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TinMann

First Lieutenant
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Aug 6, 2009
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No Greater Madness: Spanish Civil War AAR (as the Republic)
Settings: Combination AI/Player Control, Normal difficulty
Goals: Crush the Nationalists in 1936!


Hello everyone, this is my first AAR and one of my first forays into HOI 3, so thanks to any readers for their patience. Suggestions as to the format of this AAR and my gameplay are encouraged and welcome.

I always felt that the Spanish Civil War was a fantastic playground for players to get familiar with HOI 2 since it was fought over a relatively contained yet varied geography and involved respectable numbers of army, naval and air forces. There are some interesting historical events to stir the pot as well. Best of all was the chaotic and random nature of the starting locations and forces meant that the player had to be creative and flexible, and that the fronts would be extremely fluid (at least in the beginning). I find these kinds of situations much more interesting than fighting along well-defined, single-line fronts – but that’s just me.

With HOI 3 in my hands – it was right back to Spain for me!

Journal Entry of Manuel Portela y Valladares, Prime Minister, dated 1 January, 1936:

Instead of easing the strife that now wracks our proud and ancient nation, it appears the coming elections are serving to only to intensify them. Economic and political turmoil is everywhere in Europe, but none of our neighbors’ populations seem so willing to tear themselves apart as do ours. I pray daily for our safe deliverance through this valley of shadow – and also that the far leftists in our coalition do not learn that I still seek the assistance of a higher authority. From witnessing the protesters clog the streets of Madrid, is clear to me that only Providence can save Espagne from the abyss. There can be no greater madness than to settle our differences through civil war.

President Alcalá-Zamora asked his cabinet to bring forward their best suggestions on governance during this dark time, but he was reluctant to make changes to the standing armed forces for fear of provoking the far right.


Being a newbie to HOI 3 I decided to leave the government controls up to the AI to see what they it would do, and then tweak from there. Mainly this is because I prefer letting the AI figure out trades to stabilize my stockpiles. (Frankly I am dying to channel all that leadership into research and see how far the Republic can go – a huge advantage over HOI 2 BTW – but decided to not right away.) In any case I wasn’t happy with the AI’s choice to invest in improving militia technology. I removed those and backfilled the technology queue with infantry, cavalry and industrial techs before turning things back over to the AI. I still have no idea which techs I should be choosing at this point – but my guess is that improved militia technology is not going to swing the SCW!

SCW_AAR1_B.png


I chose to not change any of military dispositions as to not give myself any undue advantage over my eventual AI-controlled Nationalist opponent. I did, however, kill the two heavy cruisers that were clogging up the production queue before turning control over to the AI. IMO the Republic’s ground troops are far too out of date to be investing national treasure in soon-to-be-obsolete capital ships.

I am happy that Paradox chose to model the instability of the Republic as poor ruling party support (50%) rather than dissent (0%) in January 1936, and that changing ministers no longer causes dissent hits as in HOI 2. From a playability point of view, these decisions make the game more enjoyable, I feel. The politics tab says my next election is January 1st 1940, but I will wait until the historical elections of 16 February 1936 to swap them out (just for the sake of honoring the historical record). As it would turn out, those elections were not meant to be.

Below is a snapshot of the ground forces as of Jan 1, 1936.

SCW_AAR1_A.png
 
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Manuel Portela y Valladares, 27 January, 1936:

I greatest fears have come true. Only days before the election the violence between the leftist parties and the landowners, church and military has passed the point of no return. A revolution has begun, and tonight we assemble our war cabinet.

Not all of our military units have reported in, but it seems approximately half of our ground forces have turned against the legal government. The garrisons of Madrid, Cadiz and Zaragoza were split between loyal Republic forces and the Nationalist revolutionaries, and have heavily engaged one another. May God have mercy on the civilians caught in the crossfire, and may he grant us the swiftest of victories against the monarchist dogs and their treacherous masters.


I understand that the start date of the SCW is now semi-random, which I think is excellent. In my case the war started a bit sooner than I was expecting! From the map below quite a few units are missing from the previous screen shot, so I am expecting units to appear over the next few days (on one side or the other). As this happens more battles may break out, so I am taking this opportunity to assign preferred leaders before any more combat breaks out. Note that those already engaged will need to fight on with the default leaders – which includes some un-named leaders in Madrid. Below is the map as of the breakout of war.

