Arriba Espana, Parte 2! A Nationalist PBEM AAR Q-Ball (N) v Przemek (R)

[Q-Ball]

So, this is a re-do between myself and Przemek. Same sides, same game. The last game was marred by report issues that were recently fixed, so I think that is sorted! Przemek was doing a little on the job training (he hadn't even played the AI before), so I think he'll give me a real game this time. Przemek is a veteran WITP-AE player, so he knows the basics for sure, and now knows this engine better.

One HOUSE RULE we have: Axis (i.e. Italian and German) warships will not be used offensively; surface ships will be restricted to convoy escort, or patrolling the Strait of Gibraltar or around Mallorca. This fits their historical role; they basically escorted the Army of Africa to discourage the Republic from intervening in transit. The Italians also escorted convoys to Palma. And that's all they are going to do in this game. They will NOT do any bombardment missions, or hunt for Republican shipping outside of those narrow areas.

Axis subs CAN be used normally and aggressively; this is also historical, as there is deniability in Sub Ops

I will be playing the Nationalist side, 1-Day turns, default rules.

Initial Objectives:

I'm pasting the objectives from my first AAR; I don't think they've changed and are pretty clear. Phase 2 can happen after these things are accomplished, which will hopefully be by mid-September 1936.

First, you need to get the Army of Africa to the mainland. Against the AI, that's a pretty easy task; I found it doesn't really stop you from running convoys from Ceuta or Tangiers to wherever you need to go. I don't expect it to be that easy this time, since I can already see Republican warships lurking around the Strait. So this will be a focus, to get those experienced troops to Spain.

Second, at the early stage you need to expand the footprint in the South. There are very few Republican troops and open terrain, so alot of this is pretty easy, but it's important to relieve Cordoba and Grenada, expand northward, clear Extramadura, and clear the rail line from Seville to Salamanca to unite the two parts of Nationalist territory

I also need to get initial formations together to start taking key objectives; this can be done right away. Nationalists are particularly strong in Navarre (near Pamplona), so San Sebastian is an early target. Need to put some pressure on Aragon, to hopefully blunt any move on Mallorca. Overall, need to start getting the army together and taking space, because space means villages/towns, and villages/towns means increased supply production, which is key.

I'll break down the tactical as we get going

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Side note, I have to say that the Republic had much cooler posters, maybe because most of the artists and whatnot were on that side!

[Dreamslayer]

intento número dos
How do you manage the leaders? Do you ignore it completely?

[Rysyonok]

Actively following and rooting for both!

[Q-Ball]

July 17-19

And we're off!

CASA Vildebeest

Right away, I get a visit from the most powerful weapon in the Republican inventory; the mighty Vildebeest!

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With the ability to use Torps at 34 hexes, and 250 lb AP bombs at 41 hexes, no port is safe, including Vigo:

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He probably would've hit El Ferrol, except that I moved the shipping from there. These are two larger AKs that are now toast; they were converting to AK-T.

At this point, I am dispersing or moving every ship in Spain. This is not easy, as there are already Republican ships in the Strait of Gibraltar. There is no way to protect any ship docked in Spain. I had already planned to move Espana and Navarra to Kiel to repair there.

There is no question: The Vildebeest is the most deadly aircraft in the game.

Madrid:

The opening set-up is different now; several artillery units start in Madrid. The objective here is to just get them out of harms way, so they won't go into the Republican pool (and will go into mine instead). So far, so good...we successfully broke out of Madrid. All the engineering units are also fleeing.

We are flipping a few towns just to cause chaos on the way out of town

There is not a meaningful way, however, to help the garrison in Toledo, which will probably die:

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Elsewhere:

Standard stuff elsewhere

Lots of shipping is fleeing to Naples from the Balaerics, and generally trying to get them out of the Med. Dispersing ships elsewhere to hide from the Vildebeests.

We are gathering alot of troops for a push on San Sebastian....again. It's almost hard-coded, because the Nationalists get a ton of early reinforcements around Pamplona. I expect to be able to rush the place again. Despite the change in hexside control, I was able to extract the Artillery from San Sebastian and escape to safety.

The Repubicans fled Cordoba and Carceras, two towns where they have no chance. We of course cleared Seville.

We are fleeing Malaga (but will be back), and fled Gijon for the safety of Oveido.

[Q-Ball]

intento número dos
How do you manage the leaders? Do you ignore it completely?

Honestly, I don't pay much attention. I looked at changing a few, but in most cases the Leaders are all in the 50-60 range in the key attributes, so there isn't alot of gain from manual switching. Maybe someone can convince me otherwise.

