GC Republican AAR

[Rysyonok]

2 months of skirmishes - and a single Italian armor goes through the whole region like a knife through butter. So much for reading that in War in Spain AT triumphed over tanks! We're starting to fall back, meaning that NATs are about to gain their railroad to the North after all.

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[Rysyonok]

We've tried a new maneuver. Along the expected retreat path of a NAT unit, we set screening troops with combat orders to see if two combats a turn are possible for the same unit - and they were!

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[RangerJoe]

You can use your horse cavalry to race around his rear areas. They can spot enemy units up to 6 hexes away. So use them near your lines to spot the enemy units coming in, their direction of travel, possibly their destination, get in good defensive positions in front of the enemy, and move even weaker units into the enemy rear areas. You should also have a better air force to bomb his units while they are moving in the open terrain. That includes the L3s . . .

[Rysyonok]

Bilbao and San Sebastian sectors all fall back to their cities as NATs are advancing and will arrive imminently. It's 55 miles to REPs at Zaragoza due to retreat in the North; the Zaragoza troops are stuck in skirmishes. Side note: it's mesmerizing and amazing to see all the individual unit names - so many references to the Russian revolution! I just wish that infantry regiments had names or numbers.

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Santander sector has pretty much every strong unit from the Northern Republic. Fighting is heavy. Gijon/Oviedo are abandoned - only static units remain, although one Gijon static is a 3,000 men-strong combat group with 2 tanks and 133 other vehicles. Barges are shuttling away supply, coal, and resources to Santander.

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[Rysyonok]

You can use your horse cavalry to race around his rear areas. They can spot enemy units up to 6 hexes away. So use them near your lines to spot the enemy units coming in, their direction of travel, possibly their destination, get in good defensive positions in front of the enemy, and move even weaker units into the enemy rear areas. You should also have a better air force to bomb his units while they are moving in the open terrain. That includes the L3s . . .

I'm growing a small group of dedicated scouts - my only gripe is that when they meet the enemy, it's often an insta-kill. My bombers are flying every turn, but they are, well, aiming for civilians instead of the enemy soldiers. SMH.

[Rysyonok]

This might be why some of these statics are holding on for weeks - plenty of supply - reinforce to full strength - build up forts = roadblock. Ever since I turned on replenishment / reinforcement for statics a month ago, NAT advances slowed to a crawl in many places.

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[Rysyonok]

The bloodiest turn of the campaign yet. We manage to squash the NAT group attacking Madrid from the Northeast and slow down the one from the Northwest. This means we have a chance at a full-scale Burgos offensive - we've got to secure more links with the North and all of that plentiful supply from USSR, as Odessa is starting to run slow on stock.

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[Rysyonok]

Santander is finally deblockaded. There's heavy fighting around Zaragosa in the East and Caceres in the West.

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[Rysyonok]

From the last report - we were falling back, trying to chase the NAT/Italian armor, and generally retreat; then, the armor disappeared, and we were able to retake Piasencia. Motivated, REP forces fanned out, aiming to take a couple of unattended bases while covering the river shores - and then NATs hit from the very front a la Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, crossing the river and all. So, we are now converging back into the city of Canaveral to remedy to breakthrough.

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[Rysyonok]

REPs are chasing away NATs from Grenada, or, more accurately, they are retreating, and we're on their heels, hoping that they don't curve South to Malaga, which is undefended. Captured vehicles are sent east towards Almeria and eventually Barcelona.
NAT forces from Cordoba are lining up for now the third attempt to assault Linares.

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[RangerJoe]

I have no idea of the date in your game, that will make a difference on my advice.

You should keep your captured vehicles closer to the front in Logistical Units. I would add some horse powered wagons to your artillery units so they can haul more supplies, switch out the trucks for wagons so you don't worry about fuel. Have your new Logistical Units in bases with railroads.

Your cavalry units are weak, they should not be in combat. They should be able to spot enemy units and avoid them.

Your units will be renamed later.

Check your reinforcements. You should not abandon Gijon, your city defenders are much stronger than in the open.

Your push from Barcelona to the North should divert some of the AIs attention from elsewhere.

[Rysyonok]

I have no idea of the date in your game, that will make a difference on my advice.

You should keep your captured vehicles closer to the front in Logistical Units. I would add some horse powered wagons to your artillery units so they can haul more supplies, switch out the trucks for wagons so you don't worry about fuel. Have your new Logistical Units in bases with railroads.

