AAR: Cuban Missile Crisis [Spoiler Alert] By Freek Schepers
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In this scenario the forces are arranged as they were in the Caribbean on October 22nd 1962; the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
After the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Cuba started re-arming with the most modern Soviet weapon systems. MiG-19 and -21 fighters armed with Atoll-AAM, SSM-armed missile boats, and SA-2 SAMs have been supplied to Cuba in early 1962. Training has been provided in the USSR and Soviet advisors and training units were moved to Cuba.
Early 1962: US recon planes spotted construction activity of what were evaluated to be missile launch pads and fleet harbours suitable for nuclear submarines.
Early October: Soviet merchant ships with covered tube-like deck cargo were spotted in the Dardanelles and in the G-I-UK gap heading southwestwardly. Submarines were also detected moving into the Atlantic by the brand-new but imperfect SOSUS sensors.
After reading and re-reading my orders and the accompanying Rules of Engagement [ROE] from SACLant, I immediately double-checked to make certain that all of my units had their weapons Weapons on Safe status and were locked down. I certainly didn't want to be the initiator of nuclear shooting war!
I realized that many of my vessels were a long distance from the line that the President had designated as the limit of the quarantine zone. Therefore, I ordered all vessels in Guantanamo Bay to sortie. As well, much of NavSurfLant was currently positioned near Florida and Cuba. I elected to gamble and meet the freighters in a show of force at the boundaries of the Exclusion zone. My orders were quite clear. Under no circumstances was I to allow them entry into the Quarantine Zone. All vessels were ordered to full speed and a Combat Air Patrol [CAP] was launched from Guantanamo Bay. If this turned out to be a shooting war, she could expect to be attacked within minutes of it starting. I was very concerned about TF Iwo Jima. She was deep in the Caribbean, far from support, and pretty much limited by the search range of her helos.
Sabre fighters were launched to escort my Voodoo recon planes from MacDill. Additional Sabres and Starfighters were also ordered aloft as Barrier CAPs [BarCAPs] from Key West and Homestead AFBs. Very specific orders were given to the flight leaders that they were to remain over international waters and not to fire unless fired upon. The disciplined men of Naval Aviation did not bat an eyelash in the face of these orders and I knew that they would follow them to the letter.
With fighters leading the way and, hopefully, clearing a path in front of any potential opposition, I launched my precious U-2 spy plane. Contrary to normal doctrine, I would try to make the ingress at low level and only climb to take photos when closer to the objective. I hoped that the high-flying fighter escorts and Voodoo reconnaissance planes would distract the enemy sufficiently so that the U-2 would be unmolested in her mission. I would also try to send her around the known air defences and through the back door.
Starfighters from Key West were the first to meet aircraft rising from the Ciudad de Libertad airbase. They were approached on an intercept profile, but my orders forbade early engagement. They would have to prove themselves hostile before I was allowed to take action. The fighters turned out be Fishbeds and my planes were soon to be on the receiving end of Atoll missiles! While one flight evaded, the second flight launched six Sidewinders with no effect. The pilots went to Afterburner and activated their internal cannon. In violent Air-Combat Manoeuvres [ACM], both Fishbeds were shredded by the M61 cannon fire. A Beagle patrol plane was detected. The fighters must have been the assigned escort for this asset. As one flight approached her, the radar warning receiver went wild. A Goa SAM had been fired! Again, the men undertook wild evasive manoeuvres. This was going to be the common theme throughout the day. The men were lucky this time as the SAMs ran out of fuel.
The Beagle appeared to be unprotected so one flight of 3 Starfighters approached her and set themselves up in her 'Six-O'clock' position. However, to their surprise, her gunners opened fire and killed two of the F-104s! The surviving fighter immediately returned fire and killed the Cuban, but it was small consolation for the loss of his two squadron mates.
Two more Fishbeds rose to challenge the F-104s and managed to kill two of them with only the single loss of a Fishbed before all belligerents were forced to break off combat and return to base. Thus far, Cuba was leading in the scoring race, 4:3. The Sabre pilots from Homestead AFB heard the sad report over their guard frequencies and vowed revenge. Now, if only the Cuban pilots would co-operate. They met CAPs launched from Sagua La Grande AB but were not fired upon. The enemy was not co-operating and this frustrated them. Finally, after a series of feints, one Cuban loosed his Atoll missiles. They were evaded and he was closed and killed by guns after a swirling dance of death.
Two more Fishbeds met my relief CAP from Key West. This time, both MiGs were downed for the loss of a Crusader. The score was now tied but the men wanted a win, not a tie.
The Great Game moved back to Sagua La Grande. More Goa SAMs rose in opposition only to fall back into the sea when out of fuel. The MiGs fared better with both sides exchanging planes and lives. The score would remain tied.
As hoped, the fighter pilots were distracting the air defences and allowing the U-2 pilot to make his run on Libertad unopposed. The cost was high in both men and planes. In the midst of the battle, my Skyraider Electronic Warfare [EW] bird suddenly blinked off of the screen! Curse all radar operators. A marauding Fresco fighter had evidently crept within range of her without anyone noticing and shot her down. Now all of my aircraft would be naked against the Cuban radar.
Once Libertad was photographed, the U-2 dove back into the weeds and headed for St. Julien Air Base [AB] on the western tip of the island. She was in good company with her escorts. After another swirling battle with Frescoes and more SAMs, the U-2 was able to photograph the IRBM sites and leave. The price was 4 more fighters. The air force was learning a very hard lesson; aerial gunnery was not obsolescent even in the age of AAMs.
In their turn, Sagua La Grande AB and Holguin AB were reconnoitred and photographed using the same swarming technique. Multiple flights of fighters would distract the defenders so that the U-2 was unmolested. The price of admission was paid by the fighters. After these orders were fulfilled, I chose to adopt a more defensive stance. Instead of aggressive Target CAPs [TarCAP], I re-assigned my fighters to Barrier CAPs [BarCAP] midway between Cuban bases and Florida. Only one further 'Incident' was encountered. A Beagle raid was detected by Gitmo originating from Holguin AB. I managed to scramble sufficient Phantom interceptors to crush the raiders, but elected not to retaliate against the base. The Russian and Cuban installations were so intermingled that I was worried about accidentally attacking a Russian installation and provoking a nuclear response. Today, discretion would definitely be the better part of valour.
On the high seas, I found myself in a quandry. The Quarantine zone was a large area and it was flooded with unknown contacts. I launched my Neptune Maritime Patrol Aircraft [MPA] to find and classify every ship. Unfortunately, radar can only tell me that a contact exists. It cannot tell you the nationality of the vessel. Thus, I had to overfly and positively identify each and every vessel; a long and arduous process.
As each of my groups raced to the edge of the Exclusion zone, the ASW co-ordinator aboard CVAN Enterprise reported, "Probable submarine contact in the Torpedo Danger Zone!" Somehow, a suspected submarine had managed to evade my escorts and ensconced herself between the CVAN and my destroyers! The battle group commander immediately ordered all ships to scatter at flank speed and launched 4 helos to prosecute this contact. It was not a minute too soon, either, as torpedo contacts were soon reported. The quick response prevented any damage. The confirmed hostility of the unknown submarine quickly ensured her destruction at the hands of the helo pilots.
As my MPA chased down vessels of all nationalities, they were able to positively identify six merchants flying the Hammer and Sickle. However, intelligence had reported seven such vessels leaving Soviet ports. A Golf-class SSG was even spotted running on the surface within the quarantine zone. I decided to give her a wide berth as her direction of travel was outward-bound.
Six merchants were intercepted before they could cross into the Quarantine zone and they were 'escorted' away from the area. I finally managed to find the elusive seventh merchant, but the Essex PhibRon was simply too far away to intercept her before she reached the barrier. Luckily, she did not cross the barrier as all merchants had apparently received orders to return. The world would not be destroyed in a nuclear nightmare this day, but I lost the game because I did not intercept her before she reached the zone.
This is a really neat scenario. Freek has done a good job simulating the ROE present during those 13 Days in October. Combat is possible and permitted, but the player must take extreme care in what and who he engages. Otherwise, the game crosses the nuclear threshold and into nuclear holocaust. An excellent job re-creating the Crisis on the High Seas. Thanks for putting it together.
AAR: Cuban Missile Crisis [Cuba] A Harpoon 3 scenario By Freek Schepers
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In this scenario the forces are arranged as they were in the Caribbean on October 22nd 1962; the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
After the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Cuba started re-arming with the most modern Soviet weapon systems. MiG-19 and -21 fighters armed with Atoll-AAM, SSM-armed missile boats, and SA-2 SAMs have been supplied to Cuba in early 1962. Training has been provided in the USSR and Soviet advisors and training units were moved to Cuba.
Early 1962: US recon planes spotted construction activity of what were evaluated to be missile launch pads and fleet harbours suitable for nuclear submarines.
Early October: Soviet merchant ships with covered tube-like deck cargo were spotted in the Dardanelles and in the G-I-UK gap heading southwestwardly. Submarines were also detected moving into the Atlantic by the brand-new but imperfect SOSUS sensors.
Presidente Castro was in fine form, tonight. His six hour oration was just ending with, "Y los imperialistas no pondrᮠun pie en Cuba". << And the Imperialists shall never set foot on Cuba >> Those words were still ringing in my ears as I read my latest orders. My mission was clearly to protect our Soviet "guests" from the Yankee pirates.
I ordered Combat Air Patrols [CAPs] to be stationed over all airbases. Four patrol boats were off-shore from Guantanamo Bay. The fact that the Imperialists took every opportunity to trail their coats in front of us was too much for me to endure. My machismo would not allow me to sit quietly while it happened so I ordered the four patrol boats to make a pass across the bay to show the Yankees that we were not afraid of them.
As my CAPs climbed to patrol altitude, they found that the Gringos were not co-operating. They maintained their provocative air patrols over international waters so I ordered my CAPs to close and engage them. Who would be able to prove that the fight had not started over Cuban waters? I sent a pair of Farmers and another pair of Frescoes to scratch a couple of annoying fleas off of base Sagua La Grande's back. My Alkali SARH AAMs proved much more effective than the American Sidewinders. A Sabre and a Starfighter were killed outright. First blood to Aerea Fuerza Cubano!
A swarm of unidentified air contacts were reported over international waters and my men salivated at the thought of combat with the Americans, but I restrained them and only released them to engage those contacts in or near Cuban air space. I knew that Key West AB had long-ranged Nike-Hercules SAMs and did not want to give the enemy a chance to test them on us.
By a stroke of luck, a U-2 flew right into one of my MiG-21 CAPs over Libertad and was shot down. I needed to kill one more for my ViConds. My luck held as the same fighting pair managed to close upon a Skyraider EW platform that was wreaking havoc on my Ground Controlled Interception [GCI] radar. They loosed their Atoll missiles and were rewarded by watching it explode in mid-air. Score 4:0 for the home team.
Another pair of Fresco had been sent north to hunt a pair of Bogeys. However, imagine their surprise when they turned on their Fire-Control Radar [FCR] only to find that they were in the midst of five enemy aircraft! However, true to their fighter pilot aggressiveness, they turned into the attack instead of running. They exchanged missiles with a Sabre without either side getting hit and turned back to engage with aerial gunnery. The fighters were escorting a Voodoo recon plane. Hopefully, they would be able to kill the Sabres for the main course and still be able to enjoy their dessert, the Voodoo. They evaded the AAMs and then slid into the Six-O'Clock position behind the enemy. The Sabre died without ever knowing what killed her followed by the unarmed Voodoo. Score was now 6-love.
My missile and gunboats found the DD Charles Badger in Gitmo Bay and unleashed their four Styx SSMs and decided that they had done their duty for the revolution and retired westward. Unfortunately, no explosions were seen or heard. I kept my CAPs close to their home bases and successfully killed all enemy fighters that encroached with very light losses for the moment. I was beginning to worry that the enemy would not try to engage me under my own radar coverage and that I might have to venture into the Florida Strait to meet my ViCond of 50 aircraft kills. I wished that he would come south to do battle. The Chinese have sage advice regarding situations like this: "Be careful for what you wish." It was indeed prophetic.
As my pilots were rejoicing their victories and their planes were being re-armed and re-fueled, the air raid sirens wailed long and hard. I had very little left with which to oppose these new strikers. Libertad AB managed to scramble sufficient interceptors to kill most of her assailants and thus survived with minimal damage to the base. However, as most of Sagua's and Holguin's defenders were out of action on the tarmac, these bases were hammered mercilessly. Sagua was almost totally flattened with only a handful of planes surviving the onslaught from Sabres based in Florida. It seems as though wave attacks were not limited to the PRC as wave after wave of attackers crashed upon Cuban shores. Holguin was similarly pulverized by Skyhawks that could only have come from as yet undetected CVBGs offshore. These three-pronged attacks were exceptionally well-timed.
I had failed to protect my Soviet guests. During the attack, some strikers attacked the Soviet IRBM sites. Evidently, the Soviet commander elected to launch his missiles rather than risk losing them. Everyone watched helplessly as the ballistic missiles rose on pillars of flame towards ConUS. This war had now crossed the nuclear threshold as IRBM strikes wiped out MacDill AFB, Norfolk, and Jacksonville. However, I still had my orders so I continued to protect the Motherland as best I could.
My bases at San Julien and Libertad were relatively unscathed so I transferred some of their defenders to Sagua and Holguin in an attempt to provide them some protection. As they were about to land, more attacks were detected from US naval aviation. They had fortuitously arrived just in time to engage and defeat this latest round of attacks. However, my eastern bases were still unprotected so I transferred yet more assets. Again, I was "rewarded" by their timely arrival to have them face more inbound strikers from the carrier battle groups. This time, they turned out to be nuclear-capable Vigilantes! I could only assume that the Gringo commander had decided to retaliate-in-kind after learning of the Soviet attack on his country.
I could not afford to allow a single attacker to release its payload. One nuclear device could render Cuba uninhabitable. As my pilots intercepted each Vigilante, I kept my fingers crossed. There would be no second chance. Luck smiled upon me this day as I was able to destroy the entire wave of nuclear-armed bombers. Within hours, I was granted "victory" even as the firestorms continued to sweep through the Continental US [ConUS].
Another exceptional scenario. Thanks for sharing it. Thanks, also, to JM Serrano for his linguistic assistance in writing this AAR.
Here's an epic AAR by Dave Steinmeyer. It is re-printed here with permission from the author.
AAR: Malakka [Spoiler Alert] - Thailand A Harpoon 3 scenario By Freek Schepers
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The NATO-Russian war is 4 weeks old. Russia's naval aviation forces and US Carriers have fought several bloody battles around Japan. Japan has defended its islands well, but is now very vulnerable to the closure of its SLOC's. The Chinese navy has left port but has stayed out of the battle. The US losses in the Pacific and Atlantic theatres have forced it to withdraw the Seventh Fleet from the IO. Only Diego Garcia remains as a stronghold there. The task of providing security for the Malakka Strait has been handed over to India, Thailand, and Singapore. India and Thailand will use their baby-carriers to escort tankers through the IO. The War in the Pacific has interrupted oil shipments to Japan and China for several weeks now and resumption of the oil trade has now become a strategic imperative.
Ok, as I take my initial inventory of what I have available, I'm none too happy. The ONLY air assets ready to fly are a pair Sea Kings out of Port Blair. No options but to launch one. Other than that, I've got 6 Falcons and 4 Tigers on Ready5 out of Korat and Surat Thani respectively, 6 more Falcons Ready30 at Takhli, and one Orion Ready30 at U Tapao. It's gonna be pretty damn hard to get a clear picture of what's going on initially. Now for orders... I send the Indian carrier TF south along the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, then SE towards the straits. Thai TF Andaman get orders to head SE to the Straits at full. Thai TF 1 is ordered due west towards the South China Sea, and TF Gulf of Thailand heads SE around the Exclusion Zone and then S to the 10 degree channel.
As per standard operating procedures, all radars in the TFs are passive and all are running with ECMs active to deny the enemy, whoever that may be, as much info as possible. All SAM sites are ordered to go passive, the only radars I allow to radiate are the YLC-2 Early Warning radars and the weather radar on Car Nicobar.
Once things get started, I am greeted by what can only be described as a nightmare and a blessing all in one. There are SO many merchants in the area, spread out over such a huge swath of ocean, I know right away I can't protect all of them. But, on the up side, the vast majority of them are Blue. Hopefully, that means I've got dozens of additional eyes out there looking for the bad guys! I also make a more frightening observation, I'm hemmed in by Red bases all around me. Some are entirely too lose for comfort.
About a minute and a half later I get my first contact. It's the ESM track of a Nav radar NW of TF 1. It sure would be nice to have some helos ready for scouting! But, since it's just nav radar, I'll keep an eye on him, but not worry too much. My Sea King launches from Port Blair and immediately picks up another skunk running commercial nav radar. No biggie. I then get three simultaneous reports of bogies. They appear to be flying one each out of Butterworth, Kuantan, and Tengah. Their radar profiles indicate they're probably an F-18, a Fulcrum, and Falcon. Their bases are listed as neutrals, and that's good enough for me. I have a feeling I'll have my hands full soon enough. My next contact is a bogie running an ORB 32 radar some where near Singapore. Looks like somebody else is trying to get a picture of what's going on. Then a second one pops up, and I get confirmation from one of the merchants that what I thought was a Falcon, indeed is, and more importantly he's neutral.
At the five minute mark, I have a Harrier and a Sea King ready aboard the Viraat, and four Tigers and six Falcons ready. I keep one each Falcon and Tiger on the ground and launch everything else. I send the Harrier N towards Great Cocos Island and Haingui to watch the back door and the Sea King S along the Nicobars. The Tigers leave from Surat Thani and race N the place themselves between their base and Mergui. The Falcons out of Korat are tasked with looking out to the NE. By now, another merchant informs me that the birds flying the ORB 32 surface search radars are Super Pumas out of Singapore. Interestingly enough, I even pick up the emissions from an AN/APS-145. Must be one of Singapore's E-2s. I'm starting to get a case of radar envy!
On the approach to Grand Cocos, my Harrier detects a Gun Dish radar going hot, and decides to give it a wide berth. One of the Falcons picks up emissions from a pair of N001VE Zhuk radars about 175nm E of Korat, this is a rather unhappy development. But there are five Falcons and only two of them, right? By now it's 1230Z and I have several more aircraft ready. I no sooner get four Falcons off the ground from Takhli, when my EW radars pick up a pair of bogies 86nm NW of U Tapao heading for my radar at 540kts. So I dispatched a pair of Falcons to investigate. On closing to visual, they ID the bogies as Airguards and HOSTILE! The lead pilot moves in and let's loose one Sidewinder and begins to maneuver. As he gains the advantage on the second Airguard, he fires again. His first missile strikes its prey at the wing root on the port side. The pilot never saw it coming. The second Airguard pilot takes a snap shot at the guy who just killed his wingman. Right after his missile clears the rail, another Sidewinder hits home. His missile never locks on to his killer and goes wild. Two shots, two kills.
And now for the bad news. As the first engagement played out between the Falcon and the Airguards, Falcons to the NE confirmed their fears. Not only is there one pair of hostile Flankers heading W, but now a second pair lit up their radars N of the first pair. The number of enemy doubled, my problems quadrupled! A lone Falcon dropped the southern pair of Flankers like a couple of bad habits. Unfortunately, he was knocked from the sky while doing so. In the north, one Falcon was lost before I could even pinpoint the Flankers. I vectored in four more and ordered the launch of my one remaining Falcon at Korat. One Falcon and one Flanker were lost in a mutual kill. Another Falcon managed to get a shot at the sole remaining Flanker before the F-16's wreckage was decorating the hills below. The Flanker nimbly dodged the shot. DAMN, I hate Flankers! While my two remaining Falcons pursue the Flanker to the N, my F-16 to the S picks up a pair of Badgers following in the path of the Flankers. He launches a pair of Sidewinders and the Badgers go down faster than a couple of cheap hookers! Back in the north, the last Flanker is eliminated in a mutual kill with another Falcon. 4 Flankers for 4 Falcons, NOT an exchange ratio I want to continue!
Out over the Andaman Sea, a merchant reports sighting a Maritime Enforcer. My airborne Harrier is up near Haingui, so I order one of my Tigers watching Mergui W to deal with it. Now I notice something else, my radars are being jammed. No fair! That's my trick! A quick look around reveals what must be and EW bird somewhere over the South China Sea. Nothing a pair of Matadors off the Thai carrier can't handle. Another pair of Badgers shows up N of the first pair and is just as easily dispatched. Before their wreckage even hits the earth, a third pair appears slightly further N. Another Falcon, two more missiles, two less Badgers. A few minutes later, two more pairs pop up right in front of the Falcons. As I give the orders to intercept, a third pair arrives slightly further N. Shortly all 6 Badgers disappear in balls of flame.
Now I get a report that reminds me I have made a serious error of omission. The supertanker Breuklen, within the Malakka Straits, report a visible goblin 3nm dead ahead. In my concern over the Flankers and Badgers trying to infiltrate to the N, I forgot to launch my one available Orion! I only hope it's not too late to rectify the situation as I belatedly order it airborne. My concerns are quickly proven true, as first one, then a another torpedo slam into the supertanker, breaking her keel and quickly sending her to the bottom. The environmental disaster is the least of my worries right now. After a brief game of hide and seek over the Andaman, my Tiger tracks down the Maritime Intruder and the plane and crew now sleep with the fishes. On the other side of my AO, the Matador's hunt for the EW plane pays off nicely as the southern of the two visually IDs a Chinese EW Badger. Bye-bye Badger!
