Turkey Tactical Journal

By Anon

Turkey is a position of strange contrasts; a large country with a weak tax rate, a normally large but essentially weak army, long coastlines but a weak navy, a country with a finger in many pies but rarely able to profit from any of them. Turkey can get involved in many situations, but will be hard-pressed to make her voice heard loud in the councils of Europe. Yet Turkey sits in a defensively strong ‘corner’ of the map and with steady leadership ought to be able to rise to greatness.

The first considerations for any government must be economic. Without cash and a healthy economy, you cannot build armies or fleets. Without armies and fleets you will not make your way in the world of Austerlitz. Turkey has a low tax rate but the advantage of a relatively large population. This should be increased as fast as possible by absorbing the neutral co-ordinates of the Middle-East and by raising population density at home whenever possible. Turkey should make a play for Egypt and the trade city Cairo, and is probably the best situated to back up her claim. Likely rivals will be Naples, Morocco and France.

Troops should be loaded onboard ships and transported across to Egypt. The race for Cairo is one against time and efficiency of your rivals. You should not be afraid to bargain over the city, as other states will often accept a small concession in return for giving you a free hand. They are operating far from home while you could be supported from Palestine, so they may be nervous. A determined Sultan ought to be able to make his weight felt in this theatre. If not, you are in for a difficult game!

In parallel with the Egyptian moves, you should have columns moving into Palestine. Your objectives are initially the two ore mines at 67/65 and 74/56, but eventually you want to control all the territory round into Egypt. There are nearly 400,000 neutral citizens in this area, who are worth 20 million Louisdore per year to your treasury. They will also produce 80,000-100,000 new citizens for you per year.

One result of your conquest of Egypt will be the opportunity to move into the Indies via the Red Sea jump-off points. This short communication line allows you to put a lot of troops into the Indies, without sailing the hazardous waters of the Atlantic. Colonial wars, where you have some strategic advantages, can be a good arena to deploy some of your European troops. At least against other countries’ colonials, you will have a quality advantage!

The final area to watch in the opening months is the Caucasus. This is less interesting for Turkey but you cannot afford to have Russia establish her borders too close to your homeland. It is probably best to secure an agreement with the Tsar to agree a border, perhaps around the 34/35 line.

It is possible for Turkey to establish a flourishing economy. This is a key objective for you. Build your farms below the ‘35’ line for maximum efficiency. With 3 ore mines you can operate six factories. Build up the lumbercamps, sheep farms, quarries etc to serve a big economy. Note that Turkey, like Russia, is large enough to be able to disperse her main production centres against enemy attack.

Turkey should not have any illusions about her armed forces. The army is mainly poor quality, naval morale is among the lowest in the game. Turkey will only be able to fight successful wars if her armies and navies are larger than her enemies. It is here that a large population and a big economy are vital. You need lots of new recruits each month and the money/ecpts to build eight brigades each turn. If you have the citizens but not the finances, you must build poor quality cheap troops. If you have the finances but not the citizens, build better quality/expensive troops.

Once you have established the economy you should aim to build only your best units. The bulk of your infantry should be Palace Guard. These are a poor substitute for Grenadiers but they are the best you have. You will need some Light Infantry for skirmishing. These guys are not too bad. Avoid Warriors and Janitshars as much as possible, except for garrison duty.

In the cavalry arm, you should try to concentrate on Sipahis as much as possible. They are the only cavalry in your stable that are reasonably good. You will need some Hussars for skirmishing duty, Uhlans for use against infantry and the Mamelukes are good value for money.

Only in artillery are the Turks well provided. Consequently a Turkish army should have proportionately more artillery than other nations. In one famous Austerlitz battle, the Turks were able to smash a Russian army for no losses, simply through the deployment of massive artillery firepower.

All this will be expensive for Turkey, hence the need for 6 factories and a rich economy. However, once Turkey starts to be successful, it gains from one or two other factors. All conquered territory is taxed at the same rate as the home population, so conquest and increasing population is beneficial to Turkey. Turkey’s economy and large population can better replace losses. Turkey will probably be better placed than her rivals to operate multiple columns in wars of conquest. Finally, numbers can be more important than quality in mathematical battles.

Turkey has three real neighbours: Morocco, Austria and Russia. Morocco is attractive as an opponent because it has an even poorer army. A war over Egypt and Libya is an interesting proposition providing it doesn’t become too long drawn out. It will be difficult to conquer Morocco merely because of it’s size. However a successful campaign with some bonus EF raises for the troops could be very productive, especially if you then make peace with Morocco or leave it embroiled in a war with Naples.

Russia and/or Austria can be real dangers to Turkey, as history constantly shows. Only geography and smooth diplomacy can help you here. Neither nation can march its armies into your country for long without the risk of other powers intervening. Austria must watch Prussia, Rhine and Italy; Russia must watch Sweden, Warsaw and Austria. This should really show you that in any defensive war, you should play for time and seek allies on the other side of your enemy.

Opportunities in the early years may often depend on other developments. Russian failure against Sweden or Warsaw is a great opportunity to take southern Russia. You should simultaneously march through the Caucasus and Ukraine, and make amphibious landings in the Crimea area. Likewise you may get an opportunity to gobble up half of Austria. But these campaigns are risky if initiated by you, rather they should be your reaction to events elsewhere. This is a very passive policy but is probably the best if you want to be successful coming into 1810.