Initial Phase

Winter weather finally arrives in the south of Spain, when a 3 is rolled, resulting in mud across all of Spain.  A pair of 2’s at sea results in rough wx in the Atlantic and clear in the Med.  For the Insurgents the change in wx hasn’t made much impact.  The same sections of front are out of supply in the D wx zone, 2 hexes btw Teruel and the Aragon front (units kept at U-1 via shuffling), one hex NW of Teruel (U-1 again), and the dead zone north & NE of Madrid.  Here the edges of 5 hex section of front is kept at U-1 via shuffling.  GSPs feed 3 RE’s of the 5 RE’s in the central hexes, though one unfed unit is now U-3.  In the E zone, with better lines of communication, no part of the Insurgent front is out of supply.  Things are less rosy for the Loyalists.  They have better lines in the D zone so all units are in supply.  However, btw Guadalajara and Teruel 4 hexes go out of supply, unable to overland back to the Madrid-Valencia low volume rail line.  Likewise, in the eastern Cordillera Penibetica of SE Andalucia & NW Murcia 4 hexes go out of supply.  All these units are U-1, so now the Loyalists will have to start paying more attention to their supply situation and begin supply shuffles or sending in GSPs or both.  After the above supply calculus, the GSPs near the front are removed and 3 more each are created at Valladolid, Zaragoza, and Sevilla.

Pacification is completed at Osuna and Talavera, the latter helping to solidify the supply lines along the Talavera front.  Only two towns (off rail lines) remain unpacified in the Nationalist rear.

It’s a good turn for reinforcements, with the big Mov Inf XX arriving at Jaen, the Pos Inf XX at Valladolid, and the AGM Fal Inf X at Cordoba.  One pt of pos AA arrives at Cadiz, and 2 a/s each are imported at Sevilla, La Coruna, and Malaga.  4 Art RPs are imported to Vigo and then into the pool, while a new Arty III staff arrives (III to replacement pool for building.)  1 Res pt arrives at each of the two Insurgent factories, while 2 a/s is produced at Sevilla’s and one at Oviedo’s.  0.5 Arty is also produced at Sevilla.  Malaga and Badajoz both go into production for infantry, with a total of 9.5 Nat, 1.5 Col, 4.0 Fal, and 2.0 Req being added to the pool, as well as 1 NRP being produced at El Ferrol.  Using these and the accumulated points, the 1st LE Inf III, and 4th & 5th Lt inf II’s are replaced at Jaen, the 2nd LE Inf III, 1 Sev Fal X, & 6 GS Sec III at Valladolid.  The 2nd Cas Inf XX is then formed with the 2 LE Inf III, returning that III back to the pool.  The Mov, Pos, and 2nd Cas Inf XX’s are all equipped, and the new 1st Art III is built at Sevilla.  Finally, the sunk BBTF is returned at Ceuta with 2 hits using the 1 NRP just produced at EF.

In construction, +1 rail cap is permanently built at Sevilla using 2 res pts at Sevilla and 1 at LC, bringing the new rail cap total to 11.  Five entrenchments are begun, two SE of Talavera, two east of Guadalajara, and one at 4630 along the Aragon-Cataluna border.  No air declarations by either side are made.

Movement Phase

In naval mov’ts, the SS’s return to Ceuta and replenish, while the TF’s already at Ceuta replenish as well.  All these then wait out the phase.  The three NT’s in the Canaries load 1 AS, move it to Cadiz, then unload it, before moving towards the north of Spain, reaching a point about 60 miles west of Vigo before the end of the phase.