Time to worry again, I pick up two more Flanker radars to the NE. Both over southern Laos. Here we go again! Have I mentioned that I HATE Flankers?! After a few minutes of angst, the ESM tracks don't appear to be getting any closer. I only like to pick fights I can win, and this ain't one of 'em! After my Tiger offed the Maritime Intruder and was heading back to base, he picked up some odd radar signals right off the coast of Phuket. So I sent him to check it out. It's ID'd as a 412 class PGM and a second is picked up further S. A pair of Harpoons fired from the FFL Sukhotai in TF Andaman make short work of the gun boat. As my Tiger set off S to pin point the other gun boat, the Sea King out of Port Blair almost runs right into another of the same class nearly dead center in the Andaman Sea. He's only 15nm from the Sea King when he's noticed. Unfortunately, he's out of range of both the Thai TF and the Indian TF. And I have no ready air assets (AGAIN!) to hit him with. Bad luck again. My Tiger hits Bingo fuel before he can localize the other gun boat. I don't usually gamble, I prefer an unfair fight and a guaranteed win, but do throw the dice in this situation and send one of my two remaining Harpoons from TF Andaman towards the area of the second gun boat. At the same time, I launch another Tiger from Surat Thani to pick up where the Tiger returning to base left off. He quickly finds the second gun boat, alive and well. Apparently the BOL Harpoon missed! He increases to full throttle, dives to 600m above the deck and lets loose with three bursts of 20mm cannon fire. All three rake the little craft. The pilot is gratified to see a pair of secondary explosions as turns NW and heads to his patrol station over the Andaman.
Just when I thought I was starting to get a handle on things, the Sea King I had acting as my eyes over the Andaman Sea visually picks up two bogies closing fast from the E. Less than a minute later the Sea King is a stain on the ocean's surface. I guess a pair of fighters slipped out of Mergui I send three Tigers N looking for paybacks. I quickly lost contact with the two bogies who took out the Sea King, so I order a Falcon from Takhli to head SW and join in the hunt. As one of my Tigers is racing NW, he stumbles across a Houxin class PTG 45nm SW of Mergui. While it's much larger than the little PGMs I've dealt with so far, it looks pretty under armed in the AA area. Just as the Tiger starts his attack run on the Houxin, another Tiger in the hunting party picks up a bogey heading in the direction of Mergui. Where there's one, there's probably two. He streaks off to intercept. In no time he picks up the second bogey and ID's them as Airguards. TALLY HO!! The Houxin proves to be a nice big target, but also capable of taking some punishment. It takes 11 bursts of cannon fire and two strafing runs to leave the ship dead in the water, burning and listing to starboard. Before heading N, the pilot reports seeing the crew abandoning the sinking ship. One more for the Good Guys! The lead tiger closes in on the two Airguards, firing one Sidewinder at each. The first one flies right by both planes. The second, however, flies true and scores a kill. The remaining Airguard pilot sprints for the safety of his base. But, he runs right into the loving arms of the other Tiger pilot who just sent many of his countrymen to their watery graves. And while his aircraft is now short on 20mm ammo to kiss with, he certainly doesn't hesitate to slip the Airguard some tongue in the form of a single Python 3. It proves to be the kiss of death.
Let's revisit the situation NE of Korat. One of the ESM tracks has moved close enough to the Falcons I have on CAP that I cannot ignore it anymore. I vector in three F-16s and start looking for the bane of my existence, ANOTHER f#*%ing Flanker!! As soon as my closest Falcon makes a visual ID, he explodes in a ball of flame. Poor ******* never knew what hit him! I launch my one remaining Falcon from Korat, as the Flanker makes an aggressive turn right for another of my CAP fighters. As if he were psychic, the Flanker pilot heads for the Falcon with only one AIM-9M left hanging from the rails. But if he was one to run from a fight, the Falcon driver wouldn't be a fighter pilot, now would he?! He does what he's been trained to do, he closes with the enemy, strives for a superior position and fires. He banks so hard to port after taking the shot that he nearly blacks out. He is brought back to reality by the voices of his wing mates cheering and telling him he got the Flanker! He never saw the vampire from the Flanker that went wide and well below his Falcon. He turned W and headed for home.
The last time we danced with Flankers up there, they were followed by a fair sized Badger raid. Let's see if past performance holds true. As proof of past predicting future, two Badgers soon pop up over a low ridge and right into the sights of a waiting Falcon. The Falcon doesn't even need to turn its radar on. Out over the South China Sea, one of the Thai Matadors I have scouting ahead of the carrier TF sniffs the emissions from a Chinese destroyer. I send him to get a closer look. I also launch a Seahawk off the carrier since it has a better radar than the Matadors. Just after lifting off from the Chakri Nareubet, the Seahawk gets the scent of a second Chinese DDG. Same area as the first. Back over the Andaman, one Tiger begins an attack run on the 412 class PGM out in the center of the Sea. A second Tiger hits bingo and turns for Surat Thani. Another is launched to replace him. And the Tiger who already sank one Houxin, finds a second while prowling the coast NNW of Mergui. This time the little 412 class PGM sees the Tiger roll in on the attack and opens up with one of its 40mm cannons. The gun crew proves its bravery by firing on the Tiger even as the first of three 20mm bursts pierce the aft hull and kill the engine. The second burst shatters the bridge, and the third rips a gash in the port side that starts the boat rolling over. The Tiger who is after his second Houxin of the day, is not as successful as in his first fight. He makes repeated passes on the PTG and expends all remaining 20mm ammo, but is only able to damage the ship. He is forced to call for help from another Tiger. As he is returning to base, cursing himself and thinking of how he could have executed the attack on the second Houxin more effectively, his radar picks up a pair of bogeys rising up from Mergui to meet him. Here's an opportunity to make up for his poor performance against the second missile boat. They are ID'd as a pair of Airguards. And just as efficiently they are dispatched with one Sidewinder each. No muss, no fuss. He is much happier now, as he returns to base.
Despite his success, he is only human and you can only roll the dice so many times. The Tiger pilot is RTB for bingo fuel and down to his last missile, when a second pair of bogies take off from Mergui. This time, he's only 10nm from the enemy base. A Falcon is 26nm N and sent in to try to relieve the Tiger, but the bogies are the hunters now. He fires his last missile and dives for the deck. As if in slow motion, he watches a glowing white dot appear at his 11 o'clock high and guide itself into a steep dive that he knows will eventually intersect with his. At the moment he is able to pick out the details of the enemy missile, he smiles to himself and knows, at least for him, it's been a good war.
The Falcon from Takhli fared only slightly better. He managed to take out one of the Airguards that fell the Tiger, but became so focused on doing so, that he did not pay attention to the AAA and fell victim to it. Although, the pilot was able to eject and survive in a Myanmar POW camp.
It's now 1500Z game time, 3 hours since the start of the scenario. How about a little half-time report?! The ViConds at the start said no more than 8 tankers damaged, sink 4 subs, and sink 10 warships. Here's the score so far. I've lost one tanker to a sub in the straits, I've only just got a return from a sub running on the surface right before half-time. My Orion is 24nm away and closing fast. I sank one Houxin and damaged another. A Tiger is en route to finish it off. And while the little 412 class gunboats don't constitute much of a threat, they do technically count as warships and I've downed three of them. Back to the game!
My strike and ASW capabilities just got a shot in the arm in the form of 2 Trackers and 4 Corsair IIs ready at Surat Thani. I also decide to do something about the annoying Zhuk ESM track that has been hovering over the northern Gulf of Thailand for a while. I sent three Tigers from U Tapao to deal with it. I hope the numbers will make up for the qualitative difference. I also send one of the Trackers out into the shipping lanes just E of the Nicobar Islands. The Orion closes on its prey in the Straits and finds an Indonesian/Malaysian Wasp already working the contact. Since this is very close to the area where the tanker Breukelen was lost, the Orion does not wait for positive ID. The first MK46 narrowly misses the sub, but the second nearly splits it in two. The Orion then heads for a patrol area further to the NW, near the tip of Sumatra. Back up north, another Zhuk radar is detected to the NE. I'm running out of Falcons to trade! Along the coast of Myanmar, one of my Tigers is approaching the wounded Houxin and detects a second contact further N, hugging the coast, trying to hide. We'll check him out later. The Tiger makes one pass and scores two more hits, damaging the PTG even more. One more hit should be the final nail in her coffin. But as the Tiger turns around for another pass, the belly of the plane is riddled with 14.5mm machine gun fire!! The pilot is forced to break off the attack and eject before the Tiger slams into the sea. The animal is wounded, but can still bite!
I think I'll try to work smarter, not harder now. Since I have several Jaguars ready at Port Blair, I'll send a pair each against the wounded Houxin and the unknown skunk further north. Now I pick up a pair of Slot Back radars out of Haingui, probably Fulcrums. I'll keep an eye on them for now. The three Tigers I sent to deal with the Flanker over the Thai Gulf have flushed out their quarry. The flight leader engages the Chinese Flanker, fires a Sidewinder and is no longer the flight leader. In fact, he's no longer much of anything! But his wingmen close and find a chink in the Flanker's armor into which they fire a pair of Python 3's. It only takes one. The Fulcrums out of Haingui have either gone silent for now, or gone back to base. Either way, I've lost track of 'em.
Now things go from not so bad to pretty bad, real quick. I get a mayday from the merchant tanker, Lady Sterling, about 175nm N of Banda Aceh. They have a visual of a C-801 ASM breaking the surface less than a mile from them. And it's heading their way. I vector in my airborne Tracker, my Orion, and launch a Sea King from Car Nicobar. It will probably be another case of too little, too late, but at least I now know where to hunt! The Lady Sterling is hit, slows to 2kts, but continues on course. She'd 23% damaged, but luckily no fires were started. The Seahawk scouting for the Thai carrier TF has reached its patrol area and is rewarded with two new contacts when its radar goes active. Both are in close formation with what I think are a pair of Chinese destroyers. By now, the two pair of Jaguars have crossed the Andaman to the coast of Myanmar. The northern pair immediately the previously unknown contact as a third Houxin PTG, null number 473. They are ordered to intercept. The Houxin opens fire with its 37mm cannon. Both Jaguars drop a pair of Mk13 1000lb bombs. Houxin 473 is struck by two. What's left of her quickly slips beneath the waves with all hands. The southern pair of Jaguars repeat the tactic. They split up and go in low and fast. The first Jaguar releases both bombs and turns for home. Before the second Jaguar can release its bombs, one of the first two smashes into the starboard superstructure of the Houxin, leveling the deck. All four Jaguars are RTB to Port Blair.
One of the Matadors ahead of the Thai carrier TF closes in and gets an ID on one of the ships in formation. It's the Siping, a Chinese Jianghu IV class FFG. And she's hostile. I order the Matador to back off a bit, I've got the info I need. If one out of four in the formation is hostile, the other three ain't there to sing kumbaiya and hold hands! As the formation slowly gets closer to the Seahawk on patrol, I pick up some small airborne contacts flying around the formation, probably helos. And I'm surprised to find a 5th contact in the formation. The Thai carrier TF just has to lay low until the Harpoon armed Matadors are ready to strike!
Unfortunately, I am forced to recall both of the Matadors and the Seahawk because I know have a pair of Flankers prowling the area between the Thai carrier and the Chinese surface group. Let's just hope the jamming is enough to not give the Flankers a good look at what I've got! I also notice an EW aircraft over the northern Andaman, as well as another Maritime Intruder, both probably out of Haingui. Time to rip their eyes out! I send the lone Harrier from the Viraat and an F-16 from Takhli to take them out. Now, I am also forced to greet a very unwelcome visitor. An Airguard is visually ID only 10nm NE of the Viraat TF and closing. The jig is up! Might as well light up all the radars 'cause I'm sure the party's gonna start soon! If he keeps coming, the SAM gunners will at least get some practice. It looks like the Airguard is making a low level run at the INS Brahmaputra. Two rounds from the 76mm OTO Compact and two bursts from the AK-630 CIWS and the Airguard is no more. But I'm sure he got a good look and a radio call before he died. To make matters worse, I pick up another bogey 77nm SE (!) of the Viraat TF closing on a Sea King from the carrier as it is RTB. The bogey turns out to be another Airguard who must have slipped past. He made a few cannon passes at the Sea King as he dove for the deck, but the attack was unsuccessful. I lost contact with the Airguard shortly after that.
Things are going to hell in a hand basket now! Either the same Airguard I lost before or another one now shows up to attack a second Sea King I have out scouting. To add insult to injury, another C-801 ASM pops up RIGHT UNDER the Sea King that survived the attack earlier!! It seems the missile is headed for the same tanker that was hit earlier, the Lady Sterling. The second Sea King to be attacked is as lucky as the first, it avoids a burst of cannon fire by hitting the deck and heading NE. The tanker is hit again, thankfully no fires. She's 45% damaged when a third C-801 breaks the surface. WHY the F can't I find the sub launching the missiles!!!??? A bit further N, at least there's some good news. A Falcon has found the EW bird I noticed earlier, it's an EW Badger and it's not long for this world. That's the first bit of good news. The second is that the third C-801 missed the Lady Sterling. And the third bit of good news is that my Sea King has found the sub! It's not ID's yet, but it's definitely hostile. But the ******* fires another C-801 before the Sea King can close. The fourth ASM finds it's mark, setting the tanker ablaze. She's now 89% damaged. I vector in a Tracker to help with the hunt. The pair localize the sub, and three of the Sea King's four Mk11 depth charges later, there's no more contact. But, that's the last bit of good news. It seems there are at least two Airguards roving over the Andaman, and they have BOTH found my Orion. The Orion goes down in a spectacular trail of smoke and flame after being raked with cannon fire. The two Airguards then turn their attention to what must have been their real mission all along, one starts an attack run on the tanker Port Vendres, the other on the tanker Ilim. Both are hit by bombs and 34% damaged before the Airguards turn N and head home. But they are running straight for one very pissed off Harrier pilot. He had a third Airguard out run him earlier and is spoiling for a fight. Further N, the Falcon who downed the EW Badger earlier now runs across the Maritime Intruder. One Sidewinder and the Intruder is gone. The Harrier spots one of the Airguards, but is too damn slow to intercept. The he ID's the second. Now, he's finally in a good position. He closes and launches one, then two R.500 Magics. BOTH MISS!! He's too slow to chase the Airguard and engage with guns, so he makes for the Viraat.
It's 1800Z and it's my turn to get dealt a good hand. My staff notifies me that several additional aircraft are ready. These include: 3 Sea Kings on the Viraat, 4 Sea Eagle armed Sea Harriers also on the Viraat, a pair of Lynxes in Thai TF1, 2 Rockeye armed Tigers and another Orion at U Tapao, and the 4 Harpoon armed Matadors I've been waiting for on the Thai carrier. It's time to PLAY!! I launch two Sea Harriers from the Viraat to intercept the escaping Airguards (it's personal now!). Even though they're armed with Sea Eagles, they still carry a pair of R.55o Magics each. I also launch all four Matadors from the Thai carrier. The ESM tracks from the Flankers have moved far enough away that if the Matadors stay low, I think they can get a good punch in on the Chinese surface group. The Harriers managed to intercept the fleeing Airguards, each Harrier fires it's two Magics at the Airguard... ALL FOUR MISS!!! These DAMN Indian Harriers SUCK!!! What's the point of even having aircraft on a carrier if they are so F*&%#ing USELESS!!!??? They're slow, have carry little ordnance, have limited sensors. God, what I wouldn't give for some REAL fighters and some force multipliers!! AAARRRGGHHHHH!!!! OK, I'm done venting now.
I have managed to get a Falcon in position S of the Great Cocos Island to lay in wait for the returning Airguards. He doesn't have to wait long. He picks up one, then the second. Closes, fires, kills. Splash two. I told you it was personal. Out in the South China Sea, my Matadors have closed with and ID'd two more ships in the formation. The Siping was seen earlier, now we have IDs on the Huaibei, a Jiangwei FFG and the Kaifeng, a Luda IV DD. I don't want to push my luck, so I'll allocate four Harpoons each to the Huaibei and the Kaifeng. All eight missiles jump from their launch rails without problem. After launch the Qingdao, a Luhu class DDG is spotted. Just before the Matadors turn for home, they pinpoint the Siping and ID the Hangzhou. I now know which ship will be on the receiving end of the next round of eight Harpoons! Two of the four Harpoons targeting the Huaibei are shot down by the Qingdao, by the other two hit their mark. They leave the Huaibei a sinking, burning hulk. The point defenses on the Kaifeng manage to shoot down one Harpoon, but the other three fly true. All three strike her on the starboard side and leave her dead in the water. My Matadors have gotten too far away to give me any useful damage assessment, but I'd put money on the fact that the Kaifeng is on her way to the bottom of the South China Sea.
It's 2045Z and things have significantly slowed down now. I've lost contact with the Chinese surface group in the South China Sea. I have not been challenged by anything in the air for nearly an hour now. I sent one of my Falcons scouting around Great Cocos Island and found a Hainan class patrol boat docked there. I think this is a job for the Corsairs! And while there in the area, maybe they can soften up the facilities on the island. As the Falcon completes his recon of the island, I pick up a Slot Back radar approaching from Haingui. The recon Falcon is bingo fuel, but I have another in the area to fend off the slot Back. The corsairs lift off from Surat Thani and head NW.
After an uneventful flight across the sea, the Corsairs split up and make their runs on Great Cocos Island. They all dive to 600m and push their throttles to full power. The flight leader goes straight in from the SE. Other than the road base and the patrol boat in the harbor, the only other unit known to be there is a Shilka battery. He drops a stick of 12 Mk82 500lb iron bombs on the AAA battery, as well as pepper the area with some 20mm fire. The Shilka battery is no more. As he turns his attention to the airstrip, he is greeted by the muzzle flashes of a 57mm AAA site. He returns cannon fire and drops his remaining Mk82s. The AAA site is reduced to a greasy stain on the island. The second Corsair hits the airfield from the E. He drops his entire load on the road base, but is unable to get any solid BDA. Corsair number three heads in from the N and expends a dozen 500 pounders on the Hainan patrol boat. It sinks at it's moorings. The fighter's second dozen bombs are spent on the airfield. This time we have several confirmed hits. The last Corsair goes in from the S and targets the airfield. Again there are several hits. The pilot also sees a second ZSU-57-2 site N of the road base. He fires a few bursts of cannon fire at the site and is rewarded with at least one hit. The site is damaged, but still operational. Rather than tempt fate, he joins his wing mates and goes home.
In the South China Sea, I seem to have developed a problem. I've got an ESM track of a Zhuk radar that suddenly went hot about 20-25nm N of the Thai carrier TF and it's heading S. I order two Matadors airborne, but doubt they'll make it up in time. Let's hope our SAM gunners are good! At about 14nm, it's positively ID'd as a Chinese Flanker. Let me tell you one more time how I HATE Flankers!! The Flanker is brought down without incident about two miles off the Kraburi's bow. A single Sea Sparrow off the Naresuan was all it took. Unfortunately, the TF was forced to light up their radars and I'm quite certain the Flanker pilot got a radio call out before he went for a swim. Now I need to keep alert for any aircraft flying in from the N, as well as any missiles that might be launched by the DDG group that I lost to the S somewhere!
It's now 2250Z and my Jaguars are ready at Port Blair. A few minutes later, I pick up another bogey approaching my Thai carrier TF. This time I get him about 65nm out. His radar profile matches the last one... another FLANKER!!! DAMN. My Matadors are already further S and NW, with all the jamming I doubt he can pick them up. Looks like another live fire exercise for the SAM crews! Before this situation can develop, the Falcon I have on station between Great Cocos and Haingui gets a return on something low and slow, a helo maybe. It's about 35nm N. He steers N to investigate. At about 8nm the bogey is ID'd as a Z-9A Dauphin Haitun. This is NOT his lucky day! One Sidewinder M, and the fat lady is singing! Back in the South China Sea, the southern Matador picks up the scent of the DDG group I hit earlier, as well as a bogey running an ORB32 radar, heading N, looking for the Thai carrier. The bogey seems to be well away from the destroyers, so the Matador moves in like a preacher pushing redemption. What I thought was one bogey turns out to be two, and they're a pair of Z-9As. The bogey that was to the N is indeed a Flanker, but now he does the unexpected. He dives to low altitude and turns W, staying out of my SAM envelope. The Matador to the S takes one helo with guns and the other with a missile shot. To the N, The Flanker must have been able to burn through the jamming, because he climbs and starts hunting the other Matador. The two are closing at over 1000kts. The Flanker gets the first shot, a PL-10 that missed. The Matador closes and fires a Sidewinder. A second missile jumps from the rail of the Flanker, but the Sidewinder gets there first ending the Flanker's hunt.
I launch a Seahawk to track the destroyers I have re-acquired to the S. Despite my success in the South China Sea, I a given some very bad news from the northern entrance to the Malakka Straits. The tanker Chattahoochee is struck by a torpedo and is sinking. CRAP! This is the second tanker sunk, with one more crippled. A Tiger also makes short work of an Airguard approaching the shipping lanes from the E. I send a Sea King and my last Orion to search for the sub. There are four other tankers following DIRECTLY behind the sinking Chattahoochee! I am happy to see an almost immediate report of a goblin, but it's not the one I was looking for. This report comes in from a Sea King on patrol for the Viraat TF. The contact is only 19nm in front of the TF! And 13nm from the nearest ship, the Brahmaputra. I dispatch the two helos I had on patrol and launch another two for good measure. I also vector in one of my Trackers. The first Sea King is on top of the contact in a matter of minutes. He releases asingle A-244 torp, but there's no confirmed hit. He continues the search. Further SE, where the Chattahoochee was sunk, I get three contacts from one of the sonobouys dropped by the Orion. One is a goblin, the other two are torps in the water! Less than 4nm N are the supertanker Nichio Maru and the LNG tanker Vlaardingin! As the helo and Orion work the contact, the torps quickly close the gap with the tankers. The contact is eventually ID'd as a Romeo class and somewhat localized, although no accurate track is established. Of the two fish running, one misses the LNG tanker, the other hits the Nichio Maru, causing serious flooding. She's damaged at 62%. The Sea King attacks with DCs with no apparent effect, as two more torps are heard. The Orion drops a Mk46 Mod2 and begins to circle. The Sea King is out of ammo and heads for Car Nicobar. The Orion's first shot is a no go. A second longer range shot is attempted, but it will take about three minutes to get there. A third enemy torp is now heard in the water! I order the Orion closer and drop another Mk46. After less than a minute of run time, this one misses too! The Mk46 dropped earlier is now less than 30 seconds from the sub. Unfortunately, a second torp strikes the Nichio Maru, setting her ablaze and sinking her. In a Pyrrhic victory, the Mk46 does hit and kill the Romeo. The one torp still running for the LNG tanker, misses by a wide margin. The hunt for the sub in front of the Indian carrier TF heats up as it is joined by a Tracker and several other helos. However, after nearly an hour, no further contact is established and it is lost.