Even the ship leaders are all pretty solid, but there isn't an Admiral that is highly ranked like in WITP-AE (where Tanaka, for example, gets your top surface TFs, etc)

[Q-Ball]

July 20

VIldebeest Update:

I had to wait a day or two before moving Espana, for fear of running into the Spanish cruisers outside El Ferrol. I finally moved her to Kiel this day, but she was caught by Vildebeests on Naval Bomb:

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5 Bomb hits by AP bombs....fires are mostly out, so I think she'll make it to Kiel with some additional damage.

Vildebeests also nearly sank my only active Tanker at Vigo:

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She survived with minor damage after dropping off fuel; needless to say she ain't staying here, so we're moving the ship elsewhere.

Finally, Vildebeests hit Tangiers on a Port Raid. Thankfully, there wasn't much home, just a Sailboat that went down:

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So, what exactly can I do about all this? They can hit any port on the map (except Ifni). So I am taking several steps:

1. Moving a bunch of ships to Germany; this is risky with Republican ships at-sea, but better than dying in port
2. DIspersal: I am dispersing smaller ships all over the place, such that it probably won't be worth it to hunt down and bomb them.
3. Movement: I am moving ships all the time between ports, so they can't be spotted consistently
4. Retreat: Lots of ships moved to Naples, Kiel, and Ifni/Canarias, where they are out of reach

There is nothing to protect the harbors; the only AA guns on the map are a couple units in Zaragossa (which are being moved for Port Defense, but that takes awhile). Until I get some aircraft, there is nothing I can do.

I won't be able to end this scourge for good until I get some FIAT fighters; then I can set a CAP TRAP and at least stop the Naval Attacks.

Madrid:

We successfully extricated the Artillery, and I think all the engineers will get away. The units you see south of Madrid are just HQ units that are about to disband; they are causing trouble before going down.

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[Dreamslayer]

So, what exactly can I do about all this? They can hit any port on the map (except Ifni).

You can try to ask the scenario designers to reduce the exp/skills for pilots. It doesn't look realistic. Same can be done for LCU's too.

[Q-Ball]

So, what exactly can I do about all this? They can hit any port on the map (except Ifni).

You can try to ask the scenario designers to reduce the exp/skills for pilots. It doesn't look realistic. Same can be done for LCU's too.

Well, too late for this game!

July 22, 1936

Vildebeest Scourge:

After the attack on Espana off El Ferrol (after she sank a couple large AKs, which was nice revenge), Przemek set to finding her by raiding ports around La Coruna. This turn it was El Bargo, where I do have a few ships docked:

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While I lost the ships, I'll take this result; Torpedos are not unlimited, and he just wasted some against pretty minor targets. Still, just goes to show how vulnerable all my shipping is.

Another raid using bombs on Cadiz; this is a larger AK that was converting to Ak-t....she is now toast:

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Man, I just wish we had an AA gun or two, something to shoot back at these things.

He also hit an AP in Tetuan harbor, but damage was minimal. I keep moving ships around and might just move alot to Portugal if this continues (I tested and found I could dock ships there, though there is limited coal/fuel available)

Naval Update:

Republican warships are patrolling the Strait unmolested, and into the Atlantic, so everything is a no-go zone right now. This prevents me from just fleeting all Ships from Spain en masse to Ifni or Canarias, ports that are safe from the Vildebeeests.

Jamie I is up on the Cantabrian coast; she is daily bombarding my troops at Irun trying to take the town.

North Update:

We are moving on San Sebastian from several directions. We have assembled a strong force to push up toward Oveido and open the rail line to that town to relieve the garrison. The Oveido defenders did successfully push out the Republican units in the town, so we have an open hex there right now.

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Elsewhere:

We are moving as you would expect; he is cleaning-up the few units from Madrid that could not run far enough (due to fuel limitations), and I am taking villages all around Seville to increase supply production. There is a path to Cordoba now, and working on a path to Grenada.

I'm not that worried about Grenada though; the garrison is pretty strong, with plenty of supplies, so I'm not too concerned it will fall. I have large forces moving toward it from Seville, but they are clearing villages and Garrisons along the way.

[Q-Ball]

July 23-24, 1936

Vildebeest Scourge:

Vildebeest continue to raid Cadiz; I've moved the most valuable ships, but I had an AK that I was converting to AK-T, so could not move....and she's gone, along with a couple smaller ships:

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Here is the total; 4 more ships sunk in port:

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Well, what can you do.....I don't think this will end for a couple more weeks at least, when I get some fighters operational. I think it's about a month before I get some AA guns down there (German ones).

