"The Russian economy, stressed by the demands of war, confirms its leaders' worst fears. Economists tell the Defense Council that unless the war is a short, victorious one, the economy will collapse."
Act III: Battle Chess
"Exhausted by the furious pace of combat and the horrific losses, both sides are forced to re-evaluate their basic strategies. Fuel and ammunition are being consumed at fantastic rates, confirming the most pessimistic peacetime estimates.
At sea, reinforcement convoys have become vital prizes, to be protected or destroyed. Soviet strategy did not anticipate a long war and made no plans for a sustained campaign in the North Atlantic. Now forced to do so, Soviet attack subs must operate at extreme range in an ocean ringed with hostile bases."
"Mines have always been an important method of slowing a naval force and restricting its movements. They have sunk their share of ships, but a mine's greater effect is the effort the enemy has to exert to continue his operations. A suspected minefield has to be investigated by specialist mine-hunting and -sweeping forces. Once the mined area is located, it has to either be swept or avoided. If the area cannot be avoided, the area is closed until it can be swept. Both sides expect the other to mine their ports and other restricted waters. How well they are prepared for that event is another story."
Duration: 24 hours
This scenario was inspired by the situation described in the "High Tide" compilation from Clash of Arms.This scenario was written for the PlayersDB
***** Flash ***** Flash *****
SSSSSS 010000Z24Jul88 SSSSSS
1.0 SitRep:
Even though the major portion of the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet has sortied from its bases, once a vessel has expended its ammunition, it has to return to port to re-arm. This is especially true for the vessels armed with the large, ship-killing surface-to-surface missiles such as the Oscar PLARKs, Kirov, Slava, and Kresta I RKRs and Sovremennyy EMs. The initial series of battles have caused much of the Soviet Navy to now need re-supply.
2.0 Intelligence:
Several Soviet ships have been photographed enroute to Murmansk.
3.0 Orders:
NATO high command orders the Northern Fleet port entrances to be mined. One such field is the inlet leading to Murmansk.
Penetrate Soviet waters and lay a minefield of twenty Submarine-Launched Mobile Mines (SLMM). Withdraw from the area without being detected. Do not engage Soviet vessels within 10nm of the mined area to avoid drawing attention to your presence on a mining operation. It will take 1 hour within the mine area to lay the weapons.
The French submarine, Rubis, will be in support and is available to draw attention away from Providence.
4.0 Rules of Engagement:
Warning level Red, Weapons Free
Avoid engagement with Soviet vessels within 10nm of the mined area.
Special weapons NOT <<repeat>> NOT authorized. Report all first use of CBR weapons to NCA via Flash protocol.
![[Linked Image]](https://s63.photobucket.com/user/hermanhum/media/Mining_zpsmnallb3c.gif.html)