SITREP: DTG is now 040030JAN04. ViConds say sink 10 warships, I've got 9 so far. They also dictate sink 4 subs, I can only confirm 2. With the lack of good sonars, I'm finding this one tough! And I'm required to allow no more than 8 tankers to be damaged. It doesn't specify more than that, so I assume the worst and figure 1% damage is too much. So far, I've lost three and had one crippled at 89% damage and two more damaged at 34% each. I need to find some more subs QUICK!!
OK, good news. At 0040 on 4 JAN, my Matadors are once again ready for action. I order them airborne with instructions to attack the Chinese DDG group again. I've got a Seahawk on station about 35nm E of the DDG group, when he picks up the ESM track of another Chinese destroyer further SW. The signature of this one looks like a Luda. How did I miss this one??? My Gulf of Thailand TF had just recently transited the area and is now near the eastern-most point of the Singapore Exclusion Zone with the new contact about 110nm N of their present position. They never got a hint of another destroyer in the area! Maybe they were lucky they didn't!! It also seems that the Myanmar air force still has some fight in it. I pick up a pair of Sapfir 29 radars out of Haingui moving to challenge the two Falcons I have on patrol near there. Seems to be time for some SMACKDOWN!! I bait the two bogies with the nearest Falcon and run interception with the other as lead. What I hoped would be one sided turned out to be just another trade. Two Falcons for two Fulcrums! DAMN! I now have to give orders to re-fit two F-16a at Takhli with air-to-air rather than the 2000lb bombs they were armed with. I have one other Falcon at Takhli that will be ready in 15 minutes. At 20nm from the Chinese DDG group, the Matadors unleash their Harpoons. Six are targeted on what I believe to be the Hangzhou, and two more on what I think is a frigate with no radars active. I'll leave the Qingdao be for now. Of the eight Harpoons fired, one hits the Hangzhou, three hit the other ship I'd targeted and four were shot down. The only damage assessment I get is that the ship I thought to be the Siping is sinking. If my count is right, that should be the tenth enemy warship to be destroyed.
The Tracker that was acting as cover for the Viraat TF has hit bingo and must RTB. One of my few remaining Falcons arrives on station S of Haingui and picks up three skunks that weren't there before. They're all small contacts, stopped in the water and have no radar emissions. He heads in to check it out.
I now need to take a time out to change my drawers, because a pair of torpedoes just ran right past the Thai ship, Makut Rajakumarn of TF Andaman and scared the crap out of me! They were spotted visually seconds before they missed their target. Discovering there's a sub in the area by having it send some torps your way is a helluva way to conduct ASW operations!! Fortunately, I have my Orion slightly to the N, and my other Tracker W of their location. I give orders for the TF to go active with what sonars they have and send in the two ASW planes. I just hope I don't run out of sonobouys before I get a contact. It takes some time for the planes to close the gap, but they eventually do so. They each lay a line of six sonobouys S of the TF as it rushes N. As they both begin to line up to lay another spread, I get a contact. It's between the two eastern buoys that the Orion laid. The Tracker is the first to the contact, he drops an active buoy and ID's the sub as a PRC Romeo. As he continues to strive for a track, the Orion takes a shot. The Mk46 makes its run with no results. A second is dropped N of the target. While the fish is still in the water, an accurate track is established. The torp closes with its prey and buries itself in the subs hull just fore of the conning tower before detonating. That's three!
Back up N, near Hainan, a Falcon has ID'd the three ships that are just sitting there. It's the Dalian, a Luda III class DD, the Jinan, a Luda II DD, and hull number 620, a Shengli fleet oiler. This should be nothing more than a live fire exercise. I order four Sea Eagle armed Harriers from the Viraat to head N to deal with the DDs. Once they are N of Port Blair, I order the four jaguars from there to airborne to deal with the tanker.
Now I notice something very odd... There are five tankers in a row entering the narrows of the Malacca Straits, about 150nm SSE of Butterworth in Malaysia. They are all passing very close to the coast. First in line is the Mobile Condor, followed by the Ridgewood, the Inebolu, the Norbay, and the Santa Ana. I suddenly get a report of the Ridgewood being on fire. No report of a weapons hit, no enemy sighted, nothing! The Ridgewood is 5% damaged and on fire. Upon further investigation, I see the Mobile Condor isalso 1% damaged. Suddenly, the fire on the Ridgewood spreads and she's 15% damaged! Nothing I can do except hope for the best. I launch a Seahawk from Surat Thani to take a look around down there, but like most things in this scenario, it will probably be another case of too little, too late. The fire on the Ridgewood spreads and grows. Engineering is now damaged and the control systems are on fire. The damage level has reached 47%. To add insult to injury, the next ship in line, the Inebolu is on fire and damaged has already reached 39%! Whatever it is that I cannot see or detect is sinking tankers better than the combined navies and air forces of China and Myanmar!! As I struggle to find a solution, I realize that the Seahawk I launched earlier is far too slow. I now launch a pair of Tigers from Surat Thani to go S and have a look around. It's a long shot, but I gotta try something. The Ridgewood is 59% damaged and the Inebolu is now 42% damaged. Both are still burning.
The Harriers from the Viraat are 30nm from the Dalian and Jinan when they fire. Neither ship has any radar active. The Harriers are rewarded with six Harpoons hitting the Jinan, sinking her, and one Harpoon hit on the Dalian. A short time later, the Jaguars arrive on the scene. Rather than one lightly armed tanker to deal with, they have a wounded DD also. I send three to intercept the DD and one to dispatch the tanker. Two jaguars are destroyed by gunfire before they can mount their attack. One drops it's bombs, without a hit, and is shot down as it turns for home. The Jaguar sent to hit the tanker fares no better and is shot down on his approach. The loss of four Jaguars for NO GAIN!!! I HATE when that happens!
It's now 0425 on 4JAN04 and I've solved a mystery. One of my Tigers prowling the coast of Malaysia spotted a terrorist platoon right where my ships were getting damaged! The ships have long since moved out of the area, but the Inebolu is 49% damaged and the Ridgewood is 76% damaged. Both Tigers move in to attack and wind up expending all of their ammo on the platoon, 16 Rockeye CBs and 54 bursts of 20mm cannon fire! After scoring over a dozen hits, the platoon is still there!! I checked the DB and found the reason... 5000 DPs!These are some SUPER BAD ASS TERRORISTS!!! I'm glad the Taliban didn't have big red S's on their chests like these guys do, or I might not be sitting here today!!
At shortly after five in the morning, another of the Sea Kings I have on dipping sonar patrol ahead of the Viraat TF makes a find. While dipping with active sonar, he gets a contact about 10nm E, and slightly N of the TF. Not quite on, but close to the PIM. I slow the TF to creep and launch two more Sea Kings. I detach the two that were on dipping patrol and vector in two more Sea Kings from Car Nicobar that are about 10 to 15nm away scouting in front of some merchants. Within five minutes, three helos are on top of the unknown goblin and establish a solid track. Suddenly the contact goes from the amber of unknown to the scarlet of hostile with the release of a single torpedo. No ,more time to play. I first send in one of the Sea Kings who is getting a little light on fuel to make the first attack. He is armed with depth charges, so I don't expect too much. I am pleasantly surprised to see two confirmed hits and the contact disappear!
Just before 0600 hours, I am awarded victory as the fleets of Myanmar and the PRC turn tail and head for their respective ports!
Freek, GREAT SCENARIO!!! Sorry for the length of this AAR, but I always find a running commentary to be very useful.
On the plus side, the tide of battle certainly flowed back and forth. Just when something would go my way, something in another area of the game set me back! But I never had the frustrating feeling of having NOTHING go my way.
The air battles were very well matched and evenly balanced. I'm sure I didn't see everything the Reds had, I haven't opened it up in the SE yet. When I do, I'll send additional comments.
The trick with the terrorist platoon was impressive!
Your use of EW was well done. It added to the fog of war.
Speaking of which, getting a real handle on the intel situation at any one time was quite a challenge. Mainly because of a lack of assets on the Thai/Indian side. At any one moment, I felt like I had only about a 50% idea of what was going on around me.
Even though the Chinese did not use front line subs, that I saw, the scenario showed how deadly even old boats can be if the opposing navies are without good quality sonars!
One suggestion, in your posted ViConds, you say "No more than 8 tankers damaged." At the end I found out I had to keep them from getting 50% damage. It would be nice3 to know I had that latitude.
Other than that, thanks for a GREAT scenario! Now that I've played the 7th and 8th in the series, I'm gonna have to find time to play the rest!
Here's another AAR by Dave Steinmeyer. It is re-printed here with permission from the author.
AAR: Indian [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 scenario By Freek Schepers
Quote:
The NATO-Russian war is 4 weeks old. Russia has suffered crippling losses to its long-range Naval aviation forces and to its submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific theatres.
The US strategy of leaving the defence of the SLOCs in the IO to India, Thailand, and Singapore has failed when China, worried about its oil supply, claimed control over the Malakka Strait. The ensuing fight sank numerous oil tankers and crippled the Allied Navies in southeast Asia. The White House and State Department are at odds whether the Chinese intervention signals an alliance between China, Russia, and several SE-Asia nations.
The US Navy is rushing reserve forces into the IO to defend the critical approaches to the Persian Gulf oil fields. Reserve troop flown to SE-Asia and the Persian Gulf Region must be matched up with their pre-positioned equipment on Diego Garcia to stabilise the region.
As I started the scenario, I had a bit of trouble locating all of the transports I was supposed to have. I eventually found the thirteenth as part of one of the FFG TF east of the base. Here's what I did, I sent ten ships NW at flank to get the hell out of Dodge before the hell I figured was gonna break loose did so. They were to link up with the CG/DDG TF off the Horn of Africa. That part of my plan went off without a hitch.
The two remaining transports were sent at flank to the ENE to link up with the two FFGs and the Rainier in that direction.
Gave orders for the carrier to head SW at full to get away from the Straits of Malacca. I sent my two lone Hornets towards the carrier to provide some cover. Very shortly thereafter, the reached Bingo fuel and headed for DG. I then started picking up some ESM contacts, two near the carrier, one near the FFG TF. I launched helos from each and ID'd then as neutral shipping.
Then my land based radar on DG picked up a contact south of the island. I re-directed the helo from the FFG group towards that contact, but it was gonna take a while to get there. Right at that time my tankers were ready for flight on Diego. I launched one which was unceremoniously blown out of the sky shortly after getting off the runway!! The skunk to the south was definitely hostile! Almost immediately after that, my land based radar picked up one, then two, three, eventually a dozen inbound vampires. At this point things were NOT looking good for the home team! I had plenty of a/c in shelters, none would be ready for a few hours at the earliest, a pair of Hornets coming in on fumes, and some big, unidentified, ugly mo-fo about 16nm south of my base, and no assets to hit him with.
The only plus at this point was that the unknown was 48nm from the closest transport ship and I didn't think he could detect or classify them at that range. So the transports kept running like mad. By this time my four Matadors on the carrier were ready. I decided to gamble. I launched all four knowing full well they would never get to Diego in time, but maybe they could at least relieve the pressure from the bad guy parked off my coast.
It turned out that all 12 missiles (Shipwrecks, I eventually found out) were targeted on the same facility, my aircraft complex. You know the one, yup, the one with my B-52s and P-3s. Well, four of the Shipwrecks missed, but eight plowed into the facility and turned it, and the aircraft, into a big-ass crater! Thanks for that! By then the Seahawk had classified the bad guy as the Petr Velikiy and I figured it was game over. But the BCGN had one more hand to play and that involved the shelling of my facilities on Diego Garcia. I lost my diesel tanks, control tower, av/gas storage, and my radar. Then to add insult to injury, The Petr Velikiy launched a pair of Ka-27s towards my nearest transports!
Luckily, my Hornets were now approaching DG. They made short work of both helos, but one Hornet was lost to a Grumble on landing. It looked as though my transports would actually make it, when a third Ka-27 appeared off their stern. They clearly ID'd him, so I presume he ID'd them also. But oddly, no missiles were launched. The Matadors were about 20nm form the remaining Helix when they hit bingo. I decided to press on with the intention of landing at Diego. They launched a salvo of Harpoons from about 12nm, then headed for the airfield. 10 harpoons were shot down, one was decoyed and missed, and one managed to slip through. I don't know how much damage was done, but I did confirm that the Petr Velikiy "Appears damaged, on fire." The Matadors all made it to DG safely.
Shortly after that, I was awarded victory! Came as a complete surprise, I thought I was getting my head handed to me!
Anyway, I never saw what launched the Shipwrecks against DG. I assumed it was a sub and sent a helo that way when I first detected the vampires, but had no contacts. After my initial detection of the base at Mengzi, nothing happened there. No impact on the game.
I'll look at it in the SE tonight or tomorrow and send some suggestions after I do. Another worthy addition to your series! Thanks!
Here's another AAR by Dave Steinmeyer. It is re-printed here with permission from the author.
AAR: Beach Reconnaissance [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 scenario By Herman Hum
Quote:
Soviet submarines have scored many successes in the Atlantic convoy lanes through the profligate expenditure of torpedoes and missiles. By the third week of the war, many submarines are suspected to be low on fuel and munitions. However, the number of submarines returning to ports in the Kola Peninsula is far lower than expected.
The level of subsurface activity in the Spitzbergen area is higher than expected. Investigate and see if these anomalies are coincidental or correlated. If the Soviets can replenish away from the Kola Peninsula, this would be a significant and strategic force multiplier.
I plotted my course for the first Named Area of Interest (NAI1). It's the one that's furthest SE. My course took me N, then I turned and approached the coast at right angles. After a few minutes, I got my first contact, a goblin to the E of my start point. I never really got a track on him, and lost him shortly after. The next pair of contacts as I approached NAI1 were both a skunk and a goblin to the NW. Again, I lost the goblin pretty quickly. Then I lost the skunk.
Next, I had contact with a skunk to my N, somewhere between the first two recon areas, and a second skunk to my E, SE of NAI1. I quickly classify these as General Cargo Vessels. As I entered the first recon area, I went to periscope depth and immediately sniffed a pair of Mushroom radars off to the NW. But I had no way of knowing how far. I also pinpointed one of the general cargo ships, 5nm due west of my first recon area.
I traversed almost the length of the first area when I remembered the guidance that -20m may be too deep. I set depth for -10m and instantly noticed a guard post. I turned away from the coast, went to shallow, and kicked it in the ass to full speed to put some distance between my boat and where I had to assume the guard post noticed me, but also to close some distance with the cargo vessel. I closed to 4nm, slowed to creep, and sent her to the bottom with one ADCAP Mod 5.
I repeated the same procedures for NAIs 2 & 3 without incident. The Falcons made quick work of whatever buildings I discovered and marked as hostile. The whole time I spent moving up the coast, I was trying to catch up with the first cargo vessel I noticed, but he was moving at about 8kts in a straight line and I was forced to creep in and out from the coast. He eventually pulled away from me and I lost him. I did have to fight a VERY strong urge to venture into the two large fjords, but since there was still work to be done further N, I managed to resist the temptation.
After I had cleared NAI3, discovering a guard tower on both banks of the entrance, things started to get a bit hairy. I kept getting goblin contacts all the way up the coast. But for the most part, they were spurious and sporadic. Now, they seemed to be coming more frequently, and they weren't just fleeting contacts. As if I didn't have enough to worry about, I also ID'd a Krivak III and a Grisha in the area, but the uncertainty factor for both was quite large. It was starting to feel like I was walking into the jaws of the beast!
I decided to make for the southern tip of the barrier island off of Spitzbergen and hug the coast as I crept into the small strait between the islands. I was very pleasantly surprised to find how deep I could stay as I got very close to the southern point. I managed to enter the strait without incident, but quickly noticed the water getting more and more shallow. About halfway up the strait, all hell broke loose! The water was so shallow, that I was forced to surface. And it couldn't have happened at a worse time! A Hormone was only about a mile away as I broke the surface. Apparently, he was RTB somewhere on the main island, because he never made a turn for me. He must have, however, radioed to a base on the smaller island, because a pair of helos popped up out of nowhere and headed straight for me.
They both dropped torps, between speed, decoys, and and a WHOLE lot of luck, I was able to dodge them all! As they were coming for me, I designated them as hostile, which launched the F-15s to come cover my butt! It took them a while to on station, but they did shoot down several Hormones. Including one that was hot on my trail as I was running for NAI4. The Eagles radars did detect four targets inside the inlet near NAI4. I figured that this was what I was looking for. Unfortunately, the mouth of the inlet was guarded by an HQ 9 (?) class FFL, which was immediately detected as hostile. A pair of ADCAPS and his hostility didn't matter too much any more.
As I turned E, into the inlet, I was able to get all the way down to periscope depth! (WOO HOO!!) I ID'd the ships as a pair of Altay oilers, the general cargo vessel that eluded me earlier, and an Urga sub-tender. One pair of Mk48s was targeted on one of the oilers and the cargo ship. The Altay was sunk at her moorings. The cargo ship was a clear miss. The next spread of torps was one for each surviving ship. The second Altay and the sub-tender joined the first oiler at the bottom of the inlet. A second ADCAP swam right passed the cargo ship! DAMN!
Helos were starting to swarm again, so I figured it was time to didi mao, so I could fight another day. But, as I turned for deeper water, I took one last parting shot at the cargo vessel that had frustrated my efforts to sink it. This time, I nailed it!! As I was leaving the N end of the strait, I noticed one of the sonar arrays called "SINK THIS AND YOU LOOSE." Even for a dumb guy like me, that's pretty easy to figure out! As I started to plot a wide berth around the array, I was awarded VICTORY!
Herman, this scenario was a ton of fun! It started off slow, but the action and the tension steadily built up through the course of the game. The air strikes and air cover were nicely done. I'd love to see a similar scenario with one of the Virginia class boats that are specifically designed for littoral operations such as beach recons. It would be an interesting comparison.
Here's the final breakdown:
NATO Expenditures - 9 ADCAP Mod 5, 3 White Noise decoys, 2 Ensonification Bubblers.
USSR Losses - 1 Juliett, 1 Victor III, 1 November, 1 Charlie II, (I never fired on an enemy sub, so I'm not sure what got 'em, but I'm glad it did!) 1 watch tower, 2 guard posts, 2 general cargo vessels, 1 Urga, 2 Altay AO, 1 HQ 9, and 5 Hormones.
The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving. - Ulysses S. Grant (1822-85)
AAR: Malakka [Spoiler Alert] - Thailand A Harpoon 3 scenario By Freek Schepers
Quote:
The NATO-Russian war is 4 weeks old. Russia's naval aviation forces and US Carriers have fought several bloody battles around Japan. Japan has defended its islands well, but is now very vulnerable to the closure of its SLOC's. The Chinese navy has left port but has stayed out of the battle. The US losses in the Pacific and Atlantic theatres have forced it to withdraw the Seventh Fleet from the IO. Only Diego Garcia remains as a stronghold there. The task of providing security for the Malakka Strait has been handed over to India, Thailand, and Singapore. India and Thailand will use their baby-carriers to escort tankers through the IO. The War in the Pacific has interrupted oil shipments to Japan and China for several weeks now and resumption of the oil trade has now become a strategic imperative.
As usual, the politicos had issued their orders before the military was fully prepared and positioned. CVBG Viraat was just leaving Port Blair when the orders came down. I immediately detached the LST Guldar and ordered her back to port as she could serve no useful purpose in the upcoming operations. The rest of the group went to full speed and raced to cover the Sea Lines of Communication [SLOCs]. As usual, the region was thick with commercial traffic of all types. All I could think about was the potential bullseye painted on each and every one of them.
As soon as air assets became available, they were assigned missions. An Orion rose up from U-Tapao and was sent to cover the Malacca Strait on a sea control mission. I had no airborne radar assets so she would simply have to suffice. She immediately detected Flanker radar coming over the eastern border and alerted central HQ. I decided to be prudent and launched a two-ship CAP [Combat Air Patrol] for Korat and just stacked them over the air base.
Soon enough, my precaution paid off. A pair of bogeys was detected penetrating sovereign Thai airspace from the southwest. The Falcons immediately diverted to intercept them and two replacements were launched. They appeared to be headed for the central radar unit. Loss of that facility could be crippling and would, essentially, leave me blind over much of the region. The Falcons pushed their throttles to full military power and closed swiftly on the unidentified aircraft. When the bogies turned back just short of the Radar site, everyone exhaled a sigh of relief. However, they were still over Thailand. The Falcons closed from their six o'clock position and confidently identified them as Burmese F-7M AirGuards. They immediately engaged each aircraft with two AIM-9 Sidewinders and killed both of them before the enemy even knew that they were in danger.
Korat tower immediately re-called them to intercept a probable threat emanating from the east. Flanker radar had been positively identified and the contacts were over Thai airspace. Additional flights of Falcons were launched and the first pair was ordered to intercept. Fearful of the Alamo and Adder that the Flankers could be carrying, the interceptors closed at low altitude with their radar silent and hoped that they would be lost in the ground clutter. The Flankers turned and the Falcons were able to approach from the rear aspect. After they visually identified the intruders as PRC Flankers, they lit their afterburners and climbed from the enemy's seven o'clock position. Once again, a pair of AIM-9s were targeted at each of the unsuspecting quarry. The interceptors were rewarded by the sight of twin fireballs.
Unfortunately, a second flight was detected approaching at high speed. They must have been warned by their recently departed cousins. There would be so simple bushwhack this time. The interceptors were forced to approach the Flankers from the front - right in the middle of the enemy's radar coverage. Although they were certainly detected, the enemy must not have been able to positively classify the Falcons as hostile. They hesitated. That hesitation cost them dearly as the cries of, "Fox one, Fox one", came over the air, once again. Both Flankers were killed before being able to return fire.
With plentiful quanties of both missiles and fuel, the Falcons returned to CAP positions and decided to linger before landing. H-6 Badgers suddenly materialized on the doorstep to Korat. Thank goodness that a pair of Falcons was also waiting and immediately unleashed Sidewinders on them. Both were killed just as they began their attack run. Two additional pairs, bound for Takhili and U-Tapao, were quickly chased down and clawed from the sky.