All along the Aragon, Teruel and Guadalajara fronts nothing much occurs beyond supply shuffling and one unit entering the line in Aragon.  To the rear, the 2nd Mech III slowly moves towards Zaragoza, with the Nats unwilling to spend rail cap on it.  North of Madrid, the east part of the supply dead zone remains fairly static, other than supply shuffling.  The Mxd T unit at Zaragoza air drops supply on the east side at 2407, with 1 of 2 pts landing undisrupted.  On the west side of this part of the line the 2nd Mad XX takes over the defense of the mtn salient at 2510, putting a stronger zoc on the defenders.  The arty moves out of the mtns and with non divs puts a 3 pt defense at 2410 at the edge of the salient.  The 2 Cas XX, 1 Sev Inf X and 6 GC Sec III at Valladolid move or admin to 2211, just behind Avila, cartaging 3 GSPs from the city as well.  The Pos Inf XX rails to 2211, then cartages those GSPs to 2311, which should feed the salient next turn.  The new 1st Art III at Sevilla rails to the lines at Avila, and the 7th & 8th Mtn II’s move into the line at 2313, thereby reconnecting a full line around the large Loyalist salient circa 2512 NW of Madrid.  SE of Talavera, some purposeful shuffling occurs, with some infantry type non divs entering the line, the big 2 P arty III pulling out of the line to the rails, and the two CTV units at 2714 remaining in the line but moving to 2613 along the rail line, where they can be moved easier next turn.

Btw Talavera and Ciudad Real the lines are fairly static, but very four very large stacks (btw 9 and 12 AS) form up btw 3213 and 3513 along the Alcazar front.  To the rear of these stacks, more units admin forward, not quite able to reach the front but forming a good reserve for any losses sustained upcoming.  South of 3513 the line is static, except for 2 units taking possession of two hexes evacuated by retreating Loyalists in their last turn.  One a/s pt is railed from Cadiz to the Alcazar front, while another is SMP’d from Puente-Genil (where it was previously moved to from Malaga).

Combat Phase

No DAS is flown by the Loyalists, though I’m not sure why.  Perhaps they didn’t wish to take on the CR32bis’s positioned for intercept at the 3414 field, though the I-16’s are better birds.  Regardless, with no Loyalist fighters in the area, bombers are free to fly GS unimpeded (by the enemy if not the weather.)  The Ju52’s and He51’s of the Kondor Legion fly GS to 3212, as does a Bre19 unit.  South of this, in the woods of 3414 Mxd float bombers fly GS over the heads of the Anarchist stack.

At 3213, just NW of Tomelloso, the 1 V Inf X and 1 Cab Art III are assaulted by two large stacks, a mixed bag of Nat and Col Infantry, the big Mov Inf XX, the Falanist VMS Cav X, the Colonial 2 O Cav II, machinegunners, Italian and German flak units and various other odds and sods.  After GS, the final odds are high but the defending loyalists still manage to retreat in good order, though retreat they do (6:1, -2, partial AS, 3 rolled for a DR.)  Thirty miles south, two X’s of Anarchists and the Anarchist CNT Art III are assaulted by more of the Army of Africa, including lots of Colonial Infantry and Cav, some Fal Inf, a pair of combat engineers, Lt Inf II’s and the O & E Art III’s, and even some German tankettes.  Despite this colorful group, the Anarchists also manage a fighting withdrawal (6:1, -3, partial AS, 4 rolled for another DR.)  The wx is definitely having an impact, but even so, after combat the town of Tomelloso faces enemy forces on 3 sides, and the Nationalists are just 30 miles from the critical Alcazar rail junction.  Whether it can be taken and held given the weather remains to be seen.

Exploitation Phase

The NT’s move to EF at night, replenish, then load 1 a/s and carry it across the bay to La Coruna (there’s no transportation line between EF and the rest of Spain, and I forgot to cartage the a/s point to the rail line on the first turn of the game).  They then head for Cadiz, making the port before the end of the turn.  The subs wait until the last substep, then moving along the African coast, then out to their patrol area off Cartagena at night.  The TF’s wait as well, moving to Cadiz at the end of the naval mov’t portion of exploit.

Ground mov’t is very limited.  The 2nd Mech III makes it Zaragoza.  The Bab Lt Arm II pulls out of the line SE of Talavera, joining the Nat 2 P arty III at 2514.  The German units on the Alcazar front remain where they are.  In the air nothing can occur as all planes have flown (the absence of expected DAS at 3212 allowed the 6:1 with heavy GS.  Had DAS flown, the 6:1 would have been 5:1 and a/c would have flown some exploit missions.)