Jesus Balsinde's (Jay Bee) "Defense of Madrid" scenario

[Civil2Fan]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum.

I used to play Civ2 some years ago, and I was kind of addicted to scnearios rather than the game itself.

Specifically I was fan of World War 2 scenarios and other historical ones, like Jay Bee's "Defense of Madrid", on the Spanish War (Spanish Civil War) involving Fascists vs Republicans.

I wonder if some of you got to play this fantastic 1998 scenario (probably not the most technical but very playable), and which was the outcome of your games if that was the case.

Greetings!

[Republican19136]

a working strategy

This is also one I love but can't quite crack yet. I play on Prince but can't make it in good shape to 1939. By then it's obvious there's no hope (as was the case in real history sadly) and I quit and start again. However, I've got some strategies we can work out:

To start,
I stop all auto goto and disband many inferior units (peasant militia, CNT-Anarchist militias, Int'l Brigades, and Republican soldiers) to bolster production of better units (Arty, Tanks, Fighters) for which I then put much of my money into speeding up production and getting a boost on the front lines. I keep luxuries at 20% and max out taxes since tech advances are turned off)

Production:
1. Put all production into primarily Artillery (18 active, 18 in prod); they are the only unit that can take out the Fascist's tanks. Back them up with Tanks (14 active 5 in prod) to defend cities and at least one or two fighters in each frontline city to protect them from air attack.
or
2. Build some (5) countrymen to build better rail between key cities to get units to the front faster. The problem is where they are needed most [Lograno-Guadalajara and for offensives to Sonia] they get taken out by air attack.
or
3. Use these countrymen to build fortresses in hills and mountains on the front to take the brunt of the attacks off the frontline cities (I'm going to try this next)

Geography:
1)
a) I push them out of my center (Teruel-Belchite-Zaragoza-Pamplona-Vitoria) and establish a front line that runs from Gijon-Santander-Lograno-Guadalajara-Brunete-Cuenca-Albacete-Almeria after losing Ciudad Real and Juen.

b) I use the militias and soldiers fortified in the mounts south of Brunete and along the northern coast to absorb some of the attacks and wear down tanks and aircraft a bit before they reach my cities.

2) Put everything into the center to try and capture Segovia-Avila-Salamanca to split them in two. The problem is getting enough arty and tanks into the cities without having them taken out in large numbers by air attack. Typically they do somewhere and I'm stretched thin and the offensive completely collapses.

3) Push from the northern mountains and try to link up with the center.

The two valleys around Ciudad Real and Sonia respectively seem impassable since their tanks and air are superior at long ranges. The push of Int'l Brigades around Sonia I usually fold into the defensive of Brunete since they aren't enough to capture Sonia. The Italian-Nazi offensive in the north is easy to crush provided you remember its coming and have the arty and armour up there ready for it.

I'm ready to think outside of the box on this one since at best I can only delay the inevitable and I really want to crack this one.

[Civil2Fan]

Hello Republican19136

It's been quite a few months since the last time I played this one, but I'll try to remember what my strategy was like.

I play it on Deity mode, because that's the way the game it's supposed to be played.

To start,
I stop all auto goto and disband many inferior units (peasant militia, CNT-Anarchist militias, Int'l Brigades, and Republican soldiers) to bolster production of better units (Arty, Tanks, Fighters) for which I then put much of my money into speeding up production and getting a boost on the front lines. I keep luxuries at 20% and max out taxes since tech advances are turned off)

That's more or less what I do in the begining. I try to get rid of CNT-Anarchist militias, assault troops as well as Russian biplanes, which are mediocre in my opinion, plus make people unhappy. I keep most Republican soldiers and International Brigades, though, which might be a mistake. I also keep luxuries at 20% plus I sell facilities like recycling centers (?). I'm not too sure whether those provide money or not, but that's what I did at first. I also disband the battleship in Barcelona because it doesn't seem especially useful to me, also in order to boost production of artillery, fighters and tanks.

Having said this, it's incredibly important to build fighters in those cities that have an airport. Non-veteran fighters are a waste of time and resources.