The first officer on the merchant vessel Breukel reported a submarine periscope and immediately sent out an urgent call for help. The only ASW asset available was the Orion and she was still over the Gulf of Siam, 300 miles away. Dutifully, she went to full military power and prayed earnestly that she would arrive in time to save the vessel.
A Burmese F.27 Maritime Enforcer was detected hunting for ships. The only available interceptor was a Harrier from Viraat so she was sent to silence the snooper. Equipped with only a puny radar, the Harrier almost lost her target in the ground clutter. Fortunately, the bandit turned the wrong way and flew right at her. She promptly did a double-tap with two Matra AAMs into the port engine and sent her into the drink.
Since the late-Enforcer had probably already detected a few of the merchants, a CAP from Surat Thani was ordered to provide air cover for the expected upcoming airstrike. On their way out, the two Tigers assigned to CAP spotted a Burmese missile boat which quickly took them under fire. They returned the favour and after a quick strafing run, left her burning on the Andaman Sea. A quick search of the area revealed another gunboat. She received the same attention and suffered the same fate.
The crewmen on the Breukel would never question the power of prayer, again. The P-3 Orion arrived and quickly dropped a sonobuoy. A sub periscope was immediately detected and the contact was localized. The Orion quickly turned and dropped a Mk 46 torp on it. Unfortunately, it malfunctioned and ran in circles. A second torpedo was dropped and one minute later, the sonobuoy registered an explosion. With no further urgent cries for help, the P-3 resumed her mission to classify all unknown surface contacts.
The Burmese base at Mergui stuck like a thorn in my side. The base harboured many aircraft that would seriously impede operations so it was decided to try and close the base down. Jaguars from Pt. Blair and Corsairs from Surat Thani were ordered to bomb the base. The Corsairs were just climbing to attack altitude when multiple contacts were spotted! This was the ultimate in "Oh Sh*t" moments. They had inadvertently stumbled upon a flight of outbound AirGuard fighters! Both sides quickly loosed air-to-air missiles at each other. In the space of mere seconds, four aircraft from both sides were destroyed.
The subsequent attack on Mergui by four Jaguars from Pt. Blair was a disaster. The base barely suffered any damage and two Jaguars were destroyed. Although they did manage to shoot down one AirGuard just as it was rising off the runway, the bombs totally missed their targets. A follow-on flight of F-5 Tigers from Surat Thani managed to drop one hangar with Rockeyes, but both attackers were shot out of the sky during their egress. Mergui was turning out to be more than just a thorn in my side. It was becoming a total meat grinder for men and planes. It was finally put out of business by an attack of F-5 Tigers from U-Tapao. Even then, she managed to exact a price of admission. Both Tigers were destroyed in the process.
CVH Viraat was having problems of her own. The helicopter assigned to AEW duty was attracting all the wrong kind of attention; like flashing a diamond ring in the poorest part of town. Soon, F-7 AirGuards jumped her and blasted her from the air. They continued to snoop around the task force until all four were shot down by AAA from the carrier group. Luckily, they must not have reported their discovery as no accompanying bombers appeared.
On the other side of the Strait, Harriers from the Thai CV, Chakri Nareubet, attacked a Chinese task force. The effort was less than useless for it not only failed to inflict any damage, the Orion hold the SAG [Surface Action Group] under surveillance was shot down by a Flanker that was covering them.
With the aircraft from Surat Thani all but wiped out, additional aircraft from U-Tapao, Takhili, and Korat were transferred over. The Chinese SAGs had considerable striking power in their SSM batteries and there was no way for the two Thai task forces in the vicinity to challenge them without getting themselves blown out of the water before they ever came into range of their own Surface-to-Surface Missiles.
While forces were concentrating at Surat Thani, CVH Viraat was having yet another 'adventure'. She had stumbled over SS Wuhan. Luckily for her, the sub was discovered at great enough distance that four SeaKings were able to prosecute the contact while the task force maintained a safe distance. With that many dipping sonar, the result was pre-ordained.
However, Viraat's undersea problems were only beginning. Not long afterwards, INS Himgiri reported, "Transient! Torpedo in the water!" A submarine had managed to get close enough to fire a torpedo. All ships in the group were immediately ordered to scatter. Their propellers quickly churned the sea to foam. No one wanted to be anywhere near a live torpedo. Luckily, helos do not require their host platform to move into the wind in order to launch. Five were immediately launched and one dipped her sonar right away to catch a submarine less than 500yards away. Whitehead A.244 torpedoes were immediately dropped and an explosion was heard almost instantaneously. Crewmen on the INS Taragiri held their breath as they watched the torpedo pass through her wake.
Finally, the Falcons and Tigers from Surat Thani were re-armed and re-fueled. They launched and moved in to bomb DDG Guangzhou then kill DDG Zhuhai. The Tigers were armed with Rockeye cluster munitions and had to make their approach at low level. Although they delivered their ordnance with deadly accuracy, half did not return after being shot out of the sky by SAMs.
Another strike of consisting Tigers at low altitude with Rockeyes and Falcons with Mk 84 2000lb bombs at high altitude was aimed at the second SAG. They were engaged savagely by SAMs during their ingress, but enough survived to kill frigates Huaibei and Siping while damaging the DDG Qindao. However, the Chinese sailors were no slouches, either. The entire strike was wiped out on their egress.
Although a heavy price had been paid, victory was granted as the Falcons touched down back at Surat Thani. The Chinese had evidently decided that the operation had been too costly and withdrew from the area.
Thanks for another great scenario. Freek says that this is the easier of the two sides that are playable. I can't wait to try the other side!
This AAR was posted by Frans Koenz on StrategyZoneOnline.com and is re-printed here with the permission of the author.
AAR CAMPAIGN #12 THE CHANNEL WARS Scenario 3: Quotient. Scenario by: Herman Hum and Brad Leyte (CV32) Side: France
Quote:
The 1994 conflict was the beginning of a new arms race. Many weapons slated for retirement were refurbished instead and many procurement programs were accelerated.
France never truly recovered from the Iberian conflict of August, 1996. It never again fully trusted its European neighbours although it participated alongside them in the conflicts that followed with Bangladesh, India, and the New Soviet Confederation (NSC). With the US and NSC effectively removed from participation as major players on the world stage, the EU was the sole remaining "superpower". Rivalries grew between its members in mid-2002 (especially between France and the UK) and France officially withdrew from the EU later that year. On the surface, it appeared that the disagreement was being fueled by the commonly held belief that France was failing to abide by the spirit of the 1998 Code of Conduct on foreign arms sales but some believed that the dispute had much deeper roots. By Februry, 2003, the UK and France were battling each other with economic sanctions and embargoes and each stepped onto the slippery slope to war once more.
When war broke out, the French carrier, Charles de Gaulle, was in the North Sea, off Dogger Bank. The nearest British naval group was off of Ireland and is now steaming at high speed towards the Channel. The de Gaulle would have to enter the race to gain an advantageous position for the upcoming confrontation.
///SECRET///DGA-NET///1515Z030301
From: FRENCH HIGH COMD HQ PARIS To: TASK GROUP CHARLEMAGNE - FLAG de Gaulle Subj: Channel zone objective
1. SITREP
The French air force has achieved marginal air superiority in the Channel zone. Enemy air activity is still considered heavy. Intelligence reports that an enemy carrier group was near Ireland but is proceeding east at high speed. The best estimate of enemy intentions is to place the carrier group in the Channel zone.
2. ORDERS
Break off exercises in the North Sea. Proceed at best possible speed to the Channel zone. Prepare to engage and destroy the enemy carrier group and other enemy surface combatants. The submarine threat is considered high. French air force assets can provide only limited support at this time.
3. ROE
Warning level RED. Engage and destroy enemy surface combatants as encountered. Primary target is the Invincible-class CVH.
Right after start of the game, UK launched a massive air attack on the French TF. I directly launched all Rafale fighters to intercept the enemy and managed to destroy all attacking aircraft (70 fighters, 3 Nimrod MR.2P and 2 Sentry AEW.)
In the meantime, a British Trafalgar-class submarine was spotted. I launched an ASW aircraft to locate the submarine and sank it with torpedoes.
Now it was time to plan a French attack on the British aircraft carrier and its escort. First, I ordered the French submarine Perle and the CTF to make best speed through the Channel to engage the enemy.
I launched The Tankers for air-replenishment and some hours later I launched all aircraft based at Cambrai. Several hours later the submarine Perle was able to fire torpedoes at the British CTF and sank the Illustrious and 2 of her escorts with torpedoes. The Rafale and Etendards based on the R91 attacked the CTF at the same time and managed to take out the brand new Type 45.1 Daring-class destroyer. This was a very hard nut to crack due to her excellent defense systems. Finally, I cracked the last British destroyer with Exocet missiles fired by the destroyers who arrived at the scene.
My orders were specific: sink the British Illustrous. I crossed the Channel and finally sank the last British destroyer west of Brest.
AAR: Force Z [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 scenario By Harold Hutchison
Quote:
You are in command of four Australian frigates with orders to protect merchant shipping in an Indonesian exclusion zone.
HMAS Stuart found herself amidst three unidentified vessels. She immediately launched her SeaSprite helicopter to classify them. Unfortunately, one of her charges, Iowa Farmer, happened to be between her and one of the unidentified vessels. The merchant's master was particularly ornery today and refused all requests to turn his vessel to starboard and allow the Stuart to screen him. His reply was, "You're the [expletive deleted] Navy. It's not my job to get my [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] [expletive deleted] shot off. You do your [expletive deleted] job and I'll do my [expletive deleted] job." With little choice, the Captain ordered flank speed to interpose themselves between the Farmer and the 'skunk'.
In short order, the helo pilot reported that it was an Indonesian Siada-class vessel. He overflew it a number of times, but it did not exhibit any hostile action so the pilot was ordered to train his Maverick missiles on the vessel and proceed to identify the other two skunks in the area. Stuart's Tactical Action Officer [TAO] ordered all weapons trained on the Siada. If she was up to no good, he was determined to make her antics very short-lived and fiery, indeed.
As the Stuart manoeuvred herself between the intruder and her lamb, repeated messages were sent questioning the intentions of the Indonesian ship. No reply was received. All of a sudden, at a range of 1nm, the Siada opened fire. Upon seeing the muzzle flashes, the TAO lost his composure and said, "Fight's on!". He then calmed down when the Captain ordered a turn to starboard and the age-old command, "Fire as you bear."
The little vessel was raked from stem to stern with .50 calibre machine gun fire and 5' naval gunfire. She blew up in a shower of sparks. Well, the Captain thought, looks like Indonesia is serious about this exclusion zone. He immediately order his SeaSprite to launch her Maverick against the other confirmed Indonesian vessel. The Todak was struck amidships and left dead in the water.
No sooner had this action ended when the CIC announced, "Air Action Port!" A pair of F-5E Tiger had been detected. Both were engaged with SeaSparrow and killed with one SAM apiece. The Stuart returned to Emissions Control [EmCon] status and relied upon her helo for early warning.
The flock of merchant vessels was scattered over a large area. The Stuart and the Canberra elected to position themselves between the flock and the enemy airbase at Kupang. Hopefully, they would be able to intercept any aircraft before the rest of merchants could be detected. They maintained radar silence in hopes of ambushing any attackers.
A helo from the Canberra engaged and killed the Sibara with a Penguin before continuing on to destroy another gunboat. Soon enough, six bogeys were detected 50nm from the Stuart bearing 027T. Her Captain fervently hoped that they would be able to pull off an ambush against these aircraft. All the aircraft were making a beeline for the frigate.
At a range of 13nm, the radar was energized, the TAO declared, "Weapons Free" and one SeaSparrow SAM was fired at each plane. Two were killed in the first volley, but three more SAMs were needed to finish the job. There were two more hostiles out there. Again, they were allowed into the No-Escape envelope before a single SeaSparrow was able to kill each of them.
No sooner had this action ended than CIC reported, "Three bogies, multiple vectors, bearing constant, range decreasing." This was going to be a difficult day for the men of the Stuart.
The first one was a lone Skyhawk and she was killed with a single SAM. The second plane was a Persuader Maritime Patrol Aircraft [MPA]. The TAO did not believe her to be armed so she was allowed to close into gunfire distance in order to preserve the limited number of SeaSparrow as there were eight more bogeys heading straight for the Stuart. The ploy worked and the plane was hit by AAA and exploded. However, bad news seemed to multiply. Now there were TEN(!) aircraft aimed like the proverbial dagger at the Stuart along with a small flotilla of menacing surface contacts. This was like fighting a Hydra!
A SeaHawk and a SeaSprite were launched to attack the ships. The Stuart was able to kill all ten aircraft, but the SeaSprite was shot down by a marauding Skyhawk after it launched its ASMs. The SeaHawk hugged the waves and fled for her life, but she, too, was caught by a Tiger. Damn and double Damn. There went my long-ranged attack assets.
Without any radar system airborne, detection times were almost at point-blank range. HMAS Stuart was again attacked by eight more Hawks/Skyhawks. She managed to kill them all, but also used up her remaining SAM inventory and had to kill the last two with AAA fire. She was no longer able to offer area protection to the merchants and would likely need protection herself so she set a course to bring herself under the Canberra's SAM umbrella.
Meanwhile in the Eastern part of the Area of Operations [AO], HMAS Newcastle and Voyager were experiencing their own trials and tribulations. Their helos had detected a small flotilla consisting of four missile-armed frigates; two with Harpoon and two with Exocet. They tried to engage at long range with Harpoons, but these were easily destroyed. The enemy concentrated their fire on the cargo vessel, Fosters Market, and sank her with SSMs before they stopped moving. With no other vessel in the area to protect and with their long-range armament expended, both frigates decided that discretion would be the better part of valour and retired to try and shield the incoming merchants in the west.
Two groups of vessels were detected approaching the civilians' Path of Intended Movement [PIM]. These turned out be gunboats and there were aimed directly at the cargo ships. Immediately, the surviving helos were ordered to attack and thus hoped to keep them at arm's length. A combination of Maverick and Penguin ASMs killed most of them well over the horizon. One gunboat was killed by Stuart's 5' gun which far out-ranged the gunboat's little machine guns. As proven yet again, gunboats cannot stand up to a full-sized frigate.
The frigate force that had killed the Fosters Market made a re-appearance. All the long-ranged SSMs in my force had already been expended. The enemy definitely held the upper hand in this coming confrontation as he still had a significant supply of Harpoon and Exocet SSMs. However, there was never a question of their duty. The four frigates turned towards the four Indonesian frigates in hopes of engaging with gunfire. The helos made repeated ASM attacks, but the missiles were easily brushed aside by the super-effective CADS-1 point defence system on the frigates.
The RAN huddled together to try and cover each other with their SAM umbrellas. However, HMAS Newcastle bore the brunt of the SSMs. Luckily, she had a full inventory of SeaSparrow and was able to shoot down all the missiles sent in her direction. An air attack also materialized right after the SSMs were brought down. The massed SAM defences easily defeated them. The two groups were on a collision course.
As the ships closed on one another, one Captain remarked that, "Apparently, not much has changed since the age of Nelson. Here we are in the 21st century and we are still attempting naval manoeuvres like 'Crossing the T'." HMAS Stuart and Canberra engaged with their 5' mounts from maximum range and changed course to maintain the distance to their targets while Voyager and Newcastle lunged towards the enemy in order to deliver their torpedoes.
The classic naval engagement saw the first surface torpedo engagement since World War II. Just like their Japanese cousins, the Long Lance, the Aussie torpedoes performed admirably and sank all four ships. With no other potential threats in the area, the RAN proceeded to the rendezvous point at Date1.
Thanks for a very stimulating scenario. Your most challenging one, yet!
AAR: Malakka [Spoiler Alert] - PRC A Harpoon 3 scenario By Freek Schepers
Quote:
The NATO-Russian war is 4 weeks old. Russia's naval aviation forces and US Carriers have fought several bloody battles around Japan. Japan has defended its islands well, but is now very vulnerable to the closure of its SLOC's. The Chinese navy has left port but has stayed out of the battle. The US losses in the Pacific and Atlantic theatres have forced it to withdraw the Seventh Fleet from the IO. Only Diego Garcia remains as a stronghold there. The task of providing security for the Malakka Strait has been handed over to India, Thailand, and Singapore. India and Thailand will use their baby-carriers to escort tankers through the IO. The War in the Pacific has interrupted oil shipments to Japan and China for several weeks now and resumption of the oil trade has now become a strategic imperative.
For four weeks, the Americans and Russians had been hammering each other mercilessly as China sat on the sidelines. So long as her rivals concentrated on killing one another, the Peoples Republic was quite happy to watch while her factories hummed with manufactured goods for both sides. However, the Americans and their running-dog lackeys were now trying to cause problems for the People. By giving preference to the Japanese factories for oil, Chinese needs were not going to be met. This situation was intolerable. The South China Seas fleet set sail to ensure the safe and uninterrupted delivery of its oil supplies.
As this was going to be a Tanker war, most of the pre-planned air strikes on Thai airfields were cancelled and the Badger bombers were re-loaded with all available C.601 Silkworm AShMs [Anti-Ship Missiles]. Since these weapons were in short supply, some bombers were still laden with iron bombs so the air suppression missions would go ahead, but with reduced assets.
The MPA [Maritime Patrol Aircraft] rose from Haingui and Mergui and immediately reported the Andaman Sea to be full of contacts. They set about classifying and identifying them and soon discovered the CVH Viraat just as she was departing Pt. Blair. All surface and subsurface units in the Andaman Sea were given intercept vectors for this prize. Unfortunately, all of the submarines were diesel electric and they would only be able to attack effectively from the front due to their limited speed. The few missile boats available to the Burmese surged forth from their hidden inlets on the coast.
The counter-air mission from Sanya consisted of Badgers configured with 1000lb bombs that were led by Flankers. Instead of conducting a surprise attack, the raid commander ordered all of his radar to radiate and all elements to climb to high altitude so that the enemy could see his approach. He was confident that his Flankers easily out-classed the Thai Falcons and was willing to let them meet him in the air. Future historians might think that he sought glorious single combat similar to contests between mediaeval knights. However, nothing could have been further from his mind. He was not looking for a fair fight. He definitely wanted to "joust" with his enemies, but he would be using a lance [AA-10 Alamo] while his opponent would only be given a dagger [AIM-9 Sidewinder]. In his mind, they would be destroyed either in their hangars or in the air. The Falcons, with their short-range AIM-9 Sidewinders, were chewed up by the Flankers by their Alamo [AAMs] air-to-air missiles. With the skies cleared of defenders, the Badgers were able to deliver their bombs with deadly accuracy. Korat was smashed flat and U-Tapao suffered grievous damage with half her facilities flattened.
CVH Viraat was just clearing Pt. Blair and SSG Wuhan was there to meet her. With the entire tactical layout exposed by the loitering MPA, the theatre commander tried to clear the way for the submarine's approach. He knew that the best way to kill a carrier would be with torpedoes. He would try to punch a hole in the screen by first killing the ASW / AEW helos and then killing the frigate that was on ASW patrol.
The helos were easily dealt with by the F-7M AirGuards. A second flight of AirGuards successfully dropped their bombs on the frigate, but failed to kill her. SSG Wuhan finished her off with two of her precious C-801 SSMs [surface-to-surface missiles] and spent the balance on a DDG escort close to the carrier. The approach was classic. The Wuhan was sitting on the target's PIM [Path of Intended Movement] and she had her torpedo tube doors open. Everything was looking great. And then the target zigged...
The commander of the Wuhan could barely restrain himself. "Had he been detected?", he thought. "Had I done something wrong?" He immediately ordered his boat to full speed and hoped to get close enough to launch his torpedoes. Although the carrier was presenting her broadside to the sub, the boat was almost too slow to take advantage of it. Almost.
As he watched through the periscope, he judged that this would be his closest approach and launched every available torpedo at the carrier before feverishly starting the re-loading process. As the seconds ticked by on his stopwatch, he watched the wakes of his torpedoes reach out like fingers of death to his unsuspecting quarry. The first explosion registered early and he saw a geyser erupt from a DDG escort. Evidently, one torpedo had been drawn to the vessel. Moments later, explosions were detected from the centre of the formation! Both the carrier and an auxiliary were dead in the water. Hurrah! The torpedo tubes were re-loaded and one final salvo was able to kill another DDG before her weapons were exhausted.
With the Andaman Sea cleared of the pesky carrier, the remaining subs were like wolves in a henhouse (and just as voracious). The term, "Target rich environment", would be an understatement this day. They tore apart the tankers until the sea was covered with oil slicks everywhere. If China could not have those tankers, she would deny them to her rivals.
Back in the Gulf of Siam, the two PRC SAGs [Surface Action Groups] had finally pinned down the CV Chakri Nareubet against the coast of Malaysia. A flight of Flankers was sent in for CTR [Close Target Reconnaissance] and she identified the CV calmly conducting air operations. Both SAGs were able to co-ordinate their pincer-like approach and both launched salvoes of SSMs to overwhelm the SAM defences. Four were distracted by the FF Naresuan and left her dead in the water, but the remaining C-802s and Sunburn missiles slammed into the CV and left her in flames. Eventually, she slid between the waves and China would get her oil.
Thanks for another great scenario. The limited number of assets really forces the player to maximize their utility. This is an excellent escalation in the battleset. The inclusion of the PRC and India will really make this battleset cover all the world's oceans.
AAR: Indian [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 scenario By Freek Schepers
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The NATO-Russian war is 4 weeks old. Russia has suffered crippling losses to its long-range Naval aviation forces and to its submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific theatres.
The US strategy of leaving the defence of the SLOCs in the IO to India, Thailand, and Singapore has failed when China, worried about its oil supply, claimed control over the Malakka Strait. The ensuing fight sank numerous oil tankers and crippled the Allied Navies in southeast Asia. The White House and State Department are at odds whether the Chinese intervention signals an alliance between China, Russia, and several SE-Asia nations.
The US Navy is rushing reserve forces into the IO to defend the critical approaches to the Persian Gulf oil fields. Reserve troop flown to SE-Asia and the Persian Gulf Region must be matched up with their pre-positioned equipment on Diego Garcia to stabilise the region.
