Insurgent Sep II 36 player turn

All land areas are automatically clear.  The Med is auto clear, while a 1 is rolled for the Atlantic, so it is clear as well.  All insurgent units are in supply and unisolated, while all PA units are likewise in supply, but those in the northern Gobernitos are isolated.  Pacification at Almendralejo is completed, while the 2^nd two weeks of clearing out terrorists in Malaga begins.  Such efforts begin at Badajoz, Lucena, Antequera, Linares, Guadix and Mieres.  Only a single reinforcement arrives, the delayed Bad Fal Inf X at its namesake city.  The Nationalist’s do receive 1.0 Nat from specials, plus another .5 Nat for drafting at Almeria.  The ZMO Eng III is replaced at Valladolid, while the 1^st & 6^th Lt Inf II’s, the 17^th Inf, and the Leon Falangist Inf X are all rebuilt at Zaragoza.  The 1 Cas Inf XX and the Cac Inf XX in the line in southern Aragon begin entrenching, a 2 turn process.  No mine damage occurs with a 7 rolled.  No air ops are flown or declared by either side.

NT 1 and 2 load up the 2 O Cav III and ship it to Cadiz.  After unloading, they return to Larache and load the 1 E Cav III and ship it to Sevilla, completing the offload with their last nmp.  The Italian subs move west from their station off Cartagena, then pass around to El Ferrol, where they ‘join’ (operating as two groups moving concurrently) the CATF which completed repairs at that city (I didn’t realize I could use the NRP generated at EF anywhere… getting it into my head the TF needed to be at El Ferrol, which puts it within reaction range of the PA BB at Gijon… the subs acted as an ‘escort’ for the TF as it left for its normal operating area near the Straits.)  All moved to Ceuta.  The CATF first did replenish at EF while awaiting the arrival of the subs.  In the meantime, the BBTF replenished in Ceuta and waited out the phase in port.

In ground mov’t, the southern-most portion of the front in Andalucia, facing Lorca, is essentially put on a defensive footing now that Almeria is seized.  A sec and arty III are moved into Almeria itself, to begin pacification and hold the city against any unlikely counterattacks (don’t want the Loyalists to free up the ‘any city’ anarchist reinforcements that are being delayed in Andalucia.)  By and large 1 or 2 pt unsupported stacks run NE up from Almeria into the eastern Cordillera Penibetica and beyond, until the Valdepenas front is reached.  Here, the major units of the Army of Africa remain on the offensive, massing for attacks against two small, supported stacks in front of the city, including the PA’s 1^st Mech III, and a pair of arty III’s (killing arty and c/m units is ideal, and the Nationalists can afford and should desire to exchange infantry for any arty and c/m units that are available for killing.)  To the rear, the perpetual cycle of using units landed from Africa or rebuilt for logistical movements continues as 2 more pairs of units cartage attack supply forward on the Valdepenas front.  These units landed at Cadiz or Sevilla are serving double duty, as both carriers of supply and reserves that can be fed into the line to improve odds or make up for losses on the main nationalist front.  Southeast of Talavera, the front is stable, though a few weak single units do extend it a bit, taking wooded rough at 2715.  To the rear, one Fal X occupies Don Benito for pacification duties.  The northern portion of the Madrid front along the Cordillera Central, or just north of it, remains stable, though one additional unit added does allow the salient at 2510 to gain some infantry to go along with arty III that’s been holding the mountains since the beginning of the game.  To the east of Madrid, 2 III’s of infantry, one Nat and one Fal, join the line, as does a 2-6 Col III from Andalucia, all via rail.  The 2-6 will be well positioned for an assault against San Sebastian next turn, which is the plan.  I’d like to make sure that city falls before the Loyalists get their next Basque reinforcements, which could see the city’s strength rise up to 6 or 7 from the 4 plus 1 pt NGS current there. (Of note and related to this, back in Andalucia 6 mp units are carefully positioned such that in the upcoming attacks on the Valdepenas front, these units will not advance after combat… they are precisely 42 hexes from the outskirts of San Sebastian by rail, which would just allow a 6 mp unit to rail adjacent to the city (which is also the turn where the wx is still likely to be clear, with a 5 in 6 chance of clear in the north of spain.)  8 MP units will likely advance in Andalucia, as they can’t quite reach the San Sebastian area being limited to 40 rail hexes of mov’t.  Regardless, returning to the east part of the front, two arty units are pulled from the eastern Madrid front and sent to reinforce the Teruel front, where the mass of PA mtn units have been congregating.  This puts 2 pt supported stacks in Teruel and 3303 just to its east.  Not an insurmountable defense, but it should be sufficient for the time being, until more XX’s come into the line over the next couple of turns.  Otherwise, no mov’t occurs in the southeast/Aragon-Cataluna front, with the line stable on both sides now that two Nat XX’s are in the line and entrenching.  Very little mov’t occurs in the Northern Gobernito front, with units facing Euzkadi and Santander all remaining in place.  Up in Asturias however, the Oviedo XX enters the line at 1107 finally, which frees up the elite 38^th Inf to take up the defense of the mtns at 1206, with the 2 mtn II’s shifting southwest to 1307.  This fills in the line and strengthens it quite substantially, pretty much ensuring (I hope) that the Asturian front will be stable until the Spring Offensive against the Northern Gobernitos begins in ’37.  In the rear, the rebuilt ZMO Eng III at Valladolid moves to 1909 and repairs the rail hit at the junction, then returns back to Valladolid where it is centrally positioned for any future construction/repair needs.  1 res pt is railed from Oviedo to Valladolid, which should allow for some permanent rail cap building next turn (res pts must be in RMY hexes to be part of a rail cap build.)  Finally, the 7^th Cav wanders about the southwest portion of Estramadura, gaining ownership of unowned hexes in the province.