I also raise the amount of tax collectors as much as possible, especially in Madrid and Barcelona.

I carefully look for the timing to spend my gold: ie, when there are few turns left to complete the construction of units or when they are neccessary in order to save as much as I can.

Production:
1. Put all production into primarily Artillery (18 active, 18 in prod); they are the only unit that can take out the Fascist's tanks. Back them up with Tanks (14 active 5 in prod) to defend cities and at least one or two fighters in each frontline city to protect them from air attack.
or
2. Build some (5) countrymen to build better rail between key cities to get units to the front faster. The problem is where they are needed most [Lograno-Guadalajara and for offensives to Sonia] they get taken out by air attack.
or
3. Use these countrymen to build fortresses in hills and mountains on the front to take the brunt of the attacks off the frontline cities (I'm going to try this next)

Lots of Tanks to defend cities seems a good option, but for some reason on Deity mode I didn't think they made so much of a difference. As it's been quite a long time since the last time I played I'm curious to know whether al change in my strategy will prove different this time around. As Tanks are way faster and better in attack than most units it seems a good option nonetheless. In whatever case, I think the transition to change the army has to be carefully studied-

Countrymen are useful to improve communications between Catalonia and Valencia and I used them at some point but, again, while they gave some advantage it wasn't incredibly important to me. as far as I recall I also used them to build railways between Murcia and Valencia.

Number 3 seems interesting too, but quite difficult at the same time. Countrymen are SLOW. Fortress in the Sierra de Madrid might make some difference.

Also, I found Commisaries (spelling?) very useful to reduce enemy tanks hit points, so it was easier to eliminate them with my artillery units in my cities afterwards. I think I did this in cities such as Ciudad Real and Segovia-Avila-Salamanca etc once I launched my attack

Geography:
1)
a) I push them out of my center (Teruel-Belchite-Zaragoza-Pamplona-Vitoria) and establish a front line that runs from Gijon-Santander-Lograno-Guadalajara-Brunete-Cuenca-Albacete-Almeria after losing Ciudad Real and Juen.

b) I use the militias and soldiers fortified in the mounts south of Brunete and along the northern coast to absorb some of the attacks and wear down tanks and aircraft a bit before they reach my cities.

2) Put everything into the center to try and capture Segovia-Avila-Salamanca to split them in two. The problem is getting enough arty and tanks into the cities without having them taken out in large numbers by air attack. Typically they do somewhere and I'm stretched thin and the offensive completely collapses.

3) Push from the northern mountains and try to link up with the center.

1. I also do the same BUT, I don't lose Ciudad Real and Jaen just after conquering those cities, because I send some fighters and other units there. Agreed with a) and b) at some extent. I try to attack Soria and Burgos just after conquering Logroño and occupy them at some point.

2. I also do the same. Once I conquer Segovia I accumulate units in Brunete and then use the two gap distance to move artillery and tanks safely to Segovia. In whatever case units will be exposed at some point or other. Panzers are ridiculously powerful. Enemy cities where new units appear should be a primary target. Spying cities with commissaries is a nice way to find out more about the Nacionalistas defenses.

3. Agreed. Airports are useful to transfer some elite troops from, say Valencia and Catalonia to the Cantabrico in the North (Bilbao and the likes)

The two valleys around Ciudad Real and Sonia respectively seem impassable since their tanks and air are superior at long ranges. The push of Int'l Brigades around Sonia I usually fold into the defensive of Brunete since they aren't enough to capture Sonia. The Italian-Nazi offensive in the north is easy to crush provided you remember its coming and have the arty and armour up there ready for it.

Agreed with all you typed. Italians were ridiculized in Guadalajara in reality, that's something the game describes well.

I'm ready to think outside of the box on this one since at best I can only delay the inevitable and I really want to crack this one.

What is the inevitable?

Madrid falling? I more or less keep the front stable until 1939 but I cannot get a decisive victory as some people have managed to do, or so I read.

PS I absolutely hate the attacks on Pais Vasco, Valle del Ebro and Catalonia when the front is in Segovia, Zamora and the likes. It's one of the flaws in this scenario in my opinion.