Southern Theater:

Quick update, the Strait is closed, with Republican Cruisers hanging out on the Atlantic side. Jamie I is coming down the coast of Portugal, I guess done with bombarding things up north. He seems to be consolidating the fleet for a fight later in August. In the meantime, I have to keep all my ships in hiding and NOT at sea. They're not safe at sea, and not safe in port, so you can imagine some of the hoops I have to jump through to keep losses down.

I have 7 air transports, and they are busy moving 2 units over the Strait (very slowly; this takes about 10 days roughly).

Otherwise, we are pushing east to relieve Grenada. We also plan an early move on Malaga, mostly to close the airbase there, and push Vildebeest range further away.

North

Irun has fallen, with those units falling back to San Sebastian. I am attacking Hernani, the suburb just to the south of town, but the Level-5 forts at Tolosa are holding us up on the road. I have a plan to break this.

Ortiguera, on the Galician coast, also falls; I think he will be pulling back toward Gijon and abandon that area

Loss Screen:

I don't want to post these every day, I wish there was a weekly/monthly summary. But here you go. Generally, we are maintaining a 3-1 ratio, though some of his losses right now are Garrison units that are easy pushovers that run up the body count.

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[Dreamslayer]

I have 7 air transports, and they are busy moving 2 units over the Strait (very slowly; this takes about 10 days roughly).

Being a true aviator, Kindelan proposed to transfer the entire army by air, i.e. in a way that was quite original for that time. Initially, the troops were transported by 3 Fokker F.VIIb3m, carrying 16-20 soldiers each, and one Dornier Wal (12 men). On July 25, a Douglas DC-2 (up to 25 men) and another Wal were added to them. The planes made four sorties a day. Nevertheless, the pace of transfer was admitted by the command of the nationalists as insufficient, and the transfer of heavy weapons remained a problem.

The participation of German and Italian aircraft significantly accelerated the transfer of Francoist troops to Spain. The Junkers, for example, took 40 fully armed soldiers on board instead of 17 passengers. The record was set by Captain Henke, who transferred 243 "Moroccans" in a day.

[Q-Ball]

I have 7 air transports, and they are busy moving 2 units over the Strait (very slowly; this takes about 10 days roughly).

Being a true aviator, Kindelan proposed to transfer the entire army by air, i.e. in a way that was quite original for that time. Initially, the troops were transported by 3 Fokker F.VIIb3m, carrying 16-20 soldiers each, and one Dornier Wal (12 men). On July 25, a Douglas DC-2 (up to 25 men) and another Wal were added to them. The planes made four sorties a day. Nevertheless, the pace of transfer was admitted by the command of the nationalists as insufficient, and the transfer of heavy weapons remained a problem.

The participation of German and Italian aircraft significantly accelerated the transfer of Francoist troops to Spain. The Junkers, for example, took 40 fully armed soldiers on board instead of 17 passengers. The record was set by Captain Henke, who transferred 243 "Moroccans" in a day.

Generally, I think in real life they were more successful than you can be in-game. You can't get that many troops over quickly, maybe 100 a day at best. Same problem as real-life, the heavy equipment can't be flown, and definitely not the pack camels....

July 26-26, 1936.

Hey, Vildebeests didn't sink anything these turns! They did raid Seville, but just damaged a transport. I didn't have alot of ships in port, I'm really trying to move stuff away from the major ones.

BB Espana, CL Navarra, and DD Velasco are now at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, where they can safely repair away from the nasty Vildebeests. Espana has a 5-month repair estimate, so she'll be available around the New Year. Velasco only a month, and Navarra of course has that 9-month refit that is a fixed schedule. That's pretty much the Nationalist surface fleet at this point, at least until Cervera hits the water.

Alot of shipping is concentrated in "safe" places away from major ports in Spain.

Requetes:

Alot of the fighting right now is being undertaken by Requetes and Falangist Militias; they are often the most experiences and highest morale troops

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They are leading the advance in the North, close to the Carlist homeland of Navarre.

Asturias

Overall the Republican forces have been tougher in the 2nd go-around of this AAR (better reporting and some experience from Przemek), but he's in a blender in Asturias.