SCW_AAR1_C.png


In the northeast, it appears that Catalonia (far northeast Spain, VPs in Tarragona and Barcelona) appear to be solidly in Republic hands. The large garrison at nearby Zaragossa was split between the warring factions, however. The tooltip over Zaragossa told me that there were 9 infantry brigades, as well as HQ, Cavalry and Armor brigade there. Unfortunately only two of the infantry and the HQ remained loyal to me! Furthermore those under Republic control were not yet mobilized (and the others appear to be based on the tooltip), so the loyalist brigades began a hasty retreat to Monzon behind the Ebro River. I moved other nearby brigades moved forward to meet them there, while the Barcelona garrison was moved west to protect the airfields and naval bases of Tarragona. I reorganized all of these units to use the retreating HQ as their corps HQ.

(Interesting note, the HQ was named 5a Division Organica, which implies to me that the Spanish Army at the time may have used the term “Division” to represent what would be a corps in other countries. Whatever the case may be, I renamed it “5a Corps” to try to keep the new HQ terminology of HOI 3 straight in my head. I will refer to the other HQs as “corps” as well.)

SCW_AAR1_D.png


Meanwhile, north of Madrid several units found themselves behind the newly formed front lines. The HQs of 1a and 7a “Corps” found themselves surrounded by the enemy combat brigades of divisions they had commanded the day before. Both HQs immediately headed south to attempt to link up with the forces around Madrid. Other loyal units in the now-Nationalist capitol city of Burgos found themselves outnumbered as well. They were forced northward into the pockets of friendly territory, in an attempt to eventually form a northern front. Other units in the far northwest headed east to join them.

SCW_AAR1_E.png


In the south several brigades were scattered about, all of which took up defensive positions around the nearest large city or resource center.
At this early stage of the conflict no air units appeared in the Republic roster, but a handful of naval vessels were. All surface ships were sent south to Tangiers for a possible evacuation of personnel from Spanish Morocco.

Stay tuned!
 
Manuel Portela y Valladares, 28 January, 1936:

The outrage of our people against the Nationalists is already affecting our cause for the worse. Some estimates place a full 15% of our industrial workers in protests instead of their factories. Even though the renewed national unity is palpable, the anarchists in our coalition fail to understand that the time of protest is over. It is industrial might that will see our cause through – not indignant speeches and rabble rousing.

To that point, President Alcalá-Zamora has replaced almost his entire cabinet with industrialists and military-minded men filled with the resolution to win. At my suggestion we placed the economy on an emergency war footing, and imposed censorship controls on the media. The time for half-measures is behind us.

Unfortunately this was not enough, and calls for a new President and Prime Minister were heeded. Before long Manuel Diaz had seized the opportunity to oust Zamora and myself and take power, ending my tenure as a government official. Now is the time to flee with my family from the capitol, and leave the Country in the hands of God.



The first days of the war have been a nightmare for the Republic – with loosing battles all across Spain. Island Garrisons immediately came under attack and every naval base in the Mediterranean was occupied by fully-mobilized enemy divisions. It seemed there wasn’t a single loyal division anything near full mobilization. Nearly all of the units mentioned in the previous post were forced to retreat, except for the Madrid garrison which was holding its own.

Following the outbreak the Republic’s dissent spiked to 15%, although the national unity shot up to 100% among those who still supported the elected government. A military update will be forthcoming once things stabilize on the ground enough to get a picture of where the Republic stands.

SCW_AAR1_F.png
 
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It looks like you're off to a slightly rough start. Still, the lines haven't set yet so you should still be able to pull through and save any encircled units you have.
 
A tricky spot to be in - I haven't yet seen R Spain AI manage to surivive more than a few months. Will be very interesting to see what you manage to do.
 
I could delay it until October, by rising NU and Support Ruling Praty through spies...

That might have been better for me - perhaps i could have mobilized! I guess in the end the sooner it started the better!
 
Journal Entry of Field Marshall José Miaja Menant, dated 1 February 1936:

My new posting as field commander to the woefully unprepared Central Command has become more of a curse than a blessing. Our new president Manuel Azaña Díaz has named himself commander of the Army, and has insisted that he be involved in every major decision. With Republic resistance faltering everywhere except the capitol, this has proved quite distracting. At least I was able to bring Vicente Lluch with me as chief of staff to help counteract Díaz’s meddling.

In the north 8a Corps under Lt. General Molero has formed a partial line extending to southwest some miles in front of La Coruña. His four under-strength brigades are held in check by three fully-staffed brigades of the enemy.

