoint as a tough opponent! The guessing game also begins, and I must be careful (and lucky) if I am going to defeat France. I believe the Armee du Nord will march into Spain's homeland. Armee du Centre will either march on Italy or move west to resupply. The latter is what I think is more probable, and this turn I will continue to try to cut them off from supply. It will not be an easy task this time. I also didn't want to split my forces, but the situation calls for it. If I predict France's moves well, I'll be in good shape. If not... it could get nasty pretty quickly.

I also want to keep the momentum, and try to continue to hurt French morale. I'll attempt to do this by sending an irregular cavalry unit to what appears to be an unoccupied Piedmont. The Spanish army will move to Savoy this turn in hopes of keeping the French armies from linking up. The Italian army will move to Modena to protect the Italian possessions in case the Armee du Centre decides to advance south and forage. Losing these territories would be disasterous as I would also lose the forces as well.

France has also ordered her fleet to set sail. It is slightly larger than the Spanish fleet, but I am not certain what the outcome would be in an engagement. I do have the Naval Repairs upgrade, but France also has many unused Naval experience points. I don't think I want to take a chance of losing a large naval engagement since I have a sizeable advantage in National Morale at the moment. I am also still reliant on my naval forces for transportation purposes between my territories.

[IronWarrior]

March 1797




A fairly quiet month of March as Spain gets her fleet to safety of the port in Sardinia and purchases the Hot Shot upgrade.






Some maneuvering this month. France sends some bodies to occupy Piedmont and my cavalry didn't make it that far. My other cavalry did make its movements and sweeps through Lorraine and Luxemburg to take out possible supply sources for the Armee du Centre. Austrian and Turkish positions also shown.

[IronWarrior]

April 1797




Spain sieges and plunders Aosta this month, and sends some French artwork to Pescara! [:)] Another spring levee in the Kingdom of Naples. I wanted to create the Kingdom of Italy for a second levee, but am not able to yet because of the war with France.









More maneuvering, my cavalry sweeps into Lorraine and Luxemburg again this turn.

[IronWarrior]

May 1797




A great month for Spain as six French divisions surrender at the Battle of Lorraine! Dijon is also sieged and plundered! The bad news is that the Spanish Army ended up out of supply and took some foraging losses, although fairly light. I had sent the Spanish Army from Burgandy to Champagne, onward to Lorraine, and then Luxemburg.










The Italian Army joins up with the Cavalry in Parma as the French march on Lombardy. The Armee du Centre falls back to Palatinate and Paris is starting to look vulnerable! Previous intelligence had shown that there was a small force there, which appears to still be the case from the strategic overview map. I now have a choice of whether to march on Paris or pursue the badly beaten Armee du Centre. If I choose the latter there may be some artillery that I could be able to capture.

[IronWarrior]

June 1797




Not a good month for Spain as the Armee du Nord repels our attack at Lombardy! A Spanish (Italian) infantry division and a unit of cavalry surrender to French forces as Milan is occupied by France. French National Morale has rebounded and Spain's has taken a hit after the Battle of Lombardy . On the bright side, we pursue the Armee du Centre and capture another French division and a unit of Lancers!










The Italian Army is still in good shape after the defeat at Lombardy. It was probably an bad decision to attack and I hope for better results in attempts to defend the area. The Spanish Army ends its move in Baden. I will need to decide whether or not to use them to reinforce the Italians, or march on Paris.

[IronWarrior]

July 1797




A big victory this month for the Italian Army causing over 30k casualties to the Armee du Nord and capturing two more French infantry divisions! I took a gamble that they could defend the area and sent the Spanish Army to Paris. Unfortunately my probe attack there didn't go as well, but could have been much worse.










Current positions of the French and Spanish forces. Also shown is our growing PoW camp. [:D]





Austrian and Turkish positions. It appears that Austria is turning the tables and now going on the offensive!



Britain begins to advance into Russia...



Position of Prussian and Russian forces. Prussia appears to be attempting to link her armies...