With the planned attacks on the Valdepenas front well supported by troops, not much GS will be required, so the Nationalist Air Force goes on a bit of an offensive.  First, the Italian CR.32bis stages to Valladolid and goes on an airbase raid against the Bre19 and N.52s at Madrid.  The Loyalists refuse to rise to the occasion, so the CR.32 just strafes the airfield while the PA pilots drink Sangria.  Sadly, the Italian pilots fail to score a hit.  The Mxd T then stages to Valladolid and attempts to sink the Basque LtTF at San Sebastian, which would improve the chances for an assault next turn on the cut-off city.  Flak by the TF misses, but so does the bombing attempt.

The PA does the math and chooses not to fly the Bre19’s at Madrid on DAS.  The Vilds remain on their field at Bilbao as well, since no location is currently being threatened in the north.  The Nat Bre19 flies GS to 3414, which is the first of the two planned attacks this turn.  That attack goes off well enough, but still doesn’t result in any losses as the PA units retreat away in good order (4:1 +0, all units attack supplied, morale of the one PA militia unit ½ with a 3 rolled, but it didn’t change the odds, 4 rolled for a DR.)  The defending PA’s 19 GC Sec III and 2 Art III retreat back to Valdepenas, while the E arty III and 5 Alh Col Inf III’s advance.  In the second attack, just the north at 3315, the 1^st Mech III and 5 L Art III are assaulted by a mass of Nationalist troops, including 2 strong Col Inf III’s, the O Art III, the 3 Lt Inf II and the Van Inf XX.  The 5:1 -3 attack goes very well for the Nationalists, with the Mech and arty unit killed in a bloody fight (5:1 -3, full AS provided, no morale issues possible as all units are non-militia, rough terrain, 1/2^th AECD, 3 rolled for an EX.)  It does cost me the 2 Mel Col Inf III.  The O arty III, 3 Ceu, and 3 Lt Inf advance.  The super strong 1 LE Inf III, 1 P Arty III and O MG II’s are left to rear, out of the front lines at 3415 after these two attacks, ensuring they can rail away as part of the planned San Sebastian assault force next turn.

The two NT’s head off towards the Canary islands, reaching Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where they replenish and wait out the phase.  Both the CATF and BBTF sit out the phase at Ceuta, awaiting any future naval developments.  The CTV subs sit out the first four substeps, and then move along the Spanish Morocco coast, then at night taking up position 5 hexes southwest of Cartagena.  No reaction by the Loyalist fleet hold up in the port.  No ground or air mov’t occurs.