Forces of the new Indian-Thai-United States alliance were still reeling from the recent debacle in the Strait of Malakka. The loss of Singapore's forces and the Viraat was a tremendous blow. The survivors were ordered to coalesce around Diego Garcia and re-organize.
As the stragglers were making their way to Diego Garcia, the MPS [Maritime Pre-Positioned Ship] squadron currently stationed there was ordered to sail immediately. Re-enforcements were desperately needed throughout the Indian Ocean. It was a gamble to have them sail without escort, but the three available task groups in the IO were hoping to rendezvous with them enroute since time was of the essence. The Australian Hornets were sent to DG to shore up the defences and, hopefully, provide a modicum of air cover for the departing MPS squadron. As soon as they were available, helos were sent up right away to scan the local area around the different task groups.
As the Hornets were making their approach to Diego Garcia, one of them reported an unknown contact to the south. DG HQ had nothing on their plotting board for a vessel in the area so the Hornets were ordered to make a quick pass before landing in order to identify the contact. As the Hornets closed the distance, all that the flight leader, Flight Lieutenant Ryan, could think about was getting out of his cramped cockpit to stretch his legs after the long flight over water. They had been in the air for over six hours and even that little pile of guano, nicknamed DeeGar, was starting to look good. Had Lt. Ryan been more diligent, he would have noticed that the speck on his horizon really should not have been visible unless it was a very large target, indeed. Thankfully, his wingman was more alert.
"There's a battlecruiser down there!", he shouted over the radio frequency. It only took Lt. Ryan a second to shake off the thought of his sore buttocks to order evasive action. The two Hornets pulled up into a loop and thundered away from Russian behemoth while on afterburner. The Radar Warning Receivers [RWR] were going wild. Both pilots could see in their HUD that the radar were still trying to localize them and that fire control emissions were still absent. Thank God. They ran for DeeGar all the while reporting their discovery.
On Diego Garcia, the duty officer wondered aloud, "Where the devil did that come from?" The flight operations co-ordinator brought him out of his reverie by saying, "It doesn't matter Where it came from. It's here now. Request permission to arm all aircraft for ASuW [Anti-Surface Warfare] missions." The officer of the watch duly agreed and also issued a warning to all commands within the IO. The Death Star was in the system and nobody wanted to be around it.
The task group centred on AOE Rainier immediately turned around and ran at flank speed once the warning was received. So did all the other MPS groups. Every vessel was to make its best speed out of the area. The wolf was in the henhouse. The only really useful strike asset was SSN Montpelier and she was over one thousand nautical miles away. She went to flank speed.
The Hornets landed, but one had developed a major electrical glitch because she was down for an estimated 270 minutes! Left with only one Hornet, the crews swarmed around her while ordnancemen wheeled Harpoon missiles out to the B-52s Stratofortresses and P-3 Orions spread across the base. The accompanying tankers came under SAM fire just as they were about to land, but managed to land without further incident. Take-off was going to be another matter. By the time the Tankers were re-fuelled, the BCGN was within 20nm of the base. They were effectively grounded by the BCGN's SAM bubble and would have to take their chances in the shelters.
Missiles appeared out of nowhere and were reported by a nearby helo operating from the Rainier UnRep [Underway Replenishment] Group. There must be a SSGN around here. The launch datum point was quickly plotted and the lone helo set off to try and locate the sub after a warning was issued to Diego Garcia. The crews were able to ready the lone Hornet and it took off to try and shoot down some of the SLCMs [Sub-Launched Cruise Missiles].
At the same time, FF Taksin reported high speed propeller sounds. CVH Nareubet was under torpedo attack! One hit the Nixie decoy before she even had time to launch helos to prosecute the sub. Her helicopters finally did launch and quickly ran down the submarine and killed her, but she still had to outrun her own problems. Another torpedo was already inbound. Luckily, this, too, was drawn to Nixie and exploded a scant 50 yards astern.
The lone Hornet got off the ground and launched her AMRAAM quickly before being chased back to the base by SA-6 Grumbles. Her AMRAAMs got four, but there were many more following them. The SS-N-19 hit DG and smashed the complex. All of the P-3s and B-52s were destroyed in their hangars. The scene of destruction was horrific. Only one Hornet and 4 Tankers survived.
CVH Nareubet was not through her ordeal. A second sub was detected by FF Taksin. The Russians must want this surviving carrier very badly. Taksin quickly sent two torpedoes after her from her own torpedo tubes before heeling and running at flank speed. She was very close, indeed. An explosion was detected even over the sound of her own thrashing screws. No additional torpedoes were detected so the CV group returned to its baseline course towards DeeGar.
Unopposed, the BCGN sailed right up to the little island and began to bombard the field. Installations all around the field were demolished by her naval gunnery. Now that she had been detected, there was no reason to hide her presence. A Helix AEW helo soon appeared and easily detected the fleeing MPS squadron. The first to die was the Hauge. Under a hail of Shipwreck missiles, she exploded in a fireball and took the precious armoured battalion inside her holds with her to her grave. She was soon followed by the Bough and then the Bonnyman. Red Cloud, Watkins, Charlton, and Soderman were also hit, but survived for the meantime and limped along at severely reduced speeds with fires raging aboard most of them.
One of the subs that encountered the Thai carrier must have sent in a contact report because a Russian MPA [Maritime Patrol Aircraft] was soon detected from her distinctive radar emissions. A lone Harrier was sent to deal with it. Unfortunately, the radar on the Harrier was unable to localize the contact and never managed to intercept it. However, the MPA served a very valuable purpose. It drew away one of only two Harriers currently ready aboard the Nareubet. As the first Harrier was being led on a wild goose chase, the SeaHawk providing limited AEW support for the CVG suddenly reported four unidentified aircraft with Badger-type emissions. The sole remaining Harrier was quickly launched. There were sixteen potential Silkworm AShMs [Anti-Ship Missiles] under their wings. If they managed to launch them, they would make quick work of CVH Nareubet. The Thais were finally rewarded with some luck and the Harrier managed to bag all four bombers with her four AIM-9P Sidewinders. With the good news also came the bad; Watkins and Charlton both sank from the damage they sustained under the SSM attack.
The surviving Hornet on Diego Garcia decided to try and keep the enemy blind. It shot down an AEW Helo from the BCGN and then went after an MPA. that had originally been detected by the Thai carrier. Both targets were easy victims.
With the BCGN distracted chasing the lambs, the tankers took off to try and get the Harriers to ferry to AOE Rainier. There might be time for only one strike. Hopefully, it would have to be enough. As they were approaching the rendezvous point, one simply exploded in mid-flight. No warning. One moment she was flying along and the next moment a fireball was seen at her position. No way to know if she suffered an accident or through enemy action. The tankers met up with the Harriers and transferred as much fuel as possible. Most would try to make directly for Diego Garcia, but, with only three tankers available, one of the Harriers had to divert to the Rainier. This turned out to be a good thing.
As the lone Harrier was flying towards AOE Rainier, she spotted a Udaloy-class DD and a Chilikin-class oiler. Talk about a surprise. This must have been the cause of death for the fourth tanker. Once the rest of the Harrier flight was notified, they decided to attack them en passant. The salvo of Sea Eagle and ALARM quickly overwhelmed the defences and left them pyres on the sea. Now, all of the Harriers had to divert to the Rainier to re-arm since she had the only suitable munitions in the region. With the Harriers safely aboard her makeshift deck, Rainier turned around and headed towards the BCGN's last reported position. Instead of acting in support of a CV as she had done her entire career, today, she would be the carrier.
Phillips and Anderson running for their lives when they were detected by a Ka-32 Helix and missiles started to rain down on the Phillips severely damaging her. The only available fighter in the entire theatre was still grounded on DG for another 10 minutes. When she was ready, she took off and stayed low on the deck. Somewhere out there was a Big and Mean BCGN. It was not something Lt. Ryan wanted to stumble across twice in the same week. A second Helix was soon detected. Hopefully, he could get them both on the same mission.
Lt. Ryan did manage to kill both helos, but the effort was all for naught. The MPS ships were already within visual range of the Petr Veilikiy. Anderson and Phillips were both run down like a pair of crippled gazelle and devoured by the ravenous battlecruiser.
Finally, the Harriers aboard the Rainier were ready and launched. They crept in at medium altitude before dropping down to low altitude to deliver their strike ordnance. Eight Sea Eagle were successfully launched and they were not counter-detected as they retreated at wave level. A few hits were reported, but there were mostly shrugged off by gargantuan BCGN. There would not be time for a second strike. The IO commander ordered a withdrawal of forces and victory was awarded to the Soviets.
Thanks for another unique situation, Freek. Although I would not normally have expected a BCGN in the convoy raider role, I can certainly see that it might be used in the strike role against the MPSron. One ship to wipe out most of an armour division might be a fair trade in the eyes of Stavka.
AAR: South China Sea 1987 [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 scenario By Fred Galano
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The world is on the brink of war. A coup in the Soviet Union has sent Mikhail Gorbachev to exile in the West, with a hard-line Communist government siezing power in Moscow.
The Soviet General Staff has decided that the time is ripe for a world-wide Communist revolution. Soviet forces are inciting revolutions and conflict world-wide providing propoganda, arms, and advisors.
It's a nice and interesting setup. The way that you have most of the aircraft at minimal loadouts at the start so that the player decides the initial ordnance is unique. I was very surprised to start the game under terrorist attack at all my bases. I fought back with the garrison units but both sides quickly ran out of ammo usually without destroying the other side.
I feverishly re-loaded my aircraft and launched the ones that were ready. Luckily, nothing was openly hostile. However, as I started to investigate some ships, I was fired upon by the Communists. The only ready weapons were my TLAM so I unleashed them on Vietnam in hopes of buying myself some time to get ready. I had my hands full with the aircraft storming out from Vietnam and an inbound SSM strike. Luckily, I brought down all the missiles without sustaining damage. I detected the Slava cruiser and noted that the enemy aircraft would almost fly over the SAG.
The AAW bubble created by the SAG almost protected the transit of the Recon planes and the bombers. One flight managed to release their AS-6s and I had a devil of a time bringing down all of them. I rushed to shoot the archers next time and not their arrows. However, the release point was almost right over the SAG so I would have to take a circuitous route around the SAG to get at the bombers. I was successful but was also busy engaging the fighter escorts. They were well timed with the strikers and recon assets. I barely had sufficient missiles to win aerial supremacy.
In the midst of this brouhaha, I detected a stream of aircraft operating like bombers but not headed directly at my CVBG. I was simply thankful that they were not heading towards me so I ignored them. Big mistake.
I dealt with the threat to the CVBG first and was successful in bringing down all of the bombers. However, only then did I see that the stream of previously ignored bombers was heading directly towards Clark AFB! I freaked out and thanked my lucky stars at the same time. I had chosen to arm all the aircraft for AAW work so I would have plenty of assets. Unfortunately, the bombers were already nearing their release points. I scrambled everything into the air and set off to intercept on afterburner.
The race between the fighters and bombers was initially won by the bombers. Again, the first flight launched before my fighters could reach them. However, thanks to my massed fighters, I was able to destroy all of the ALCMs. I engaged the second flight of bombers just seconds before they reached their release point; so much easier to destroy than missiles. I rolled up the entire stream of bombers easily enough.
With the skies pretty much cleared of opposition, I was able to concentrate on the enemy convoys and the terrorists. Once my helos became ready, they quickly blew the terrorist companies into tiny bits. The CVW concentrated on the destruction of the escorts and was stunningly successful. Without naval protection, one convoy was blown to bits with SSMs from the CVBG while the other was destroyed by the SSN New York City's torpedoes.
All that remained was to mop up the enemy's intelligence trawlers and the rebel convoy in the Sulu Sea. My run to port with my convoys was uneventful except for a single chance encounter by my SSN NYC. She was making a speed run when she detected transients! She immediately pulled a Crazy Ivan and salvoed 2 of her 3 remaining torpedoes BOL down the azimuth of the transient. Luckily, she escaped while both her Mk48s locked onto the enemy sub and sent him to the bottom. Real Quick Draw McGraw! My transports reached Subic Bay and I was awarded victory.
Thanks again for putting this fun scenario together.
Here's an excellent AAR. It is reprinted here with permission of the author:
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Spoiler Alert
After Action Report Scenario: Battle of Britain II Designer: Freek Schepers Author: Taitennek Side: The Netherlands
Intro.
The purpose of this scenario is to investigate war between pretty much the entire military forces of two modern countries. The Netherlands has moved ground forces into Belgium and defeated French attempts to interfere. The Charles de Gaulle has been sunk and the French air force is licking its wounds. The UN has authorised all members to take steps to reverse this situation and the UK has taken up the call of Duty. This scenario has been built up for the PlayersDB, version 6.4.9.
Orders for Netherlands:
Situation:
The Campaign against Belgium and France has concluded. Flanders has rejoined the Kingdom. A daring Raid against Denmark has resulted in the liberation of 30 Danish F-16's previous sold to the Netherlands. Delivery was withheld due to the war. The Queen has re-instated the "Militaire Willemsorde" and more of these medals have been awarded for this one raid than in all of WW2. Losses have been severe, but Belgian and Danish F-16's, now operational in the KLu, have made up for combat losses. All airbases except Florennes are operational. AMRAAM and Patriot Missiles are still scarce. The Navy has been hard hit and its surviving Frigates are short of SAM's The Security Council has issued a resolution urging all UN members to force the Netherlands to relinquish Belgian territory. Germany is thought to remain on the sidelines due to the stranglehold we have on the Ruhr Gebiet through the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. The UK, however, has mobilised its forces and has issued an ultimatum requiring unconditional Dutch compliance with the UN resolution within the next 24 hours.
Orders:
You are ordered to establish local air superiority over the Netherlands and central UK and to attack the Luton Node of the Integrated Battle Management System. If this system is destroyed, RAF numerical superiority will be offset by our better AAM's and SAM's in spite of their limited supply.
CLARIFICATION OF VICTORY CONDITIONS:
- Kill Luton EW system; - Kill 10 ground targets; - Kill 100 aircraft; - Sink 2 warships; - Prevent more than 15 NL facilities from being hit. [Note: This is a summary of the written orders for the Netherlands in the scenario. The complete version can be found in the scenario itself].
GAME ON!
04:00:00 Zulu
Only few aircraft are available at the first stage of the coming hostilities between NL and UK. 4 F-16 armed with 4 Mk84 2000lb each for an attack on the Luton Battle Management System and nearby airbases and 6 F-16 armed with AMRAAMs for CAP above UK. 2 F-16 armed with Sidewinders only will stay close to the Dutch surface groups in the north. 1 P-3C Orion for reconaissance/asw patrol at the Dutch/Belgian coast. The second [larger] group is ready within 30 minutes and scheduled for CAP and ground attacks on British airfields.
First I set course for the three naval surface groups operating in Dutch Coastal Waters. The 2 groups in the North will make a rendezvous with each other and will stay close at the coast nearby Den Helder Naval Base [not mentioned in the scenario, but the location is north of Airbase De Kooi]. The surface group in the south set course to the English Channel to engage British surface units. The S801 Walrus will intercept UK warships when they leave Portsmouth, the S808 Dolfijn will guard the entrance to the North Sea and the S810 Bruinvis will intercept UK warships at the east coast of UK. The 3 Lynx helicopters based at De Kooi and the Orion's at Valkenburg are assigned to an ASW-mission in Dutch coastal waters and nearby the surface groups. Soon Radar spotted aircraft taking off from AB..... Soon sonar picked up a sub contact..... 30 km off coast from The Hague. Perhaps no more "Hollandsche Nieuwe" [Hering] from the North Sea due to nuclear pollution, but..... the risk of losing Dutch vessels is too high to let it go. It took 15 minutes to take out the submarine. Meanwhile the first air-to-air missiles were fired. During the first 30 minutes of the battle NL did not loose a single aircraft against 4 British fighters and a submarine. Not bad.
04:30:00 Zulu
Now I can launch a massive strike against British airfields. Main targets are the airbases of the British attack aircraft in Central UK. 30 F-16 attack aircraft escorted with 12 F-16 fighters, all armed with AMRAAM. Another 6 F-16 fighters, armed with Sidewinders for protection of the fleet and Dutch airspace. 50 minutes after start the first group bombers reached the Luton BMS. Within minutes the target was destroyed, together with the first AEW Sentry. The 3 other attack-aircraft launched a first attack at nearby airfields. The UK meanwhile launched an attack on my surface groups in the northern area with Sea Eagle missiles. I managed to survive 05:30:00 Zulu All remaining aircraft returned to their bases after the massive air strike on the British airfields. time to check results. 151 aircraft destroyed, as well as 12 ground facilities and a submarine. My losses were 18 aircraft. Only fighters were available and the British Air force launched more and more aircraft. Soon several groups were underway to the Netherlands. I managed to stop the massive attacks with minimal damage to Dutch Ground facilities. With attack aircraft ready I started an air strike at the English fleet in The Channel together with the S801 Walrus. I managed to sink 2 vessels with torpedoes; I was able to damage the HMS Illustrious and sank 2 more submarines with bombs. At 07:00:00 I had reached all Victory conditions.
British losses:
Aircraft : 229 Submarines: 2 Trafalgar II : 1 Swiftsure : 1 Type 42.2 Exeter destroyer : 1 Duke Type 23 Frigate Facilities: 22
Here's an excellent AAR. It is reprinted here with permission of the author:
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AAR: Power Sweep [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 [ANW] scenario for the PlayersDB Author David Steinmeyer AAR by Freek Schepers
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The war has not been kind to the Soviet navy; especially their submarine forces. In order to protect their remaining submarine units, the Soviets have been forced to begin escorting their less capable boats with first-line SSNs.
In this engagement, a Soviet SSN is guarding two other units as they proceed south through the Norwegian Sea. Once the group has reached the Atlantic, the SSN will perform its own mission while the SS and SSGN attack surface shipping.
First, though, NATO will try to stop them.
I tried Power Sweep from the NATO side.
As I started the game, I got a passive sonar contact from my brit SSN that was behaving as a submarine; it course was quickly plotted to be right towards me so I calculated intercept time at 2 hours and started moving Kobben at 12 knots at periscope depth to cover the area left by my SSN.
Two hours later the sub, now confirmed as Victor was at 6nm and two 81 knot torpedo's 'flew' towards it. destruction was instant w/o any chance of counterfire!
I next moved the Brit SSN at 20 knots (it would not go to Flank) to cover the Norwegian Kobben. Midway during the sprint a subcontact and torp were detected very close aboard! The torp disappeared and my counterfired spearfish missed.
When I slowed down it appeared a Russian Tango had fired from long range (presumably making a wrong TMA!). I slowed Trafalgar and moved her to the Tango. A few hours later I was in range and killed her with the magic Spearfish.
At the same time Kobben detected a Charly, still 20 nm away. It raced north when I fired at the Tango (even though it was 30nm away!), but now it creeped towards Kobben again. Kobben drifted at 5 knots.
Just when it was 4 nm away and I prepared to fire, Charly fired at me! Kobben 'raced' south at 17 knots after having fired 3 torps. Miraculously, Charlies torp seemed to circle and the third of Kobbens hit.
A pleasant small scen, probably very suitable for MP!
Here's an excellent AAR. It is reprinted here with permission of the author:
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Spoiler Alert
After Action report
Scenario: PACIFIC, the sixth scenario of the 21st Century Ocean Wars Battleset Database: PlayersDB 6.4.9. [latest version] Designer: Freek Schepers Author: Frans Koenz [aka Taitennek]
Side: RUSSIA
[quote]ORDERS FOR RUSSIA:
SITUATION:
The war has been raging for three weeks. Japan has remained neutral thus far and has not allowed US warships into its ports.
INTEL:
Our attack on the Kitty Hawk CVBG has led to the confirmed loss of her underway replenishment ship. She now must make port and is short of SAMs. Agents in Yokosuka reported many inbound cargo flights to Atsuki NAS and report that the Kitty Hawk is about 4 hours away from docking in Yokosuka. This gives us the political and military opportunity to finish her off.
MISSION:
Sink the Kitty Hawk, Destroying the US bases in Korea and Japan may be a necessity.
ROE:
Weapons are free. US and Japanese military targets may be attacked. Refrain from using nuclear weapons or attacking civilian sea or ground targets.
24 December 2003, 00:00:00 Zulu:
First I took some time to study the scenario; what units are available and the best tactic to eliminate as many enemy targets as possible. Several aircraft are already airborne. 4 Backfire-C [no payload] aircraft have been ordered to return to Yelizovo AB. 4 groups with 4 Backfires each, armed with AS-4 Kitchen missiles are cruising east of Misawa. They have to close to a distance of less than 190nm in order to launch their deadly payload. Few fighters, as well as EW/AEW units, are airborne.
My naval assets are 9 ships and 6 submarines. 2 SSK KILO submarines are just a few miles away from the entrance to the Port of Yokosuka. They have orders to intercept the Kitty Hawk and her escort group when she enters the Bay. The surface vessels are too far away to conduct anti-ship missions. The surface battle group, centred on the ARKR Admiral Lazarev, is now moving southwards. The K-139 Belgorod, a SSGN Oscar-class nuclear submarine armed with SS-19-N-Shipwrecks, is within launch distance and ready to launch missiles as soon we know the exact position of the Kitty Hawk. Another OSCAR-class submarine, the K-410 Smolensk, is closing in from the east at top speed and maximum depth to bridge over 100nm before she can launch her missiles. The K-331 Magadan [Akula II SSN] is about 100nm distance from the enemy Aircraft Carrier Group and will kill the Kitty Hawk with torpedoes if she wasn't sunk by missiles before.
I have to wait with the missile-attack until all units are in position. That will take about 3 hours. During that time I will attack enemy air defences...The land-based Backfires will be used for ground-attacks on Japanese/US/South Korean military bases/objects. I expect a ground-strike with cruise-missiles against my airbases; therefore, some fighters will patrol nearby the airfields to intercept incoming enemy missiles.