SCW_AAR1_H.jpg


To the east, 5a Corps holding Catalonia has been all but obliterated by the enemy’s lightning strikes. Only the two depleted brigades of 9a División limp to the southwest in an attempt to link up with 5a División; itself attempting to block superior forces west of Valencia. All the major cities on the Mediterranean coast, as well as the Balearics, are lost to us.

To the southwest, only the three partially mobilized brigades of 4a División stand between a large Nationalist Army and the Capitol. On the Canary Islands 11a Canarias División awaits transport to the mainland. Our tiny fleet is making their way there as I write this.

SCW_AAR1_I.jpg


The weaker enemy units in Madrid have been cut off and surrounded, but still the street-fighting now rages into its second month. With the recent assistance of France and Great Britain – both contributing three full infantry brigades – I convinced Díaz that the time was right to break out of the capitol with two divisions and the Brigada Blindada (Armored Brigade) to rescue the Headquarters staffs of 1a and 7a Corps, both cut off behind enemy lines just north of the capitol. A race against time to save these much needed officers is already underway.

SCW_AAR1_G.jpg


All told, we have 31 heavily depleted infantry brigades, four HQ staffs, and the under-strength Brigada Blindada to hold off twice as many Nationalist units – all well staffed and well led. The enemy has all of the capitol ships of the old navy, as well as total air superiority – we have no aircraft and they bomb our troops and cities at will. I do not know how much longer the Second Republic will be able to resist without additional and immediate foreign assistance.


In game terms, the Republic's IC has dropped to 7/11. I have had to take control of production away from the AI in order to focus on reinforcements and consumer goods. The Republic's dissent is falling rapidly, but is it too little too late? Man will it be embarrassing if I loose to the AI in my first AAR!
 
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Well, given how harsh the start is I think surviving more than a few months would be quite reasonable.
 
From the memoirs of Major General Vicente Lluch, Central Command Chief of Staff, entry dated 19 February 1936:

This month our situation has gone from bad to merely intolerable. Catalonia is now uncontested, and the enemy has broken out of Valencia and has begun to march on Madrid from the east. The weakened 5a División just west of Valencia has come under attack from the south by superior forces. The nearby 9a División is moving to assist.

West of Madrid, the Nationalist 33a Brigade’s attack on our 14a División in Truillo has failed, leaving the two units at approximately the same strength in terms of manpower. North of Madrid the 1a and 7a HQs units have escaped their encirclements and have joined up with the divisions now freed from the Madrid street-fighting. This was perhaps the first moment in over a month of combat where the scattered fronts had simultaneously been stabilized. At this critical juncture President Manuel Azaña Díaz called a meeting of his top officers to discuss the defense of Madrid.

At the gathering Señor Presidente demanded a defensive strategy from his generals, to which Field Marshall Menant flatly refused. Díaz went into a rage and called Menant mad, among other things. Marshal Menant replied, “We are besieged on all sides; outnumbered on the ground, on the water and in the air. Defeat is imminent. Only one course of action remains for us!”

The old General slammed his fist on the table. “Attack!”

After much debate Menant convinced Díaz that to defend would guarantee defeat; that the only hope for the Republic would be to go on the offensive, regardless of the odds. Thus began our counterattacks.

We estimated that 33a Nationalist Brigade must be fairly disorganized from their failed attack on our 14a División. Because of their proximity to the Portuguese border, there is a chance that 14a División could encircle them and destroy the 33a Brigade in a pocket before they could get moving again. Menant ordered such orders immediately.

Meanwhile the forward elements directly under Central Command were ordered to attack to the northwest, with the hopes of pinning enemy units in the same way against the border, and destroying them in turn. In the words of Marshall Menant, “We shall devour this beast one bite at a time.”

SCW_AAR1_K.jpg


In order to buy time for 5a División to the east, 9a División was ordered south to Ayora to cut off the attacking Nationalist forces in the Valencia Salient.


SCW_AAR1_J.jpg


By this point dissent has been reduced to 4%, but casualties are mounting rapidly. I desperately hope to funnel all IC towards replacements and new units in a few days.
 
Hm, things aren't going well. How much of the air force did you get? I've found that to be a key factor in my own run of the Spanish Civil War.
 
Hm, things aren't going well. How much of the air force did you get? I've found that to be a key factor in my own run of the Spanish Civil War.

He doesn't have any:wacko:

This is going to be a close run thing, but I think you might manage it.

Good luck
 
He doesn't have any:wacko:

This is going to be a close run thing, but I think you might manage it.

Good luck

Oh.

That does not help. :D