Loyalist Nov I 36 player turn

The French border stays closed with a roll of 2.  In supply issues, all Loyalist units but one NW of Teruel are in supply, but those in the northern gobernitos remain isolated.  For the Insurgents, two hexes btw the Teruel and Aragon fronts remain OOS, filled with U-1 red units.  NW of Teruel another hex/unit is U-1 red.  North and northeast of Madrid, 5 hexes with a number of units are OOS.  The ‘outer’ hexes are U-1 red, thanks to unit swaps with in supply hexes.  The central hexes, plus the arty in the salient at 2510 are U-2 or worse, but GSPs feed the arty and 2 of the 3 remaining U-2 or worse units.  The Loyalists generate no GSPs.

All gobernito guard forces are in place (with Santander and Euzkadi the ones remaining, as the Asturians have been released for some time.)  The pacification of Cuenca is completed.

This is a huge Loyalist reinforcement turn, just in time.  Ten PA inf X’s arrive, 2 each at each of Madrid and Barcelona’s hexes, plus 1 each at Albacete, Lorca, Murcia, Cartagena, Alicante & Valencia.  A number of An X’s show up as well, including 1 each at Murcia, Valencia, Tarragona and 2 at Barcelona.  Two more An X’s are likely permanently delayed, and go into the delayed reinforcements pool. The 12^th Garibaldi Inf X (Int) shows up in Albacete.  In the gobernitos, the 2^nd Basque Eng III forms up in Bilbao and the 1^st Cat Art II in Barcelona.  The 7^th & 8^th Basque X’s are released for frontline duty in Euzkadi, while in Asturias the 2^nd Eng III, 13^th, 14^th & 1^st Exp Ast Inf X’s arrive at Gijon.  The 13^th & 14^th San X’s go into garrison, as do the 13^th through 15^thBas X’s.  One AS each is imported at Gijon and Cast. de la Plana, while 2 more arrive at the docs of Tarragona.  Further east, a massive number of artillery tubes arrive from the USSR, with some 7.5 Art RPs offloading.  Another point arrives in Bilbao.  The Soviets send a large shipment of tanks as well, with 1.5 Arm RPs offloading at Barcelona.  They ship in a pairs worth of Soviet piloted air units too, with type 6 I-16s shipped into Bilbao and type 22 I-15’s at Santander.  The Spanish piloted N.52 unit withdraws and the Spainards begin training on the new Soviet aircraft.  A French provided bomber unit, the Po.540 with Polish aircraft, is stuck in the France holding box as it works up (6 rolled for this ‘inop’ unit, resulting in a 6 turn delay before it will be allowed to cross into Spain, assuming the border is open.)  Trucks are shipped in from France as well, with the SMP total going to 10.  The 1^st Tank X and 3^rd and 16^th Ast Art III’s are added to the replacement pool, while the 1^st Mech becomes a delayed removal from same.

Production is high as well, with 6 PA, 1 Ast, 1 Bas, 1 Cat, 0.5 San, 3 An, and 1 POUM Inf RPs generated.  The new 1^st Tank X is built at Madrid’s factory, while the AAC Arm Car III and 8 L Art are replaced there as well.  The 16^th Ast Art III is built at Bilbao.  A mass of units killed in the last turn are replaced at Madrid, including the 1 V Inf X, 4^th Inf III, 3 Eng III, 1^st & 2^nd Mtn II’s, 1^stBicycle II & 4^th MG II.  Additionally, the 4^th Cav is replaced at Valencia and the 19 GC Sec at Barcelona.  Artillery is given out to the 16^th through 23^rd Inf X’s, bringing them all to 1-2-6* status.  At Madrid, the 4^th Inf III converts to the 4^th Ch Inf X, while at Toledo the 2^nd Inf III converts to the 2 Ch Inf X.  The upgrades to the 6 Ch, 3 Car and 5 Car Inf X’s are delayed.

No entrenching or fort building occurs, and no air declarations are made.

At sea, NT-3 loads the 16^th Ast Art at Bilboa, carries it to Gijon and unloads.  It then returns to Bilbao and replenishes.  The LtTF sails for Bilbao and replenishes.  NT-4 uses protected waters in the south to move from Cartagena to Cast. de la Plana, avoiding reaction by Italian subs off Cartagena.  It then continues on to Barcelona, replenishes, and waits out the turn.  The Cat NT-1 loads the 19^th GC Sec III at Barcelona, moves to Mahon, unloads the Sec III, loads the 1 Car Bdr III at Mahon, and then moves to Valencia via Cast. de la Plana and protected coastal waters.