GAME ON!!! =======
24 December 2003, 00:30:00 Zulu:
In the first 30 minutes of the hostilities no aircraft were lost on either side. My radar picked up several contacts of aircraft taking off from their airbases. Now I am able to start the air strike against land-based targets. I launched 20 Backfire-C Bombers loaded with AS-4 Kitchen [AGM]. 1 group [6 planes] to attack Chitose and Misawa in the north, 1 group [ 6 planes] to attack airfields in Central Japan and 2 groups [4 planes each] to attack ground targets in the southern part of Japan and Kunsan AB in South Korea.
Soon the first air-to-air missiles were fired; I managed to shoot down 4 fighters and an E-2C Hawkeye against 1 loss. All available land-based aircraft are now underway. More and more enemy aircraft are in the air now. No doubt that I will suffer more losses as well.
Between 00:30 and 02:00, it all happened; dog fights between Russian Flankers and Japanese F-15 and US Hornets. Most of my Backfires managed to launch their missiles.
Destroyed many Ground facilities/aircraft. Soon the Sky belonged to us. I could not prevent taking hits by Tomahawk cruise missiles. Some slipped through the Barrier and destroyed facilities at XXX airfield. The 16 Backfires [now within launching distance] launched their attack on the American surface group. I managed to destroy all 4 ships. The 2 OSCAR-class submarines were still submerged and could be used for other targets, but I managed to reach VC and stopped playing realising that more [Japanese] units could be destroyed by the OSCAR submarines when I would go on with playing.
Summary of losses [at 01:48 Zulu]:
Japan/USA/South Korea:
116 aircraft of all types 4 ships, including USS Kitty Hawk 16 facilities
Here's another excellent AAR. It is reprinted here with permission of the author:
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EUBanana AAR: WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST [Spoiler Alert]
LOCATION : HONG KONG DATE/TIME: 5 JULY 1999, 04:00:00 ZULU
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The Chinese military establishment was shocked by the results of their opening operation. Casualties were very heavy and the loss of equipment in the staging areas caused the cancellation of the ground operation. The British have established a far more effective air defense network than had been expected and they still retain air superiority over Hong Kong. Hong Kong International Airport is still operational and the flow of material and men continues around the clock.
I'm not an old hand at this game so after a few attempts to work out the interface and how its done, this was my first "proper" game.
Only Women and Children was the scenario - in short, the British evacuation of Hong Kong after a Chinese invasion. I'm playing the Brits. Starting assets were two frigates (a Type 23 and a Type 22 Batch 3) and two destroyers (the Brit AA destroyers with Sea Darts and not much else) guarding a convoy, a whole bunch of cruise liners and tankers at Hong Kong. For whatever reason, those four surface ships have no helicopters, which proves quite a drawback later on.
HMS Triumph, Trafalgar class SSN, is not too far away, about a hundred miles east of HK or so.
British air power is pretty absent, Hong Kong is bare, but I got some Nimrods, E-3s and Tornados at Naha, which is a damn long way away.
The CHinese have one airbase north east along the coast from HK aways, and unknown naval assets.
So, we set off. Everybody is observing passive ENCOM so we're as sneaky as possible. The frigates lead the convoy, the destroyers are on the northern edge on AA picket duty about 15 miles out from the vulnerables. Plan is to head south of Taiwan and then double around to Naha, rather than sail up the Chinese coast, which seems to be begging for death.
HMS Triumph is sent first and a Nimrod is scrambled to do recon on the straits south of Taiwan, as it looks like thats the choke point. While they are vectoring in that direction a whole bunch of Chin aircraft sortie but far to the northeast of the convoy and not threatening it in any way.
When my Nimrod gets in range just south of Taiwan, lo, a submarine contact is discovered, a Kilo-class. It's a sneaky little ***** so it resists my ASW attempts. My Nimrod ends up dropping a few sonobuoys and running away, as the Chinese scramble fighters from the mainland to try and engage it. But! they must be at max range or thereabouts as soon they have to turn back, and then my Nimrod doubles back. This happens a good half a dozen times. Eventually the Kilo is buried underneath a mass of sonobouys, and then the Stingray torpedoes follow. It takes a good four to kill the thing as they keep missing... but kill it they eventually do. All shows blank after a quick further patrol, and its dangerous with these Chin fighters, so the Nimrod goes home.
Time passes. The Chinese air sortieing quiets down a bit. My E-3 east of Taiwan spots Chinese naval units along the coast, so just as well I didn't go that way. I'm just congratulating myself on a job well done when HMS Triumph, now at the area where the Nimrod was battling, finds another contact which the ASW a/c must have missed, a Han class SSN.
I try and scramble my Nimrod again as its still a fair way away, but for some weird code reason it won't take off! Apparently the erks are on a break or something, but the bottom line is, the Han has to be dealt with by my naval assets.
Triumph sneaks up on the Chinese Han without too much problem. By now the convoy is drawing near, must be about 80 miles west of Triumph, so I wanna make sure the strait is clear so the convoy can go through. And then another problem! the water is apparently too shallow for Triumph to get too close, the strait is apparently off limits to subs (even trying to go on the surface doesn't work apparently). I fire off a couple of Spearfishes at a decent range but both miss the Han, and the Chinese sub retreats a bit, out of easy passive sonar listening range, so the screen goes a bit blank aside from a very vague contact.
So, decisions. Triumph can't deal with it apparently, and the convoy is near. I sling Triumph onto active sonar, to pinpoint the Han, which Triumph manages to do. Its way out of torpedo range - mutually, fortunately. Triumph sits back and acts as spotter.
I detach my two frigates from the convoy and form a mini SAG with them, two frigates line abreast, and they burn rubber at flank speed towards the Han, wanting to make sure the tankers are nowhere near the thing. Locating it isnt a problem as Triumph has it well lit up from further back. The frigates get in range and let rip with baby torpedoes, Mk46s and Mk50s, the things the choppers normally carry. Needless to say the sub has noticed these flank speed frigates so it fires a volley of torpedoes back - the frigates about turn and flank speed away! All torpedoes miss. The frigates about face again for another pass, and this time the Han is stupid and comes straight at them. There's another mutual volley - the frigates about face again and the Chinese torpedoes miss, but the Chinese sub keeps on a-coming, and gets three baby torps in the face. (it takes all three to kill it as well...).
Victory! the frigates return to the convoy and resume station ahead.
...and thats about it really. The convoy cruises past the strait unmolested, the rest of the Chinese units too far away to catch.
Now my convoy is on the far side of Taiwan and all seems peachy. And its late RL, so I save the game and hit the sack! However, there looks to more to come, as those Chinese naval units are nosing around the northern end of Taiwan, and might possibly be able to intercept me.
Here's another excellent AAR. It is reprinted here with permission of the author:
Quote:
Taitennek SPOILER ALERT
After Action Report Scenario: INDIAN OCEAN [21st Century Ocean Wars Battleset] by Freek Schepers. Reporter: Taitennek
Side: RUSSIA
ORDERS RUSSIA:
Eyes-only Senior-Captain Petr Velikij. The President congratulates you on your successful passage into the Indian Ocean. You are authorized to conduct Operation Breshnjev.
ORDER OF BATTLE:
We have been preparing Operation Breshnjev for three months. An obsolete container ship has been prepared to carry a flight of Yak-38 Forgers and their armament. The ship has been cruising in the IO for a month. The Battlecruiser Petr Velikij, the transport Boris Butoma, and the Destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov have slipped into the Indian Ocean last week.
SITUATION:
The war in the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Barentz Sea has swung in favour of the Americans. Our long-range airpower has been destroyed and our remaining tactical fighter squadrons are barely sufficient for defence of the Motherland. However, our alliance with China has brought good results; Thailand and Indonesia have been defeated and India has suffered terrible losses and has secretly opened Cease-fire negotiations with China and Russia.
MISSION OPERATION BREZHNEV:
Your mission is to permanently destroy the US influence in the IO. You are ordered to destroy the airbase and defensive installations on Diego Garcia. Secondly, you are ordered to sink the Maritime Pre-positioning ships based at DG. These ships are pre-loaded with enough armour, artillery, and stores for 2 fighting divisions now being airlifted to the IO Theatre of war. They must be destroyed. Upon completion of your mission make your way towards Cochin, India, where repair facilities will be made available under our Cease-fire agreement.
CLARIFICATION OF VICTORY CONDITIONS:
* Damage 10 enemy ships [50%], focus on MPS ships; * destroy 6 of the airbase units on DG; * ensure Petr Velikiy survives.
[This is a part of the written orders for Russia, the complete text can be found in the scenario itself].
Game Time: 02:00:00 Zulu Game Date: 3 January 2004
My Tactic:
I will close in with the BCGN and K-456. The BCGN will fire all SS-N-19 Shipwrecks at the 2 frigates; you [probably] wonder why I fire all long-range anti-ship missiles on just 2 targets; the Underwood-class frigate is equipped with a MK13 Mod. launch system for SM1MR and AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles; if these ships survive the attack, the mission will turn into a disaster. After firing long-range missiles I have to close in to less than 10nm to destroy enemy surface targets with other systems; that makes the BCGN vulnerable to damage. Only few hits with Harpoon's could cause the loss of the entire Battlecruiser]. I will take out other vessels with medium- and short-range weapons. The K-456 will attack ground installations with SS-N-19 Shipwreck missiles against ground targets and ships with the remaining shipwrecks against surface targets, after she is in firing position. The Udaloy and AOR are too far from the theatre to take part of the action. The Shaposhnikov will escort the AOR and conduct ASW-operations during her passage to Cochin-India. What will happen with the converted container vessel depends on what is going to happen with the onboard aircraft and helicopter.
Game on!
After 5 minutes I was able to launch a KA-27 Helix helicopter. With her Radar and ECM equipment active, she soon picked up several surface contacts [13 Maritime Pre-positioning Ships, escorted by 2 Underwood-class frigates] in the Bay of Diego Garcia. Some minutes later the ships grouped together into 3 groups. 1 group [without escort] was heading northeast and the other two groups were heading northwest, each group was escorted by 1 Underwood-class frigate.
Suddenly the BCGN came under fire; 16 AGM-84 Harpoon missiles were picked up and I gave the order "ALL WEAPONS FREE". The Pyotr Velikiy survived the attack without damage. 30 minutes after Zero Zulu [02:00:00] I launched 1 Yak-38 "Forger" for CAP around the enemy convoys and 1 KA-29TB Helix-B helicopter, armed with AT-6 "Spiral" short-range [5.7nm] missiles to attack the US Artillery Battery on Diego Garcia.
03:30:00 Zulu Time.
I launched the attack; each frigate 9 missiles. Both Frigates were hit and sank, as well as 2 other enemy vessels... Meanwhile the helicopter was attacking the Artillery Battery, after firing a few missiles, she was hit by ground fire from AAA-units. The k-456 was rather successful; only 2 missiles did not reach their ground-targets, but she took out 5 of 6 ground targets [the sixth ground-target, the Artillery Battery, was destroyed by cannon fire from the BCGN]; with her other Shipwrecks she took out 5 of 7 enemy surface vessels. After her successful raid the k-456 will conduct anti-submarine/ship operations on the path of the BCGN on her voyage home.
05:12:00 Zulu Time.
All vital installations on Diego Garcia are destroyed now, except the runways. The convoy [5 ships], the one heading to the northeast, is the next target. This convoy leaft the harbour without escort. Now the BCGN is behind the convoy and closing in. The Converted container vessel now is prepared to launch their Forgers again for CAP ahead the path of the BCGN.
05:50 - 06:45 Zulu Time.
Hunting down the remained MP-Ships [the ones heading NE] with the BCGN, sinking one after the other [very hard nuts to crack, these MPS, they are massive and can survive several hits], the BCGN Peyotr Velikiy ran out of ammo. I left the last MP-ship; heavily damaged, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before she would sink. Operation Brezhnev was very successful!!!
I managed to sink 13 ships, including 2 frigates and their helicopters, only 2 ships could get away, one of them is on fire. I also managed to destroy Diego Garcia Airbase, including 20 aircraft I only lost 1 helicopter so far.
Now it is time for heading home.
2 new surface contacts appeared on the radar screen, as well as several air contacts. The BCGN was not longer alone. I ordered one of the helicopters to investigate the surface contacts. The 2 surface contacts are the Thai VTOL-carrier Chakri Nareubet and the frigate Naresuan. Suddenly Harriers took off from the carrier [the Chinese information that the Thai VTOL-carrier did not have an air-wing, was not correct]. Soon 4 Harriers were underway to the BCGN. I managed to take them out before they could fire their missiles. The K-456 now is heading to the Thai ships for interception. That will take some time because the distance between the 2 Thai ships and the submarine is still 80nm. Suddenly there were torpedoes in the water. My submarine was detected by one of the helicopters of the Thai TF. I have to sink these ships. They become a threat to the BCGN. She has only few rounds anti-ship ammo left. I launched the Forgers again to intercept enemy ASW-helicopters, I managed to shoot down 1 helicopter but lost the 3 aircraft by enemy fire. The K-456 crept towards the enemy Taskforce, surrounded by 2 enemy Seahawks. I managed to sink both ships and even was able to escape from enemy torpedoes. The 2 remaining helicopters were shot down by a Tupolev-142 Bear-F......, the same aircraft managed to shoot down an American Orion some 45 minutes later.....great fun, flying with the Russian Bear.
13:00-17:00 Zulu Time.
The Battlecruiser still has to travel almost 900nm before she reaches Cochin-India. Several new unknown aircraft were visible on the screen. More trouble was underway. During the whole mission, the Battlecruiser was very lucky; it survived 2 massive missile-attacks and still was undamaged. I perhaps ran out of anti-ship ammo, but still have enough SAM's. Although there is a new threat, I turned off all Radar and ECM-equipment and rely on the airborne radars. At least 9 aircraft are approaching the BCGN. Later a Bear-F got exact position of 4 aircraft. A few minutes later a second group's position was clear, 4 aircraft on a distance of 150nm and closing in with 500 miles an hour. Time to ring the ship's alarm-bells again.
1 Hornet opened fire and destroyed the KA-29TB Helix-B. I used the helicopter as an ECM/radar-platform; only a Tu-95 is between me and the enemy formation and they still are coming closer to my ship. I launched another helicopters [the converted container vessel still has 1 helicopter onboard] to act as radar-picket in order to keep my ship's radar off as long as possible. At 115nm one of the Tu-95 identified the approaching aircraft......F/A-18E Super Hornet!!! Big trouble underway!
Soon the BCGN was under attack; 16 HARM-missiles were fired, I rapidly launched SAM's, but these damned rockets are going too fast. Soon the first missiles came in.....After the attack, the BCGN had 14 percent damage, all sensors [4].
During her voyage the BCGN was attacked two more times, but survived without further damage. The Converted container vessel was sunk by the enemy, but the ship was already given up after their aircraft and helicopters were destroyed.
I reached Victory conditions, too bad that the Peotr Velikiy was damaged, but the result is more important; 2 Russian naval vessels [a BCGN and a SSGN] and some helicopters were able to destroy an US-airbase, including aircraft, 13 of 15 US ships, 2 Thai warships and some more aircraft. All Russian warships survived. After repairs to her sensors, the BCGN Pyotr Velikiy soon will rule of the Indian Ocean again.
Wow! I have played a lot of scenarios, but this is a great one!!!! Thanks Freek for sharing it with us.
This scenario is currently posted at: SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB
Here's another excellent AAR. It is reprinted here with permission of the author:
Quote:
Taitennek SPOILER ALERT
After Action Report
Scenario: NORTH CAPE Designer: Freek Schepers Database: PlayersDB 6.4.9 [updated 27 July 2006] Side : NATO Reporter: Taitennek ===============
ORDERS FOR NATO:
SITUATION:
Russian ground troops have passed the border of Finnmark. Air support is nearly absent due to successful strikes on Kola Bases. The Dutch amphibious ship HMS Rotterdam has delivered several companies of Marines. US and British subs have severely damaged Russian ASW hunting groups in the Barentz Sea.
INTEL:
Remnants of ASW groups [including frigates, destroyers, patrol vessels, and submarines] are known to be in the Barentz Sea.
MISSION:
The LPD and its escorts are needed elsewhere ant the Dutch ships are ordered to make best speed west. Air support is not available.
CLARIFICATION ON VICTORY CONDITIONS:
Bring the Dutch ships west of line of re. points in 10 hours.
====
GAME ON!!!
GAME DATE: 15 December 2003 GAME TIME: 12:00:00 Zulu Time.
I'm in command of the Dutch Taskforce due south on her way to ref. TGT8-TGT9, some 110nm westward, a Norwegian PTM, the HMS Orn [Hauk-class fast missile patrol craft] and land-based units are the disembarked companies of the Dutch Royal Marine Corps. The F801 HMS Zeven Provincien, the flagship of the Dutch Royal Navy is escorting the L800 HMS Rotterdam. Both ships are cruising along the coast of Norway, the third vessel, the F812 HMS Witte de With is cruising in the Norwegian Sea at a distance of 35nm. The Norwegian PTM is hidden in a fjord. I have 5 SH-14D Lynx Helicopters ready and will use them for reconnaissance duties and ASW-operations.
L 800, Hr Ms Rotterdam [Photo: Koninklijke Marine]
TACTIC:
The L800 and F801 plot a course along the coast side and will play hide-and-seek in the Norwegian Fjords. The F812 acts as the first line of defence. I will use the Norwegian PTM for a surprise attack on enemy units, once they have been identified. I realise that is a kind of suicide mission, but the survival of the LPD and escort is priority #1.
Time is a crucial factor; I have to make best speed through narrow streets and fjord passages to reach the reference points within 10 hours. That is a hard nut to crack: I have to reach points at 22:00:00 Zulu time. I have my own rules of engagement: Only if the unit is hostile, or recognized by recon flight of the helicopters. There is a possibility of casualties by friendly fire, but I cannot risk the loss of surface vessels [+200 officers and enlisted] for just one unknown [friendly] aircraft or submarine. I will take all measurements to identify air/surface contacts, but if they coming in too close, I will shoot them out of the air/water.
13:00 - 13:45 Zulu Time.
Some surface vessels are now visible on radar. A SH-14D Lynx helicopter is airborne to investigate contacts. All at sudden an unknown flying object with a speed of 124nm/h. This can only be a helicopter. I marked the helicopter as hostile as well as the ship from where she took up. The decision was right. The helicopter was Russian and the ship as well; the Nepristupnyy [Neustrashimyy-class FFG]. Soon more Russian ships could be identified; the Revnostnyy [KRIVAK-II-class FFG] and within minutes a third Russian warship; the Admiral Chebanenko, a modified UDALOY-class DDG. Then the Russians managed to destroy the Dutch helicopter. Too bad, but the information was crucial! These ships are a major threat! I'm glad that I have 2 air-defence units under my command. Now I know the positions of the Russian forces. It is a race against time to reach VC, as well as a possible clash with dangerous Russian opponents before I reach the area.
Taitennek F802 Hr Ms Zeven Provincien [Photo: Koninklijke Marine]
13:45 – 14:45 Zulu Time.
A second helicopter is in the air to guard the Russian ships from a distance. Soon the HMS Rotterdam and the HMS Zeven Provincien will be under cover of the Norwegian Fjords. The HMS Witte de With will continue her voyage on the Norwegian Sea, the Norwegian PTM is now in open sea as well and will attack the Nepristupnyy. At 14:35 I fired Harpoon missiles at the Russian ships. The Revostnyy was hit by 1 missile, the other ships survived the attack. I managed to take out 3 helicopters. Suddenly a sonar contact appeared. An unknown submarine was detected at a distance of 15nm of the HMS Witte de With. I launched another helicopter to investigate the submarine. It could be an allied sub, but I cannot risk my ships. Meanwhile one of the Russian warships fired missiles at my Task force. I managed to take out the missiles before they could harm my ships.
A second attack with P-270 Moskit [NATO codename Sunburn], all heading to the HMS Rotterdam. Again, I managed to survive this attack as well. The HMS Witte de With now returns to the Task Force. Only 50nm to go….. The Norwegian PTM was not lucky; she was hit by 2 missiles and sunk on a distance of 21nm of the Nepristupnyy, she did not fire her weapons. Finally, at 18:30 Zulu Time, I crossed the imaginary line of success with the 3 vessels undamaged.
Norwegian Hauk-class PTM [Photo: Norwegian Navy]
Russian losses: 3 Helix A helicopters 1 Krivak II 1 Submarine [Tango class]
NATO losses: 1 Lynx SH-14D helicopter 1 PTM Hauk
A small, but exiting scenario! Thanks for sharing it with us.
This scenario is posted in the: SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB
Here's another excellent AAR. It is reprinted here with permission of the author:
Quote:
Taitennek SPOILER ALERT
After Action Report
Scenario: INCOMING MAIL Designer: David Steinmeyer Database: PlayersDB 6.4.9 [updated 27 July 2006] Reporter: Frans Koenz [aka Taitennek] Side: Soviet Union
BACKGROUND:
The Soviets have two weapons that can reach NATO convoys in the Atlantic: submarines and long-range aircraft. Long-range bombers on the Kola Peninsula can easily hunt the Atlantic. With Iceland in Soviet hands, however, they can attack at will and their range would be greatly increased.
A standard NATO convoy crossing the Atlantic would consist of 40-50 merchant ships. Eight to ten escorts, and if they are lucky, a helicopter carrier, will provide protection from submarine and air attack.
Here, a large NATO convoy has been detected by a Soviet Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite [RORSAT] and Tu-95 Bear Ds are sent out to pinpoint their position. Following close behind the Bears are two squadrons of Backfire bombers.
30 minutes after game start, I launched a Tu-95 Bear D to track the enemy convoy.
Suddenly a torpedo was in the water. The K-479, a SSGN [NATO-codename: Charlie II] was under attack. It is perhaps a bizarre manoeuvre, but I had to know what fired the weapon and rose to periscope depth. Immediately several air contacts appeared on my screen. Helicopters! After some time I lost contact with the 1st torpedo, but a second one was launched and another one. I crept to maximum depth and hoped that the enemy would lose contact. No way; sonar buoys splashed into the water. This game of cat and mouse went on for some time.
20:00:00 – 22:30:00 Zulu Time:
Meanwhile, carefully approaching, the Tu-95 Bear picked up 10 air contacts, and a surface contact appeared on the screen of the K-479. It was identified as the HMS Annapolis, a Canadian ASW-Frigate; so far, so good.