The Oveido garrison defeated local forces, then sent forces down the road toward the mountain pass at Pajares. This cuts his supply, opens the road for us, and really puts those forces in a bind, as they can't really move into the mountain hexes on either side. Pajares is a tough nut to crack, but this is the vulnerability of that position:

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Not sure how I would extricate that position if I were him....3500 troops are stuck there, and the only way out is over the mountain, unless he can get a relief column down from Oveido

He is holding me off so far pretty well in San Sebastian, but this position is a pickle

[Q-Ball]

July 30

Naval Update:

It's been 3 days since I lost a ship, which is swell......I have moved any large ship from Spain, the only ones left are small boats...which seem difficult to hit for Vildebeests. They are still a scourge.

I let my opponent know that I will NOT be challenging him in the Strait with the Italian Cruisers. 2 TFs, one consisting of the 2 Republican CLs and 3 DDs is in the Atlantic, and the BB + 3 DDs is on the Med side of the Strait, so it's completely shut!

Republicans are landing on Mallorca; no idea how many yet. I did a few things differently with supply this time, so Palma has a larger stockpile than last game

Puerto de Pajares:

Here is a modern photo of the Mountain Pass at Pajares; yes, looks like high mountains all around!

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3500 Republican troops are stuck there; relief forces are gathering, and it looks like the Republican are going to pull back everything West of Gijon as a result (except the static units of course). I am bringing in more troops to keep those units in Pajares isolated and starving. For those new to the engine, you really have to pay attention to HEXSIDE CONTROL; by bringing a unit from the north, I gained control of the road to the north. I can freely move units through Pajares, but the only place the Republicans can go is into a mountain hex:

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San Sebastian:

Things also getting dicey for the Republic here; I am close to taking the hex between Tolosa and San Sebastian, at which point he's going to have to either evacuate the city, or stay and get surrounded. I'm surprise he's not already pulling out of Tolosa. I would be pulling back toward the "Ring of Iron" at this point.

San Sebastian is tough to defend, and the area east of Bilbao (around Guernika) is even harder.....I think most Republican players are going to have to bail for the safety of the heavy forts around Bilbao on this end.

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Andalusia:

Just pushing over garrisons and advancing in Andalusia; I am confident we will have Malaga soon. I really would like to push on Guadix to take over the airbase there and end the threat to Southern ports.

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[RangerJoe]

You might want to fly the lighter portions of some of the African troops to Mallorca. They can help hold the Republicans off at Palma. If you use the faster ships from Napoli with Italian naval escorts, you can bring in supplies there. Possibly even some of the Italian units that show up at Napoli as well.

Look up the Italian submarines, when they come into play. A couple of them are SSMs and you can put up defensive minefields as well. But all of them can ambush the Republican navy, then you will also get Italian and German bombers for naval strikes as well.

[Q-Ball]

August 2, 1936

Naval Update:

The big update is that our CD guns hit something; namely, the Libertad as a 2xCL, 4xDD task force was transiting the Strait into the Atlantic:

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She was spotted having only moved 10 hexes toward Malaga under escort, with a reported speed of 4 knots. So I think it was a significant hit with the "Heavy Fires" doing alot of the lifting. She'll make port, pump out, and go for repairs, but I think she'll be out of action for awhile. From the hit location, it looks like it was a 260mm hit, so that's a big shell on a cruiser.

This is huge, because that means the Republic is down to 1 cruiser; enough for now to still prevent the Army of Africa moving, but still increases the risk for him. It also is a reminder that the Strait is not 100% safe to transit.

Elsewhere, I am modifying use of Axis Surface Ships; I let my opponent know that CA Trento will be formed into an Escort TF and move to a port on the Moroccan coast to serve as a floating AA battery. This is how I'm going to use these ships for the time being; they will not be doing ANY surface fighting. I think that mirrors history better. I will probably take the floatplanes, though.....

This means the only "Fighting" ships I have will have to be Spanish. Right now, that means CL Almirante Cervera. Eventually I will have Espana; she is repairing at Kiel.

Army of Africa:

Speaking of which, Transport flights for the Army of Africa have halted. Why? All 6 transport planes I have are under maintenance! Apparently we have sent word to the Netherlands for spare parts for my Fokkers.

God forbid we use anything but Fokker-certified parts, it will void the warranty!

Once the planes are repaired, I will finish moving over a Tabor of Moroccans. We have also moved a Bandera of the Legion over already. Slow going!

San Sebastian:

San Sebastian falls, and I'm trying to trap some troops in the bargain. It's a bit of a race; usually the defenders can find an opening, but we'll see if we can extract a price here. Either way, he's got to get out of there and flee west, that's for sure!

