Difficulty - General
Traits - Master of Blitzkrieg, Deadly Grasp, Flexible Command, Perimeter Control, AA Veteran, Slow Modernization, Retrograde.
Extra rules:
- I cannot upgrade more than one unit at time each scenario with the same type of upgrades (for example once the Ju 86 becomes available, I can only upgrade one of my strategic bombers per scenario). This does not apply to buying new units in SCW due to impact of Retrograde, but after AO 1939 will also apply to buying any new units.
- I can only upgrade one transport per scenario and only one "level", so from none/horse transport into Opel Blitz, or from the Opel into a half-track. This means if the unit upgrade requires a transport other than existing one and I already upgraded another transport in this scenario, I cannot upgrade the unit itself.
- No gift units that were not actually produced or captured in large numbers (around battalion level). Also, no fielding captured units apart from known historical examples around battalion level. So no Verdeja 2 or Il-2, but Azul Infanterie, Panzer IIA or Somua S35 are fine (the infantry just barely, but I do not want to dismiss a unit I will auto-get).
- All units have a limit to how many I can buy. For infantry this is just one aside from regular Wehr Infanterie and Volkssturm. For vehicles this will follow a specific table. No type of unit can exceed 10. EDIT - special infantry can exceed the limit if given, or if needed to complete a specific scenario.
- The list also applies to starting core, adjusted on turn zero.
- Overstrength allowed if the ratio is one decimal point over a whole number.
SCW unit allowed table (numbers built are for sure not accurate, but I won't spend too much time on research, just need some very basic numbers). These are also not aimed to vary by year and are WW2 totals - I can only imagine the amount of data this would require otherwise...
Starting Prestige: 1123
Starting Army Composition:
Tank
PzAbt 1 - Panzer IA - OS12
PzAbt 2 - Panzer IA - OS12
Recon
AufkAbt 1 - SdKfz 221
Anti-Tank
Panzerjäger Abt 201 - 3.7 cm PaK 36 (Horse Transport) - Ferocious Defense
Panzerjäger Abt 202 - 3.7 cm PaK 36 (Horse Transport)
Artillery
Artillerie Abt 1 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 2 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 3 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 4 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 5 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 6 - 7.5 cm FK 16 nA (Horse Transport)
Anti-Aircraft
FlaK Abt 1 - 2 cm FlaK 30 (Horse Transport)
Fighter
I./JG 1 - He 51 - OS14
Tactical Bomber
I./SG 1 - Hs123a
I./AG 1 - He 70 Rayo
Oh dear, this core looks not as powerful as the default one. Things will get interesting.
Summary
Final Prestige: 1714 (up 591)
Overall
Already the prestige gain is not as impressive as in the normal run. The army moves more slowly, but the increased artillery force gets the job done just as well. AA veteran is almost a must. Only one fighter is very restrictive and the fact I cannot even buy AA units yet, means that making Republican planes stay away from my units will be quite tricky. I often will not be able to provide enough AA cover at the start. I cannot buy AT units, recon cars, basically nothing aside from Panzer IA and He 70 Rayo that have a full stock already and two types of artillery pieces. And seeing how many initial scenarios stay in 1936 this will not change soon. Since this first scenario is rather easy there is little of interest to tell... for now.
AO Spanish Civil War - Antequera
Starting Prestige (after purchases and replacements): 2457
Hero:
Daniel Meyer will join Artillerie Abt 1, as for a very, very, very long time artillery will be the key to making things work and allowing my Spanish allies to do the majority of fighting. This gives the option to suppress two targets and give more direction to their attacks.
Starting Army Composition:
Tank
PzAbt 1 - Panzer IA - OS12
PzAbt 2 - Panzer IA - OS12
Recon
AufkAbt 1 - SdKfz 221
Anti-Tank
Panzerjäger Abt 201 - 3.7 cm PaK 36 (Horse Transport)
Panzerjäger Abt 202 - 3.7 cm PaK 36 (Horse Transport)
Artillery
Artillerie Abt 1 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport) - Double Attack
Artillerie Abt 2 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 3 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 4 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 5 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 6 - 7.5 cm FK 16 nA (Horse Transport)
Anti-Aircraft
FlaK Abt 1 - 2 cm FlaK 30 (Horse Transport)
Fighter
I./JG 1 - He 51 - OS14
Tactical Bomber
I./SG 1 - Hs123a
I./AG 1 - He 70 Rayo
Startegic Bomber
I./KG 1 - Ju 52 Bomber
II./KG 1 - Ju 52 Bomber
III./KG 1 - Ju 52 Bomber
Last turn and I-15 fighters are swarming the sky freely. That's not a encouraging indication what the enemy air force is going to do later.