British destroyer HMS Birmingham [Photo: RN]
22:30:00 – 24:00:00 Zulu Time:
9 Tu-22m Backfire Bombers are ready on Keflavik airfield; each armed with 2 AS-4 “Kitchen” missiles. I launched the aircraft in groups of three.
The Tu-95 now is surveying the area and picking up new surface contacts. Later, the whole convoy is in sight; more than 40 ships, including the British VTOL-carrier HMS Invincible with escort.
What you call a “Fette Beute” [Movie “Das Boot”……….ping………ping…….]
Time for tactical choices:
I realise that our submarines are quite noisy and the enemy ASW-capabilities are rather advanced. This convoy is protected by 7 escorts, 1 VTOL carrier, 3 Atlantic Conveyor-class merchants and a navy supply ship [HMS Fort Grange].
I can only survive with fast movements [approach – attack – disappear] with the K-479. The 9 Backfires will be used for an attack on escorts only. If I succeed, the other submarines can take out the remaining ships before they reach their destination.
I have a nuclear option; 4 SS-N-9 missiles with nuclear warheads. The ROE [Rules Of Engagement] don’t mention the use of nuclear weapons, but, if the submarine survives, and all other assets are destroyed and there is still a convoy left, I will use these MD-weapons to ensure the destruction of the enemy convoy.
23:30:00 – 00:30:00 Zulu Time.
My forces now have exact positions of all individual units of the convoy. The 3 bomber groups are now 200nm south east of the convoy and flying to a position southwest of the convoy. The K-479 is approaching from the east and is now within firing distance for the SS-N-9 “Siren”-missiles. But I like to proceed approaching the convoy at creeping speed at maximum depth. The K-438 and K-488 are making best speed to the spot, but both submarines have to travel more than 200nm to reach the area.
HMS Invincible [Photo: unknown]
Meanwhile enemy ASW-operations are increasing, it seems that the enemy has picked up sonar contact, and I decided to go to periscope depth with the K-479 for a hit-and-run operation; 2 escorts cruising at close distance. Once I was on periscope depth I launched 4 missiles; 2 per ship. I managed to sink both vessels! 4 helicopters are circling around my submarine and suddenly a torpedo was launched. I survived the attack with a short sprint at maximum speed/depth and the launch of decoys, realising that this was only the second of many manoeuvres to avoid incoming torpedoes to come.
As the nuclear option is no option [yet], I now only have torpedoes left. That means I have to close in to the convoy [less than 5nm]. From time to time I have to increase distance to the convoy when British Sea Harriers chasing the Tu-95 Bear, or when SAM-missiles are being fired from the escorts.
00:30:00 – 02:00:00 Zulu Time.
At 00:50 I launched AS-4 Kitchen missiles at the HMS Invincible and the HMS Birmingham. Both ships were hit and sunk. 5 minutes later missiles hit the HMS Fort Grange, 3 Atlantic Conveyor-class merchants and 5 other escorts. The convoy is now protected by only 2 escorts. Meanwhile I lost the Tu-95; she was hit by SAM’s. All Backfires returned save to their base, except 1, she now must take over surveillance duties. When I checked reports of the Backfires, I noticed that 1 Backfire has a missile left. I already noticed that many helicopters landed on 1 ship. I fired the last AS-4 at that vessel and after it was hit it sunk. It was the HMCS Huron, a Canadian destroyer. Suddenly another torpedo was in the water; once again I survived an attack on the K-479.
Soviet Tu-22M Backfire with AS-4 "Kitchen" missiles
The K-479 now has fired all her weapons except the nuclear SS-9-N missiles. She is now on course outside the convoy. I now have to wait until the 2 other submarines have arrived at the scene. It takes 17 hours before I can launch aircraft.
At 04:00:00 I launched a Backfire to guard the convoy. The K-479 now is cruising west of the convoy at a distance that she can launch the nuclear missiles if necessary.
Sea King HAS-5 [Photo: RN]
Several hours later, on the 3rd of May 1991 00:00:00 Zulu Time
The Convoy is cruising north eastward without air protection, only [8] helicopters are circling in front of the convoy.
The Tu-95 Bear is circling above the convoy and 8 Backfires are underway. I managed to destroy 6 helicopters with cannon fire with, however, 2 survived. 7 more merchants were sunk after the attack with the Backfires. Now it is up to the submarines to inflict as much damage as possible. 22 merchants left, 5 are damaged.
The K-513 fired her first torpedo in this operation and sank a damaged merchant. Soon, she destroyed the second one. The K 438 and K 488 are now in position to fire torpedoes, as well. The K 479 is cruising at 80nm east of the convoy. The Tu-95 Bear is still circling above the convoy as a lonesome guard with enough fuel aboard for another 20 hours flight. Dinner is served.
One after the other merchant was hit by torpedoes.
Suddenly the K-438 disappeared from my screen. I have really no idea what happened; the only helicopter just landed on a container vessel. There are no other submarines nearby, all torpedoes she fired hit target. Very strange…. Could it be an overheated reactor? Perhaps it was the fact that I made the voyage to the convoy at maximum speed at 600m all the time? A secret weapon?
The 2 other submarines had fired all their torpedoes and were heading north. Only 3 ships are left, 1 of them is heavily damaged. At day 3, 20:15:00 Time. A Backfire fires 2 missiles and hit both ships. The mission was a success!!! Not a single ship survived the attacks.
Russian losses:
1 Tu-95 Bear 1 SNN Victor II
Thank you for sharing this scenario with us!
This scenario hosted at: SZO file archives - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB
The war in Europe is swinging into our favour. Many convoys have been decimated by Tu-22 naval bombers and submarines. NATO has switched tactics from large convoys to small ones.
INTEL:
A 4-ship, 2-escort mini-convoy has been sighted in the Atlantic 2 days ago. Lately convoys have used Liverpool, Portsmouth, or La Rochelle as disembarkation points. Expect strong ASW-patrols by fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. Sub threat is unknown.
ORDERS:
You are ordered to find and destroy the convoy before it reaches the safety of the protected UK coastal waters.
A RORSAT satellite will pass through your theatre of operation daily at 13:00.
In recognition of the spectacular successes achieved by your command against the convoys, you are awarded the Order of Putin.
[Putin Order]
Captain, we need to count on you one more time. We have received your contact report and know that you are short of torpedoes. Use them wisely and return to base after this mission.
VICTORY CONDITIONS:
Destroy 3 of the merchants; Protect 2 of your submarines; Scenario duration: 44 hours. ++++
Game date: 02 April 2004. Game time: 12:00:00 Zulu time.
Akula-class Submarine underway [Photo: USN]
I’m in command of 3 submarines, 2 nuclear submarines [the K-157 and K-263, both Akula-class subs], and the B-401, a conventional powered Kilo-class submarine. Soon all three submarines picked up the first sonar contacts. At 13:00 the RORSAT flew over the area and all surface contacts and some air contacts became visible; including the enemy convoy. 4 merchants and 2 escorts, both Underwood-class Frigates of the US Navy, cruising at a distance of 340nm west of the English Channel.
Time to the hunt for the convoy.
Underwood-class frigate [Photo: USN]
My tactic:
I will move my nuclear submarines towards the French harbour La Rochelle.
Together they have enough torpedoes to engage the enemy convoy. The B-401 Novosibirsk will continue with her patrol in the Irish Sea and guard the entrance to Liverpool. She is fully armed and capable to attack the convoy on her own. Too bad that I have no long-distance reconnaissance aircraft to patrol on the Atlantic. I now have to rely on the sonar equipment aboard the submarines. The next fly-over of the RORSAT is scheduled for the next day at 13:00 hrs. Till that time I have to survive with my submarines. I cannot risk the loss of a single unit.
Several hours later [19:50:00].
Sonar buoys are splashing in the water around the B-401 Novosibirsk [SSK Kilo]. A rather critical situation because the submarine has no space to manoeuvre vertically. With minimum speed at maximum depth [100 meters], the B-401 slowly moves away from the sonar buoys. After 1 hour, the sonar buoys disappeared. A quick rise to periscope depth learned that a Lynx helicopter was circling at a distance of 5nm. Back at the more comfortable depth. In the meantime a new day has come. There are still aircraft nearby the B-401, but it is now 4 hours ago that the last sonar buoy was dropped.
Lynx helicopter of the RN [Photo: unknown]
03 April 2004, 03:10:00 Zulu Time.
Sonar buoys were dropped again nearby the B-401. The enemy was still searching for the submarine. Amazing that this submarine still is not attacked and destroyed. The enemy ASW-capability is superior and the submarine is still in shallow waters at a depth of 90 meters.
Still ten hours to go before the RORSAT flies over.
The 2 other submarines are now cruising southwest into the Biscayan Gulf; distance: 200nm from La Rochelle. Only 3 fishing vessels are visible on the screen. 15 minutes later, another aircraft was spotted by the passive sonar of the B-401.
I will recommend promotion for the captain of the B-401 if he survives this operation. Perhaps he will be honoured with the Putin-Order as well… His submarine is now 90nm away from the entrance to the Irish Sea.
03 April 2004, 10:00:00 Zulu Time.
The B-401 is now in shallow waters of the Celtic Sea and creeping towards the Irish Sea. From time to time her passive sonar picked up air contacts, but she is still not detected. I am a bit concerned about an unknown surface contact at a distance of 16nm. Meanwhile the 2 other submarines have reach the coastal waters of the French Harbour La Rochelle and now ready to ambush the convoy if it is heading to La Rochelle. 3 hours left until the RORSAT will show the position of the convoy, as well as the surface vessels in the Celtic Sea.
SSK Kilo-class submarine [Photo:unknown]
03 April 2004, 13:10:00 Zulu Time.
The RORSAT has passed the theatre and provided all the information I need. The exact position of the convoy, as well as other surface, and airborne contacts. My concerns about the unknown surface contact near the B-401 were right; a frigate of the Royal Navy [FFG Duke, Type 23] at a distance of only 12nm.
Now the B-401 is not longer necessary for the operation; she must leave the Celtic Sea and return to base. It seems that she has to fight her way out to the safe depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
The K-157 Vepr and the K-263 Delfin are in position to intercept the convoy and her escorts. The convoy [position: 45:14N –06:03E] is heading westward and 220nm away from La Rochelle. Now it is only a matter of a few hours.
Type 23 Duke class frigate [Photo: RN]
03 April 2004, 14:13:00 Zulu Time.
A very short visit to periscope depth. The enemy frigate has made a sprint and is now on a distance of less than 4nm. The frigate is on an interception course with the B-401. Immediately I fired 2 torpedoes [53-63 K/KE WH].
[quote]The first 2 torpedoes didn’t hit, so I fired a second salvo. Bingo! The torpedoes hit the frigate. Now she is sinking. In this environment, a Kilo-class submarine is in its element. After destroying this dangerous opponent, I plotted a course to the Atlantic.
Both nuclear submarines have 4 torpedoes ready and 2 more in their magazines. 12 torpedoes for 6 ships. I have to deal with 2 deadly opponents; The American Underwood-class FFG is perfectly fit for ASW-operations.
03 April 2004, 17:00:00 Zulu Time.
Time for the end run; The K-263 is now intercepting one of the frigates. The K-157 is creeping at maximum depth and waits for her turn. The convoy is less than 20nm away from my Akulas. 2 airborne contacts have been detected, probably ASW-helicopters based on the frigates. 1 Torpedo is now in the water; the K-157 is under attack. After an emergency dive to maximum depth with a speed of 35kts and the use of decoys, I managed to survive the torpedo-attack. Soon the 2 frigates were destroyed by the K-263. She took out one merchant as well. Without relevant weapons left, she leaves the area. Now it’s up to the K-157…
Soon she fired torpedoes at the three remaining ships and managed to sink them all. Mission accomplished. Another glorious victory for the Soviet Navy!
Losses: for NATO:
1 Duke Type 23 FFG 2 Underwood class FFG 2 Container Ships 1 Merchant, General cargo 1 Cruise liner
Here's an excellent After Action Report by Peter Frank. It is re-printed here with permission from the author.
Quote:
AAR: MatchPlay [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon3 scenario for the PlayersDB By Freek Schepers
Quote:
Terrorist attacks on the Belgium Royal family have left the Dutch Crown Prince next in line to the throne of Belgium. Popular mourning and an uprising has quickly resulted into civil war between the French-speaking Walloons in southern Belgium and the Dutch-speaking Flemish in northern Belgium.
Holland has quickly moved ground forces into Belgium to assert its claim to the throne, while France has tried unsuccessfully to mobilise the UN. But as the Israelis showed in 1967, the UN cannot operate at the pace of modern warfare...
In the most natural way I'm playing with my own country: The Netherlands. In the mission orders I found an interesting remark about the superior AAM's (Air to Air Missiles) and the superior AEW. After a few minutes of hard thinking I found the solution and it worked quite well in the game.
Started off with sending 2 Apaches airborne from Gilze-Rijen bound for the French Demolition team in The Hague. At the same time two pairs of F16 equiped with AMRAAM airborne from Leeuwarden, along the coast to the South.
The first pair went feet dry approximately 20nm north of Dover at an altitude of 100m, trying to find a juicy target (keeping well clear of any groun units/bases). Off course assuming that the air defence belt of the French will be up north. They found the wanted E3F just south of Reims. Approaching it on afterburner and one AMRAAM shot left me discovered in the middle of some frenchies. I think it was a nice trade. Two F16 for 1 E3F and a mirage 2000.
The second pair stumbled (!) across two E2C's going on station. After this engagement, one of the two was killed by a hidden SAM site.
The Apaches in the north worked like honey on the French AD fighters. The ZPRV (HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën) and the HMSK (HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck (my old ship)) was at the westerschelde. Keeping weapons tight and waiting to kill the "superior" AAMs with their SAMs. Almost the same happened with the patrolling F16s in the East and the Patriot site.
Meanwhile the good old navy at the North Sea was working like a horse. The two walrus SSKs in the channel were passing targeting info the the southerly naval TG. Identified the targets with a lynx hovering over the south coast of England, just south of the NAV zone. Two pair of AMRAAM equipped F16s kept the area clear of any French helo/MPA or Super Etandard. The Southerly TG fired their harpoons in salvoes of two per ship at the French ASW screen. Those units are not very capable of AD. Then the wolfpack with the two SSKs. The northerly crept in front of the force and firing at fours DDG's with its Mk48 ADCAPs. Oops, counterfire by one of the DDGs with a rocket propelled Torpedo? It plunged in the water behind me and started a search turn. The walz began. It turned towards me and I turned after it. The Torp with 30 knots left me in the inside circle with 12. It worked, and every time the TG passed me in the front I could fire two Mk48s. Killing the whole carrier battle group in just an half hour!
After these (winning) opening moves an almost boring, compared to the first hour, air (dutch) to ground (french) battle began. I searched for an airfield for Very Large Aircraft (remember the E3Fs). Found it, and killed just the aircraft revetment with a twoship F16 armed with 8 AGM65s. This, afterwards, golden move killed three (!) E3Fs. Probably no more left in the french airforce.
As in every battle: Take the initiative, but be wise. In this scenario, a dutch frontal assault with "dutch courage" will leave you immediately empty handed. Go for the golden points! Be smart and you will find this a challenging scenario.
AAR: Baltic Tide [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon 3 scenario By Dave Steinmeyer
Quote:
World War III has been raging across the globe for three days already. Casualties have been high on both sides. Where the Soviets expected to make rapid gains on land, they have not. And where NATO expected to quickly gain control of the skies above Europe, the Pact has made more than a fight of it.
At sea, there are only the quick and the dead. What were supposed to be set piece battles turned into bloodbaths with the winner being whoever fired first. While no American carriers have been sunk, yet, three have been heavily damaged in the GIUK Gap alone. One of the few things going as planned is NATO's campaign against Soviet subs in the Atlantic and North Sea. With the combination of first-class sonar, excellent signals processing, and land and ship based aircraft, NATO has been able to smother almost any sub contact they run across.
Reinforcements are being rushed into the meat grinder that is the North Atlantic. Here, at least, NATO has the advantage of unrestricted access to the sea. Any Pact units in transit to the Atlantic must pass through restricted (and often NATO-controlled) seaways.
Baltic Breakout - every NATO commander's nightmare - was about to come true. I immediately turned on the SAM radar of my I-HAWK batteries in order to have some semblance of an air picture as I would not have any AEW support from the E-3 Sentries. The picture did not look good. The Mk43 Sea King from Rygge combined with the Danish Hercules MPA [Maritime Patrol Aircraft] would be more than adequate for the surface surveillance role. However, I was severely lacking in air search assets.
Combat Air Patrols [CAPs} were formed over Lubeck Bay and Kobenhavn. The Swedes were out in force. I sincerely hoped that they would defend their neutrality vigorously so that I would have a secure northern flank. Very soon afterward, ground radar reported Floggers and helos rising from East German bases so the Falcons were ordered to intercept. Floggers and Fishbeds were easily shot down. However, encounters with Fulcrums were murderous.
When ordered to intercept a Fulcrum, the Falcons were easily outclassed by the superior range of the Alamo missile. The best that the Falcon pilots could hope for was to light their afterburners and try close and mob the Fulcrums before they themselves were destroyed. The Fulcrums were absolutely lethal. The situation was reminiscent of World War Two encounters with German Tiger Tanks. When Tigers were reported, four Shermans were dispatched and three were not expected to return. While not as drastic, the Fulcrums were usually able to match the Falcons kill-for-kill.
In one epic encounter, a MiG-29 pilot managed to dodge all 9 AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles fired at him. The pilots dubbed him "Boris the Bullet Dodger". Only the fact that he was outnumbered 5:1 was he finally destroyed in Air Combat Manoeuvring [ACM], but not before he had destroyed two of his tormentors and a Hercules MPA that had wandered too closely to his Alamo engagement envelope.
A sub was detected south of Oslo and a major hunt involving missile boats, Danish helos, and diesel submarines ensued.
The extremely short range of the helos made the effort very challenging, but resulted in a successful prosecution when a Mk 46 torpedo was dropped by a Danish Lynx helo.
Not all engagements were successful. Denmark was shocked to find supersonic bombers streaking towards them. They had skirted around Swedish territory and smote Kobenhavn while air defence command watched helplessly; their assets having been drawn away over the German Democratic Republic.
Slowly, but certainly, aerial supremacy was won over the eastern Baltic. Once achieved, CAPs were placed over the Gulf of Gdansk where there was a target rich environment.
Soviet air transports were easily detected and shot down over the Gulf. Their strict adherence to "The Plan" had doomed them once Soviet aerial superiority over the GDR had been lost. Now that control of the air was no longer in dispute, two amphibious groups departing from the ports of Donskoye and Gdynia were severely mauled.
Danish ASuW forces managed to sneak in an attack with Lynx armed with Sea Skua. They stole in at sea level and rose only high enough to unleash their AShMs [Anti-Shipping Missiles]. A surprised flotilla of Shershen missile boats was barely able to sound the alarm before dying in tremendous explosions. A flock of Parchim FFLs and a Koni frigate soon joined their cousins at the bottom of the Baltic.
As ground crews feverishly re-fueled and re-armed the strike aircraft, the Soviet SAG [Surface Action Group] appeared off Bornholm Island. In what would soon be known as the Battle of Bornholm, long-ranged Harpoon missiles from FFG Simpson, FF Nils Juel, and FF Koln quickly stripped away the SAG's air defences and left a Kara- and a Kerch-class cruiser burning and dead in the water.
This allowed the aerial strikers to close and kill the rest of the escorts with German Kormoran AShMs and Penguin AShMs. The auxiliaries were then sunk by traditional naval gunfire and victory was awarded.
MATCHPLAY #4 for Harpoon ANW 3.7.0 Scenario designed by Freek Schepers Reporter: Taitennek.
Side: Netherlands.
I have only limited aircraft under my command. 86 fighter/attack, 12 of them are armed with AMRAAM. My orders are to establish local air-superiority over NL and central UK, destroy Luton EW System, 10 ground targets, 100 aircraft, and sink 2 ships. I must prevent more than 15 NL facilities from being hit.
First I plotted course for my frigates and submarines. Stanfornz and TF38 will group together west of Den Helder [not on map], The HMS Dolfijn, cruising in the English Channel, will try to destroy English warships in their homeport Portsmouth, the HMS Bruinvis will do the same off coast central UK. The two other frigates will patrol west of The Hague.
+++++
Date : 29 september 2004. Time : 04:00:00 Zulu Time.
2 F-16 are ready in 5 minutes, as well as a P-3 Orion. Soon, Radar picked up airborne contacts from the British Island, as well as many ship movements in the Channel and on the North Sea. After 15 minutes I launched 6 more F-16. The KC-10 Extender is in position for aerial refuelling of fighters heading southwards.
My biggest handicap is that only few AMRAAM-missiles are available. I must engage the enemy in the first stage of this battle with Sidewinders only.
I directed immediately 2 F-16 to fly south with maximum speed for refuel and managed to reach the UK. The hunt for the AEW-aircraft began. The Luton AEW system was destroyed by canon fire, as well as 4 Sentry-AEW units with Sidewinders. The English are now more or less blind……If I survive the first 2-3 hours, I give myself a good chance to learn the Brits a lesson they not will forget.
HMS Zeven Provincien [Photo: Koninklijke Marine]
05:00:00 Zulu Time.
I have to deal with 2 problems: first of all the lack of medium range air-to-air missiles [AMRAAM], the limited ammo available on my ships [Group North], and the number of F-16’s left that can carry out defensive/offensive operations. The second problem is the number of SAM’s fired during the first stage of this battle; The Patriot Batteries at the Dutch coast are about out of ammo. I only can rely on short range AAA-facilities and only few F-16 left for self defence of NL-ground facilities. I have, however, over 30 F-16 available for offensive ground-attack actions against the UK. The loss of UK AEW capability after the successful action of only 2 F-16 fighters, armed with Sidewinder missiles [!!!!!!!] against the Luton Battle Management System [destroyed by cannon fire] and airborne AEW units, and the absence of defence systems in the southern part of UK between Portsmouth-NB and Wattingham-AB, gives me the possibility to carry out a deep strike mission on English bases.