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Pajares:

Also a mess here....the Republic is sending strong forces to try to relieve their guys at Pajares. I'm not strong enough to eliminate the pocket, but will start Cautious attacks so they burn-off their Ammo. No idea how much supply he has there. When the supplies run out, those guys will die, and that's the objective:

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Elsewhere:

Huelva falls as expected. We are moving north of Malaga, and hope to assault it from the rear to trap the units there; I may not have the patience for that, we'll see. Strong forces are also approaching from the West to Malaga. It's only a matter of time, and I think Przemek knows that fully.

Teruel has been hot; Republicans are attack, and I am barely holding; not sure if I have to abandon it or not, but we'll hang out for awhile and find out.

[Q-Ball]

August 4-8, 1936

Naval Update:

Per our house rules, I brought CA Trento onto the map in an ESCORT TF, as a floating AA battery. She was attacked off the Algerian coast by Vildebeests, and she shot down 3 of them.....the first Vildebeest losses of the game! I parked her in Melilla harbor, which should keep the Vildebeests away I think.

Overall, the threat of those Vildebeests is lessened; I have taken Malaga, which means they can't use torpedos anymore in the Southwest corner of Spain. They can still reach Cadiz with bombs, however. I am starting to get fighters though, and the only Republican fighter that can escort that far is the Dewoitine 371 (an underrated plane, IMO, but one with limited numbers and no replacements). Long-term, it looks like the Soviet fighters are too short-legged to escort toward any of the major ports.

Libertad, after that CD gun hit, made Malaga; I tried bombing here there but the one hit was a dud (!). She left immediately at 12 knots, and is now in Cartagena....and I am sure the De 371s he has are protecting that port. Based on that sequence, I think she will be out of action at least a couple months.

Since that CD gun hit, the Republicans have had fewer ships in the Atlantic side of the Strait; he doesn't seem to want to bring Jamie I through, probably because in our last game a CD gun hit really damaged her badly. This has allowed my to start moving the Army of Africa by Sea, though with a longer, safer route that is slowing operations.

Przemek is well aware of the risks of getting into a major sea fight on the Atlantic side of the Strait; any ship damaged would have to make it past the CD guns and all the way to Almeria, now that Malaga has fallen. That may be why he's pulled back.

That CD hit on Libertad was very important strategically

Dewoitine 372:

The Republic gets a small squadron of these right about now; looking at the stats, I think it's a decent plane. It has the same speed as the CR 32, though a bit less maneuverability. It has a very long range (over 40 hexes) which allows it to escort over most of Spain. The biggest problem for the Republic is a lack of spares or replacements. But I think it's the only decent fighter the Republic gets until the Soviet fighters show in October.

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3 months is a long time to go without decent fighters; Nationalist will briefly have air superiority in September and early October, thanks to the presence of 2 squadrons of CR 32 FIAT fighters. But the I-15 is roughly a match for the FIAT, and the I-16 is superior. (The He 51 is better than the Ni 52, but inferior to everything else, IMO)

Army of Africa Update:

I now have 3 Battalions engaged on the mainland, and another 3 landed and moving up. That's it, the rest is still in Africa.

I did manage to move all units from Canarias and Ifni to Vigo, via a long route in the Atlantic. The Canarias units are really regular conscripts and not seasoned vets.

Aragon Front:

I haven't posted much in this direction, but I can tell Przemek is doing a good job here. It's hot!

I am hung-up on Fraga; I'd like to take Llerida, but a bit stuck at Fraga, and he's cutting my supplies. Not sure I can stay here, we'll see what I do.

Teruel is also very hot; I have reinforcements heading there, but the Republicans have cut supplies over and over, and are making progress in the town. May have to abandon it. It's not very strategic right now, but later I'd like to be there!

Sorry for the crude markups, but highlighting the action areas:

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Andalusia:

Things are hot here too....I have taken Malaga, which was an early objective (due to the Vildebeest threat, and the active airfield there), and we are strong enough that we should easily roll-up that whole region to Almeria. I'll have to decide then if I want to invest Almeria. I would like to take out the airfield at Guadix, as well as the port and airfield at Almeria; taking both would go a long way to securing the Strait, as then his nearest airbase and port will be Cartagena; it's particularly hard to sustain a blockade on the Atlantic side from there, because any ship damaged will have a LOOONG way to port and have to run the CD guns.

As a counter to this, there is a major Republican push to Cordoba; he has at least 5000 men on the way. I have about 1500 in the garrison. Alarm bells are going off in Burgos, so we are sending reinforcements, pulling units from varous -places. I'd like to hold it, but I think we're in for a siege!

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I don't want to divert from Almeria, to keep the pressure on there, so we'll see what happens. I need more guys!