Your cavalry units are weak, they should not be in combat. They should be able to spot enemy units and avoid them.

Your units will be renamed later.

Check your reinforcements. You should not abandon Gijon, your city defenders are much stronger than in the open.

Your push from Barcelona to the North should divert some of the AIs attention from elsewhere.

Joe, every post has a date on the top - e.g, 9/30/36: The Southern Front was the last one.
I've been tinkering with captured vehicles, but it's been a tough uphill road: (1) they only join units with same elements (2) they won't exceed the max number per unit's lineup. I will try out the switching out the trucks option.

[Rysyonok]

Mostly local fighting across all fronts.
NATs start the 4th Cordoba - Linares offensive.
A genuine partisan war all over Zaragoza countryside.
4 Divisional HQs arrive in Barcelona - they will go to Zaragoza as that's where all of their sub-units are.
Reassembling my army into meaningful chunks is going to be Tetris level 1000.

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[RangerJoe]

Look up your reinforcements and see just what you are getting in. You might be pleasantly surprised at how much you will receive in the next 3 months. Since those new units need training, give them leaders with high land values but low aggression. You can use those units in defensive positions except for the larger artillery units. What Heinz Guderian stated about armour also pertains to artillery. When you get T-26 tanks, they will dominate the enemy but they are also fragile like all armoured units. In the meantime, you should use your FT tanks with cannons to oppose his tanks, the armoured cars with cannons will also work.

See when you get your armoured trains, have fun with those . . .

[Rysyonok]

Look up your reinforcements and see just what you are getting in. You might be pleasantly surprised at how much you will receive in the next 3 months. Since those new units need training, give them leaders with high land values but low aggression. You can use those units in defensive positions except for the larger artillery units. What Heinz Guderian stated about armour also pertains to artillery. When you get T-26 tanks, they will dominate the enemy but they are also fragile like all armoured units. In the meantime, you should use your FT tanks with cannons to oppose his tanks, the armoured cars with cannons will also work.

See when you get your armoured trains, have fun with those . . .

Thank you, I did locate a couple of those armored trains already.

[Rysyonok]

NATs finally breakthrough in Pajares, so I have a fresh (well, somewhat, they did get beaten down at Oviedo a couple of weeks ago) column heading north. Through some organizational moves I'm able to shake off the 5 stationary units holding up my Corps HQ in Gijon, and it's moving to Oviedo now. All LBs are sent to Santander in case they are able to help, but that sector is still rebuilding and licking up the wounds. Bilbao and San Sebastian sectors are on full alert.

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[Dali101]

Nice read.

As JR wrote, all units will be renamed gradually and will get a very standard system.

Don't retreat from the north.

Defend it until the end.

If the AI ​​sees a heavily fortified city, they (sometimes) won't even try to attack.

Personally, I prefer to move quickly towards Soria and Logrono.

I always conquer these two places and connect the north with Madrid.

Only then do I deal with Zaragoza and Pamplona.

(because the large supply of supplies from the northern Russian ports is suitable)

[Rysyonok]

Nice read.

As JR wrote, all units will be renamed gradually and will get a very standard system.

Don't retreat from the north.

Defend it until the end.

If the AI ​​sees a heavily fortified city, they (sometimes) won't even try to attack.

Personally, I prefer to move quickly towards Soria and Logrono.

I always conquer these two places and connect the north with Madrid.

Only then do I deal with Zaragoza and Pamplona.

(because the large supply of supplies from the northern Russian ports is suitable)

Great advice, thank you.

[Rysyonok]

Things are quiet in the center and the north. In the west, there's heavy fighting over Canaveral, nearly 1K losses on each side. This is the last chance for me to cut the NAT South-to-North railroad. More partisan combat in the east by Zaragoza, but we are slowly cornering stray NAT units. The advance towards Burgos has stalled, however, with nearly 1:1 parity for now. A couple of REP divisions appear near Valencia and Barcelona, but they require conscription from the ground up.

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[Rysyonok]

Heavy fighting by Linares where the 4th Cordoba assault is thwarted, and near equally heavy battles near Canaveral.
It's insane how many vehicles NATs have lost this game. I wonder if it's finally starting to impact their device pool.
In the North, NATs are switching their focus from Santander to Bilbao and Oviedo.
We may have to deploy airplanes to the north for the first time in this campaign just to have visibility.
Madrid and Zaragoza REP troops are 5 miles apart, 40 miles for San Sebastian and Zaragoza ones: enemy is putting up quite a resistance south of Pamplona.

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