Ghost armies?

[Jimjimjok]

Hello.

I bought this game two days and just encountered a weird issue in my first game. In a previous turn Russia dozens of Russian detachments appeared. These detachments had no units in them but still blocked in their turn, blocked my movement, and caused battles to occur (which I automatically won). Within two months they'd all merged with real Russian armies or disappeared due to isolation.

However, several turns later it's happened again. This time, both France and Russia have these ghosts armies. However, now they're everywhere! My Italian breakthrough is now ruined as my marauding army is stuck in Toulouse surrounded by 4 fake armies. I don't know where I need to defend because I don't know who is real and who isn't.

These false armies have appeared everywhere the Russians or French had troops during the previous 2-3 turns, including in my Ottoman and German territory.

What do I do?

[Sol Invictus]

I think I remember reading something in the manual about Decoy units. Maybe this is what you are running into.

[Jimjimjok]

If they are, then I think the numbers need to be toned down. There are 6 on the western front, including 2 in German territory behind my defensive line. There are at least 50 new armies on the Russian front this time, many of them behind my lines.