GC Republican AAR

[Rysyonok]

Welcome to this grand Republican disaster, where most planes can't be replaced, there are only 2 functional subs to start, some ships are so antiquated that not even AI can explain what an "xAKL-T" is, and our main source of transportation is a mule.

But we're going to have fun anyway, all the way down to Valhalla.

Let's see, the first orders are to:

- send every pilot into training until we can get a better grasp on long-term air availability
- the northern fleet is redeployed south
- all gunboats are sent to closest ports overnight
- the two functional subs are sent towards Gibraltar and towards the remote entry point towards Italy
- a couple of mobile units will consolidate to their closest largest city

Santiago!

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[Dreamslayer]

That reminds me:
"The day came when I gave the order: "Get a fighter in the air" — we had only one plane!"
Ignacio Hidalgo de Cisneros, "Cambio de Rumbo"

[RangerJoe]

The xAK-T/xAKL-T is a cargo ship that has cargo spaced converted into troop accommodations. You probably won't need those in the game.

[Rysyonok]

The very first day is definitely overwhelming. Sevilla falls, predictably, although by some grace of luck both units are on the move (run). There's a 1% chance they might make it out, too. Also, because of all of the bombardments, I can see the size of the nearby enemy units, even though no air recon took place. I imagine there's fog of war, but 19 men won't become 1,900, will they?

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Plans for today:

- Start evacuation of Menorca, there is a small naval HQ and a pioneer unit there without a disband flag
- Start to figure out how to save the Northern enclave

[Rysyonok]

The xAK-T/xAKL-T is a cargo ship that has cargo spaced converted into troop accommodations. You probably won't need those in the game.

Thank you kindly. I guess they are like APs, just much smaller. Might as well intern them in USSR to deny VPs to the Nationalists.

[Rysyonok]

That reminds me:
"The day came when I gave the order: "Get a fighter in the air" — we had only one plane!"
Ignacio Hidalgo de Cisneros, "Cambio de Rumbo"

After armadas of WPO and WIP, seeing squads with 1 plane is definitely underwhelming. I get that most replacements will probably come from new units, but, man, this is scary to start with.

[Rysyonok]

The second day brings on even more combat all over the place. Overall, it's a slight win for the Reps in the North, a stalemate in the Center, and an upsetting loss at Granada. It turns out that recon can be in fact misleading. Some of the "60-men" Nat INF units turned out to have 10x more, which made pretty much every battle have 0:1 odds. In the meantime, most high-volume AKs / APs are sent to Russia, to Leningrad and Odesa. Murmansk is unavailable due to a unit panel that won't go away (there's a separate post in the bug forum). Trainees manage to damage 2 planes. And it looks like we are going to see some naval action by Gibraltar shortly.

[Q-Ball]

Subscribed! Are you playing vs. AI or Human?

Some observations about the Republican Air:

--Initial planes are terrible as you say, but the Dornier Wals are useful search planes, and the Vildebeest on Nav T is pretty solid....have to respect anything that carries a torpedo. Only problem is that you don't get any replacements, so when you run out, you run out.
--The I-15 Chato is equal to CR 32, and superior to He 51
--The I-16 Mosca is better than anything except some of the Bf-109 Models (haven't really looked carefully, but I think at least B model or better)
--The Potez and Bloch bombers you get early are slow and vulnerable, but carry decent bomb loads, and there aren't alot of fighters around
--SB 2 is a good mid-30s bomber all-around

What's your plan on Mallorca? That's an early decision point.

Don't forget the Tanker in Casablanca, and send other tankers to Odessa to start picking up fuel

[Rysyonok]

> Subscribed! Are you playing vs. AI or Human?

Thank you, yes, Nat AI at the base settings.

> Some observations about the Republican Air:

> Only problem is that you don't get any replacements, so when you run out, you run out.

Precisely. I am intentionally inserting a PEBKAC (Problem exists between keyboard and chair) here: I am a heavy WW1 (and pre-WW1) player, so over-training pilots from the get-go is engrained with me. That said, I haven't seen any movements with the top-skilled units, so I may be releasing them to action soon.

> --The I-15 Chato is equal to CR 32, and superior to He 51
> --The I-16 Mosca is better than anything except some of the Bf-109 Models (haven't really looked carefully, but I think at least B model or better)
> --The Potez and Bloch bombers you get early are slow and vulnerable, but carry decent bomb loads, and there aren't alot of fighters around
> --SB 2 is a good mid-30s bomber all-around

Great info all around, I appreciate it.

> What's your plan on Mallorca? That's an early decision point.

I'm giving it up altogether; I already know that the Reps long, so I'm defensive from the get-go, and the total lack of military wins the last day all over the place? A naval landing is not an option with my skill level.

> Don't forget the Tanker in Casablanca, and send other tankers to Odessa to start picking up fuel

Oof! What a save! Yes, I definitely need to get the TKs moving, and I didn't even have an idea about this one. AKs left last turn except for the really damaged ones.

[Q-Ball]

I would go for Mallorca vs. the AI, for the reasons I outlined here:

https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopi ... 3f14eeac25

Amphib landings aren't that hard, and will be really easy if you depart July 30 or 31, because there won't be any Nationalist ships or planes that can interfere at all. And even after Aug 4, you'll have naval superiority, particularly because you'll have Jamie I.

Just make sure you load up a couple "supply only" ships, to make sure you land enough supply for the forces....maybe several of these. You'll need most of your transport fleet, but you have alot of transports. Don't bother converting any to AK-T, there isn't time.

You'll need ships at the embarkation points where there are some units, like Barcelona, Cartagena, Valencia, Alicante

I would go for it