In the front line from near the French border to just shy of the pass south of Teruel, pretty much nothing happens or even moves.  In that pass, the An POUM Inf X rails into the pass hex at 3403.  The new 1^st Cat Art II (rail) head there as well, strengthening the hex significantly.  The PA 4^th Cav joins the line just west of the pass, allowing units to shift northwards and fill the gap in the line created by last turn’s Insurgent attack at 3204.  Further north, the 16^th & 17^th X’s join the line east of Guadalajara, allowing the gap at 2906 to be filled with other units already nearby.  North of Madrid, nothing much moves, but northwest and west of Madrid, units are massed for continued attacks.  The Mtn Art III, along with the 4 PA Mtn II’s and the 1^stBicycle II move to 2512, joining the 1^st GA Sec X already there.  The 2^nd & 4^th Ch Inf X’s and the AAC Lt Arm III move into 2612.  Sector 2713 is filled with an even bigger selection of units, including the big 3 P Art III and ZM Eng III’s, the 1^st Arm X, 1^st Arm II, 3 MG II’s and the 21^st Inf X.  To the SW, 2813 is filled out as well, with 23^rd Inf and the Cab Art III joining the 7^th Eng & 13^th Inf already in place.  From 2914 to Tomelloso, then southwest to 3301 next to the eastern part of the Cordillera Penibetica a new defensive front is created with all the new units, with a minimum of 3 and as many as 5 DS in each hex.  A few units form a partial 2^nd line as well to keep the Insurgent c/m units at bay.  In building this line however, the east bank of the Guadiana river is abandoned, essentially giving up a 5 hex salient without a fight (one unit, the 40^th Inf III, cannot make the new main line and is left as a rearguard in 3014.)  Even the Anarchists are pushed into the main line, with an all An stack guarding Tomelloso itself.  From 3302 in the mountains to 3508 on the Med, the line is pretty much stable, though the new 19^th Inf X (a supported unit) does join the line at 3405, screening the gaps in the mountains some 45 miles west of Lorca.

Up in the northern gobernitos nothing dramatic occurs.  Some shifting to add new units into the line and add strength, but nothing that would indicate any sort of mud offensive.  Some X’s do start shifting southeast in Asturias, probably headed for northern Santander, the first hex without an enemy zoc in it, which would allow Asturian XX’s to form up.  At the end of movement, the Insurgent Mxd B (f) unit transfers from Almeria back to Malaga for safety.

Based on Loyalist moves, it seems like they may be trying any number of combination of attacks northwest of Toledo.  They could conceivable attack both 2513 and 2714 (putting 4 hex frontage on my airfield at 2613), 2613 and 2513, or 2613 and 2412.  The southern 3 of 4 hexes seem the most damaging to me, so the CR32’s fly CAP over 2513 prior to the end of movement.  The new He51’s then fly DAS there, which will allow them to land at Salamanca if the 2613 temp airfield falls.  The Bre19’s at 2613 fly DAS above their own field, while the Ju52g4e’s fly DAS to 2714 (probably the least likely hex facing attack, but also the only one that the Junkers can reach.)  No attacks on the Valdepenas front are possible, nor are any elsewhere.

In response, the PA Bre19’s fly GS over 2613.  Had there been any flak units in 2613, I’m sure this would have made for a confusing air battle, with both loyalist and insurgent Bre19’s flying ground missions in the same hex at the same time.  The PA’s first attack is against 2412, with the Mtn units leading the way.  Defending is the lone 10^th Cav, but it manages a successful fighting withdraw, with few losses.  (Full AS provided, 12:1 -4 odds, no PA morale with 5 rolled, 1 rolled for a DR with no zoc’s.)  It retreats away to Avila, with only the 1 GA Sec X advancing.  Further south, at 2613, things go a bit poorer for the Insurgents, as the mass of troops supported by armor cannot be held off from the field.  The ZMO Eng III and 20^th GC Sec III bravely hold the field as long as possible, while the large 1 P Art III manages to escape as do all a/c.  Eventually they are overwhelmed by armor units however (nearly all units provided AS, no PA morale with a 5 rolled, final odds at 3:1 +1, 5 rolled for a DH, killing the two infantry type units and allowing the Arty III to retreat to 2514.  The 21^st PA Inf X advances, destroying the temp field as it does so.  The He51 lands at Salamanca, the Bre19 at Valladolid, and the Ju52’s return south to the 3414 field.  On the PA side, the Bre19’s return to west Madrid.

The new I-16/t5’s transfer to west Madrid.  In the north, the I-15/t22’s fly an airbase bombing mission along with the Vild that stages in from Cartagena to Bilbao, against Burgos.  A 6 is rolled, generating a hit on the airfield.

At sea, the Cat NT-1 unloads the Bdr III at Valencia, then returns via protected waters to Cast. de la Plana to Barcelona, where it replenishes.  The LtTF in the north heads for 2932, where it preps for NGS.  The BBTF at Gijon preps for NGS.  The rest of the naval units wait out the phase.

No ground movement occurs as all Loyalist armor is either in zoc, attacked or both.