Summary:
Final Prestige: 2868 (up 411)
Overall:
Prestige is up again, but by a tiny bit only. Replacing artillery, AT and AA losses is quite costly, and this scenario showed that with two tanks and one recon car I will desperately struggle to cover a wide front in open terrain. I was not only unable to buy any new units, but CTV is also affected, not allowing me to get CR.32 fighters. Luckily I remembered my lesson and this time did not go too near the minefields to the east, not risking getting attacked by masses of units. I wan not tempted also due to the fact that the army is now painfully slow majority of it needs to move and then deploy, making positioning really critical and any mistakes very costly. Bonus objectives were quite easily achieved this time just like in the first scenario - so far no real issue with meeting them.
AO Spanish Civil War - Merida
Starting Prestige (after purchases and replacements): 3107
Hero:
This is not too helpful... I'll assign Gerhard Meyer to Panzerjäger Abt 1, but I'd lie if I said I'm excited by this roll. If this trait ever comes up relevant I'll be surprised!
New Units Commissioned:
Extra rules make things quite insane. I can only buy an extra 7.5 cm FK 16 nA to fill in available slots and that's not overly impactful as far as artillery goes. With so much distance to cover on foot, available CTV troops will be key if I even want to consider trying to get the bonus objective.
Artillerie Abt 7 - 7.5 cm FK 16 nA (Horse Transport)
Starting Army Composition:
Tank
PzAbt 1 - Panzer IA - OS12
PzAbt 2 - Panzer IA - OS12
Recon
AufkAbt 1 - SdKfz 221 - *
Anti-Tank
Panzerjäger Abt 201 - 3.7 cm PaK 36 (Horse Transport)
Panzerjäger Abt 202 - 3.7 cm PaK 36 (Horse Transport)
Artillery
Artillerie Abt 1 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport) - Double Attack
Artillerie Abt 2 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 3 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 4 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 5 - 10.5 cm leFH 18 (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 6 - 7.5 cm FK 16 nA (Horse Transport)
Artillerie Abt 7 - 7.5 cm FK 16 nA (Horse Transport)
Anti-Aircraft
FlaK Abt 1 - 2 cm FlaK 30 (Horse Transport)
Fighter
I./JG 1 - He 51 - OS14
Tactical Bomber
I./SG 1 - Hs123a
I./AG 1 - He 70 Rayo - *
Startegic Bomber
I./KG 1 - Ju 52 Bomber
II./KG 1 - Ju 52 Bomber
III./KG 1 - Ju 52 Bomber
Vega falls this time again, but much later and after several attempts to get him encirceled. My force is not nearly as mobile this time to catch him of guard in the open.
Shooting down all planes is again impossible. Taking any fortified position is so much faster on the other hand. That's a crazy amount of artillery to clear the way for attackers.
Summary:
Final Prestige: 3494 (up 387)
Overall:
Wow, that's really not the fastest prestige growth I could see. What I found interesting, was that capturing all victory hexes this time was a lot quicker than with just a regular army. So much guns firing at defenders allowed the Spanish infantry to take ground faster than I could have ever suspected. Badajoz was an entirely different beast. Up until the very last turns I was not sure if I can break through and pull in enough artillery without getting flanked, but at one point the enemy forces started to fall back. My AT units were critical in making the capture possible by securing the advancing force from armored counter attacks and while it took them a while to get there due to towed horse transport, I was overall impressed by their performance and I am starting to greatly warm up towards towed AT guns. They are cheap and offer that essential bit of firepower I am otherwise lacking this time. Not being able to buy anything new aside from artillery is forcing me to take an entirely different approach to combat and it is only now when I come to appreciate my allies fully, as on my own I'm essentially unable to progress beyond very basic skirmishes.