I realise that I can’t attack the bases in the Northern part of the UK without tanker capability [only 1 tanker, positioned in the south to provide refuel-capability for an attack from there, due to my decision to fly in at low attitude at high speed from the south], so I focus for an attack on the British bases in the central and southern part of the UK.
I Launched 12 aircraft [load out: MK82, MK84 bombs and AGM-65 Maverick], escorted with 6 F-16 armed with AMRAAM. Targets: Wattingham, Wittering, Cottismore, Marham, Cottishall, and Waddington airbase. A second wave is planned 45 minutes later.
British Tornado F.3 [Photo: RAF]
05:30:00 Zulu Time:
All aircraft are on their way to their targets. Again, British fighters are inflicting loss to my aircraft, but the bombers were able to attack the airfields. Wittering, Cottismore, Marham, Cottishall and Wattingham were destroyed completely and 2 other bases were severely damaged. Meanwhile British aircraft attacked the naval Taskforce near Den Helder. They managed to sink 1 frigate and damaged two other ships. I managed to take out 1 British frigate with bombs.
06:45:00 Zulu Time:
Both nations were hit hard by each other. I have only few aircraft [6] left, destroyed almost 280 enemy aircraft and 28 ground facilities, but I am not able to go on. The Taskforce near Den Helder could attack the British ships east of England, but it cannot defend herself against incoming anti-ship missiles. It would be suicide to go on with only two ships and one submarine left [the ships are cruising west of The Hague and the remaining submarine is positioned east of UK].
I could not reach VC, I only managed to sink one ship instead of two.
Results:
English Losses: 276 planes and helicopters 1 ship 28 facilities
Scenario : Atlantic Convoys Designer : Freek Schepers Side : NATO Reporter: : Taitennek
Introduction.
This scenario takes several days to cover. So, I have decided to report by day.
I am in command of two large convoys [30+8 and 16+7], an Amphibious Group [12], a CVBG [7], 5 nuclear attack submarines [including the brand new SSN 21 USS Seawolf], as well as more than 200 aircraft and helicopters [some of the units are in maintenance or need longer readiness times before they can come in action].
My orders are to transit the convoys and the Amphibious Group through the Atlantic to Portsmouth in the UK. The aircraft carrier must survive in a position to cover future convoys. No losses of LHA, LHD, LSD and LST are allowed.
For a comprehensive version of the orders, please click here.
DAY 1
November 26th, 2003. 00:06:00 Zulu Time.
Immediately after game start, 6 submerged contacts appeared on the screen. All contacts are more ore less within firing range of the 5 submarines under my command. I am not authorized to attack, but all units will defend themselves when fired upon [no sitting duck policy]. 1 submerged contact was discovered east of convoy #1.
2 F-14 Tomcats are already airborne, supported by a E-2C Hawkeye II. I ordered them to set course north of convoy #1 and #2.
2 F/A.2 Sea Harriers of the Royal Navy are in the air [supported by a SH-3D Sea King AEW.2 helicopter] within minutes, as well 2 USMC AV-8 Harrier II.
E-2C Hawkeye [Photo: US Navy]
00:30:00 Zulu Time.
I am now authorized to attack the submarines. Meanwhile the USS Philadelphia [SSN 690] cruised at top speed to stay away of the fast approaching torpedo. The submarine which fired the torpedo is destroyed, as well as the sub that fired a torpedo at the USS Norfolk. Both submarines were killed before I was authorized to attack, but I am responsible for the safety of the crew and The US navy may own the boat, But I am the captain!!! I bet the Admiralty will put me in command of a rusty decommissioned WW II diesel for this, if I survive the mission.
Within the hour I managed to destroy 5 enemy submarines and survived their torpedo-attacks. What really concerns me are the 2 submarines east of convoy #1.
2 ASW-helicopters are trying to locate them before they are in range for an attack.
01:00:00 Zulu Time.
6 Russian Backfires are approaching convoy #2. 4 Harriers are available and on interception course. Soon they could launch their AMRAAM missiles and managed to destroy the enemy bombers and all 4 aircraft returned to the HMS Illustrious. Meanwhile a third submarine was detected east of convoy #1 and the USS Seawolf [SSN 21] made her second victim after the enemy submarine was hit by a MK48 ADCAP torpedo.
4 enemy submarines are visible on the screen; a fast moving submarine close to the USS Augusta [SSN 710]. The USS Hyman G. Rickover has been ordered to assist the USS Augusta for the hunt for that submarine. It seems that there is a complete Wolf Pack operating east of convoy #1; a 4th submarine has been discovered.
02:30:00 Zulu Time.
I just received a strange message that from now on I only am authorized to kill submarines only…..What the heck???? Is there a war going on or not? From time to time 1 or more of the submerged contacts disappeared, but an earlier sub contact showed up again, I think it is the same submarine the USS Augusta was hunting for. The USS Hyman G. Rickover is in the neighbourhood as well, cruising south of the contact. Perhaps she is able to intercept the submarine. The enemy sub is still cruising at high speed [35kts] southwards.
03:00:00 Zulu Time
All 6 helicopters available for convoy #1 are in the air to track down the submarines. 4 Tomcats are cruising north of the convoy, supported by 1 E-2C Hawkeye. 1 Tomcat is escorting the AEW unit. The CVBG is heading north, but still is 500+ nm away. The 2 other surface groups do not report incoming threats and are heading to the English Channel on schedule. No losses for NATO reported so far. Registered Russian losses are 5 submarines and 7 Backfire bombers.
The Hawkeye Radar is detecting several airborne contacts north of convoy #1. My personal opinion is that Russia is about carrying out an operation to attack convoy #1 with combined forces. Escorts of convoy #1 are actively involved in the hunt for the enemy subs and heading towards the contacts. Suddenly a torpedo was detected! Later the contact disappeared, but I now know that one of enemy submarine is within firing range Meanwhile, the exact course and location of 2 enemy air contacts were available and soon 1 of the Tomcats destroyed both aircraft with AIM-54 Phoenix missiles. The bombers have arrived! 10 other air contacts are now identified as Backfire bombers, underway in two groups to convoy#1. I immediately ordered all Tomcats to intercept the bombers [first thing I did with game start was to re-arm the Tomcats with 4 and 6 AIM-54 Phoenix each].
In a 20 minute air-to-air confrontation, my fighters managed to destroy at least 20 Backfire bombers with AIM-Phoenix-Sparrow-Sidewinder missiles, and a helicopter took out a submarine with 2 torpedoes. She was later identified as the Volgograd. Convoy #1 managed to survive the first attack and is still intact. There are, however, 3 enemy submarines laying in ambush and convoy #1 still had to travel 1,300 nm to safe waters of the English Channel.
The situation hasn’t changed so far. All involved aircraft in the past event are returning to the USS Theodore Roosevelt. They have been replaced by 2 Tomcats. 2 E-2C Hawkeye’s are non-stop in the air for EAW-duties. Meanwhile, the USS Augusta [SSN 710] reported that she lost contact with the submarine in her area.
Suddenly 1 of the submarines was detected at periscope depth and launched 10 P-120 Malakhit [SS-N-9 Siren]. The USS De Wert [FFG 45] managed to intercept all incoming missiles. One of the nearby helicopters immediately launched to MK50 Barracuda torpedoes. Both torpedoes hit target and destroyed the submarine. Minutes later, incoming missiles were reported by the USS Roosevelt [DDG 80]. As soon the missiles came within firing range, the USS Roosevelt launched her Standard Missiles. [SM2MR III]. The incoming missiles, later identified as SS-N-19 Shipwrecks, didn’t came through the barrier. None of the Shipwrecks reached convoy #1. The DDG 80 has used all onboard SMMR. I will use her for ASW-duties now. These Shipwrecks came from an undetected OSCAR-class submarine southeast of convoy #1. I must locate and destroy this submarine. She may have fired all her Shipwrecks, her magazines still contain the deadly torpedoes. A new sub contact has been detected by the HMS Argyll [F 231], one of the escorts of convoy #2. I Immediately set up a search & destroy operation with 3 helicopters.
06:00:00 Zulu Time.
FFG 50 Taylor has located a enemy submarine, classified as Goblin-504, cruising west of convoy #1 at a distance of 15 nm. The submarine later was identified as the K-157 Vepr. 1 of the helicopters launched a MK50 Barracuda and destroyed the submarine. I lost contact with the enemy submarine west of convoy #2.
07:00:00 Zulu Time.
At the moment there are no enemy units visible. But I know that 1 submarine is active near convoy #2. Another submarine is moving with high speed southward. An last but not least, the OSCAR-class submarine who fired the Shipwrecks at convoy #1. Intelligence reports Tu-22 over the Norwegian Sea, so I expect another attack on one of the surface groups. The Helicopters of convoy #2 managed to locate the submarine and destroyed her with torpedoes.
09:30:00 Zulu Time.
An Airborne contact close to 2 Sea Harriers from convoy #2. Immediately it was killed by AMRAAM missiles. Some minutes later, more contacts appeared on my screen. Tomcats are underway to investigate the contacts. Minutes later the contacts were gone. Some time later, a Tomcat destroyed a Cub C.
11:20:00 Zulu Time.
A submarine has been detected southeast of convoy #1. 2 helicopters are underway to find and destroy the contact. Later I lost contact New airborne contacts appeared on my screen. It seems that this time the Amphibious group is target of the coming attack. 4 AV-8 Harriers are in the air and I decided to launch 4 more. This time the Backfires were escorted by Su-27 Flankers!. I managed to kill 1 Backfire and 1 Flanker, but I lost 3 USMC-Harriers. 6 Contacts are visible. 5 Harriers are in the air. The CVBG is too far away to assist with fighters. Kh-22 Kitchen missiles were launched. The USS Philippine Sea [CG 58] turned on her radars and directly started launching her SM’s. 2 more Backfires were destroyed by the Harriers, but the third Backfire launched her missiles. 2 more Harriers were shot down by Russian Flankers. The Amphibious Group survived the attack.
AV-8B Harrier II [Photo: US Navy]
12:00:00 – 24:00:00 Zulu Time.
A new submerged contact [later identified as K-442 Cheljablinsk[OSCAR-II] was detected south of convoy #1. Three helicopters are on the spot and try to locate her. The submarine disappeared several times from my screen. Finally, after a long search [it took hours], helicopters managed to destroy the K-442 with torpedoes. Meanwhile a large group Backfires approached convoy #2. 2 Sea Harriers were already airborne, but I launched 2 more and ordered 2 Tomcats to fly to the area for assistance. After some minutes the Tomcats could take out the first bombers with their AIM-54c Phoenix, soon the Sea Harriers followed with their AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles. All Bombers [12] were shot down before they could launch their missiles.
At 17:30:00 4 air contacts were spotted, cruising northeast of convoy #2. Again, I ordered 2 Sea Harriers and 1 Tomcat to intercept incoming aircraft. 2 pair Su-27 Flanker fighters engaged my aircraft and managed to shoot down the Tomcat, 2 Flankers were destroyed, the other two disappeared from my screen. The following hours nothing serious happened. From time to time some faint airborne contacts were spotted, but I couldn’t intercept the aircraft.
22:37:00… A new sub contact appeared on my screen. Cruising at a distance of 25nm east of convoy #2. As usual, I ordered 2 helicopters to investigate the new contact. Sometimes contact was lost.
The situation after 24 hours:
The escorts and aircraft have performed very well! Not a single ship was hit by a weapon. Russia launched several air strikes on both convoys and Amphibious Group. Lot of the Russian submarines were detected before they could launch torpedoes. There were no attacks at the CVBG.
NATO losses so far:
Aircraft: 5 AV-8B Harrier II [USMC] 1 F-14 Tomcat
Russian losses so far:
Submarines: 4 Akula I 1 Akula II 3 Victor III [imp] 3 Charlie II 1 Oscar II
Aircraft: 44 Tu-22 Backfire C 1 Tu-16 Badger J 1 Tu-95 Bear J 1 An-12 Cub C 4 Su-27 Flanker D
Scenario : Atlantic Convoys Designer : Freek Schepers Side : NATO Reporter: : Taitennek
Introduction.
This scenario takes several days to cover. So, I have decided to report by day.
I am in command of two large convoys [30+8 and 16+7], an Amphibious Group [12], a CVBG [7], 5 nuclear attack submarines [including the brand new SSN 21 USS Seawolf], as well as more than 200 aircraft and helicopters [some of the units are in maintenance or need longer readiness times before they can come in action]. My orders are to transit the convoys and the Amphibious Group through the Atlantic to Portsmouth in the UK. The aircraft carrier must survive in a position to cover future convoys. No losses of LHA, LHD, LSD and LST are allowed.
For a comprehensive version of the orders, please click here .
DAY 2
November 27th, 2003. 00:00:00 -06:00:00 Zulu Time.
First a report of the current situation:
As I reported on Day 1 of this operation, NATO performed very well. None of the surface vessels were sunken and no units damaged. NATO losses were minimum; 6 aircraft. The losses on Russian side, however, were much heavier; 12 submarines and 51 aircraft.
The CVBG is cruising north in coastal waters of the Azores. The USS Norfolk [SSN 714] and USS Philadelphia cruising west of the entrance to the English Channel.
The USS Hyman G. Rickover [SSN 609] guards convoy #1, the USS Augusta [SSN 710] is underway to convoy #2, and the USS Seawolf [SSN 21] moves south to escort the CVBG. The convoys and Amphibious Group are behind schedule, but I will try to gain on the original schedule.
An unknown sub contact has been detected east of convoy #2; helicopters are in the air to intercept and destroy this submerged threat. Now it has gone again. It takes a lot of your nerves to be the captain of a ship within the convoy. You see the helicopters taking off after a submerged contact has been detected. The enemy is there, perhaps even within firing range. It might be your ship or the floating super bomb [LNG-tanker] 3nm away from you. Convoy #2 is now under attack! The just discovered enemy submarine is launching torpedoes. Soon more torpedoes cleaved the water, fired by the unallocated submarine. The helicopters finally managed to destroy the submarine, but, some of USET-80 and 65-76WH torpedoes hit their targets. 15 minutes later it is all over, the merchants turned back to their position in the convoy and move on. Leaving 4 burning sinking ships behind; 3 supertankers and 1 bulk carrier. Another supertanker has been damaged [55%].
The Hawkeye, now southeast of the CVBG picked up surface contacts south of the Iberian Peninsula. Two Tomcats, just took off the USS Theodore Roosevelt, have been ordered in that direction to investigate these contacts. However, if it is a Russian SAG, I have to wait 45 hours before I can launch aircraft to engage the surface contacts; almost all planes are in maintenance at the moment. I will continue shadow these contacts and try to find out what is there.
It is 03:45:00 and torpedoes have been detected near convoy #1. The FFG 49 USS Robert G. Bradley, a frigate of the Underwood class was hit first, and sunk almost immediately. Helicopters are searching for the submarine. Her attack came as a complete surprise. The enemy submarine fired 9 torpedoes and later even more. The structure of convoy #1 is a mess; merchants are fleeing away from the spot, away from the USET-80 and 65-76WH torpedoes. 13 Russian deadly fishes are underway to meet their partner for a last explosive waltz…….
Russian Sierra II - class submarine [Photo: unknown Author]
The Russian submarine’s attack was very successful! I personally doubt if it was just 1 submarine, it fired in a very short time more than 13 torpedoes, but 17 ships were destroyed. I could have missed some torpedoes in the heath of this monstrous attack. The Russian submarine is still launching torpedoes. Another merchant hit. The helicopters can’t track this monster. Later she even disappeared from my screen. And, again, there she was, in the centre of convoy #1!!! At 05:20:00 the attack was over. The USS Stump [DD 987] managed to take the submarine out with a torpedo. Now it is time to make up the balance. The submarine was later identified as a Sierra-II class submarine. She killed 17 merchants and 1 escort! Only 20 ships left, including 7 escorts.
1 thing is for sure. I cannot match Victory conditions anymore. Convoy #1 suffered a loss of 17 merchants and 1 escort. Only 10% of each convoy may be destroyed. But I will go on and make best of it.
One of the victims, a bulkcarrier [Photo: unknown author]
06:00:00 – 12:00:00 Zulu Time.
Intelligence reports that Tu-22 have been spotted over Narvik [Norway]. I launched 4 Tomcats to let them cover the northeast flank. The Amphibious Group must reach its destination intact. I ordered SSN 21 and SSN 690 to set course to coastal waters of southeast Portugal. SSN 710 is 260nm east of convoy #2. SSN 709 is patrolling southeast of convoy #1, SSN 714 is patrolling northwest of the entrance to the English Channel.
The CVBG is underway to her next turning point; 100nm south between convoy #1 and #2. The new position of the CVBG will make it possible to provide more frequent air support. But the Group is then also capable to intercept the SAG, now cruising south of Portugal in a northern direction.
Soon 4 air contacts appeared north of the Amphibious Group. Tomcats making best speed to intercept the aircraft, but for now, I only can rely on 2 AV-8B Harriers, each armed with 4 AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The rest of the Air Wing has been destroyed some hours ago in dogfights with Su-27 Flankers. The USMC Harriers effectively took out the Backfire bombers with their missiles and now returning to their home base. Tomcats have arrived to take over CAP for the Amphibious Group. Meanwhile A Russian RORSAT came over.
12:00:00 – 24:00:00 Zulu Time.
At 12:38:00 another submerged contact was detected north of the Amphibious Group. I immediately launched 3 helicopters to intercept the contact. For assistance I also ordered the USS Spruance to take part of the search. From time to time I lost contact with the submarine. The USS Norfolk [SSN 714] is cruising north of the AG. The AG still has to travel 250nm before she will reach the English Channel. Some hours later, the USS Philippine Sea reported a [new] submerged contact, west of the Amphibious Group, but soon it was gone. This happened a few times and no doubt about it that this game of mouse and cat will go on as long the Russians have submarines left to put in combat. Finally, at 20:51:00, the Russian submarine was located and soon destroyed by torpedoes.
F-14 Tomcat [Photo: US Airforce]
The Russian SAG is moving north with high speed. I lost 2 Tomcats. They were destroyed by SAM after I closed in for identification. The 2 submarines are less than 200nm away from this Russian surface group.
Russian losses today:
Aircraft: 5 Tu-22 Backfire C 2 Su-27 Flanker D 2 Ka-27 Helix AEW
Scenario : Atlantic Convoys Designer : Freek Schepers Side : NATO Reporter: : Taitennek
Introduction.
This scenario takes several days to cover. So, I have decided to report by day.
I am in command of two large convoys [30+8 and 16+7], an Amphibious Group [12], a CVBG [7], 5 nuclear attack submarines [including the brand new SSN 21 USS Seawolf], as well as more than 200 aircraft and helicopters [some of the units are in maintenance or need longer readiness times before they can come in action]. My orders are to transit the convoys and the Amphibious Group through the Atlantic to Portsmouth in the UK. The aircraft carrier must survive in a position to cover future convoys. No losses of LHA, LHD, LSD and LST are allowed.
For a comprehensive version of the orders, please click here .
DAY 3
First a report of the current situation:
Day 2 turned into a disaster for NATO! Convoy #1 lost 18 merchants and 1 escort after being attacked by a single Russian Sierra II-class submarine. There were 2 Russian air strikes, but without success, Especially the British Sea Harriers performed very well; armed with the AMRAAM, this aircraft fits well in CAP/Defence situation for a convoy. The Russian SAG is moving northwards at high speed. Her last known position is west of Portugal. The SSN 21 and SSN 690 have arrived in that area after a 500nm journey at top speed. This SAG is still far away from the convoys, but it is important to neutralize it as a threat to NATO convoy #1 and #2. The SSN 710 is patrolling east of convoy #2, the SSN 709 east of convoy #1 and the SSN 714 has entered the English Channel. All three groups are behind schedule. Convoy #2 suffered 4 losses, convoy #1, 18. The Amphibious group is 120nm away from the entrance to the English Channel. A spotted submarine has been successfully intercepted by Seahawks of the AG.. The CVBG is cruising southwest of convoy #1. The CVBG must cover the south flank and engage the enemy SAG in case she breaks out to continental waters of Western Europe. Readiness times for 22 aircraft is 21:30 hours [the aircraft I need to attack surface targets].
Game on!!!
SSN 21 USS Seawolf [Photo: US Navy]
November 28th, 2003. 00:00:00 -06:00:00 Zulu Time.
There are only few enemy air contacts on my screen. But I am sure that it is the silence for the next Red storm. I was able to identify 2 ships of the Russian SAG. The aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, and the Admiral Nakhimov, a Kirov-class battle cruiser. I bet that the other ships are Udaloy and Sovremenny destroyers. If so, I have to deal with seriously dangerous opponents.
At 02:45:00 Harriers of the HMS Illustrious successfully intercepted an aircraft [later identified as a Tu-95 Bear J] north of convoy #2. Meantime, the Seawolf and Philadelphia are closing in. Both subs are able to fire missiles already, but I have decided to close in at torpedo launch range. The E-2C Hawkeye and the F-14 Tomcats in the air can track down and take out Russian helicopters.
04:05:00 Zulu Time.
Suddenly the sky was filled with incoming missiles. The CVBG is under attack. Seconds later a surfaced submarine was detected by one of the Hawkeye’s. This submarine, probably an OSCAR, just launched a full salvo [24 SS-N-19 Shipwrecks]. The USS Ramage [DDG 61] managed to intercept great deal of the incoming missiles and the USS Vella Gulf [CG 72] took care of the ones who slipped through the barrier of the USS Ramage. There were no hits and the CVBG is still intact. The USS Ramage is out of SAM’s now. I will take care of the submarine, but have no assets available at the moment. A SH-60 Ocean Hawk is returning to her base to refuel and then will go after her.
Meanwhile, the SSN 690 has now taking in position, 19nm north of the Russian SAG. Ready to launch the RGM-84D Harpoon IC missiles, back to safety depths, reload with ADCAPS and ready for the final approach to the Russian SAG. The SSN Seawolf will attack with Tomahawk missiles first, than Harpoon, and finally attack with ADCAPS as well. The Russian SAG survived the Missile attack. None of the missiles hit target.
05:00:00 Zulu Time.
There is no Russian SAG anymore…..The SSN 690 Philadelphia destroyed all surface contacts with torpedoes in a surprise attack. The enemy helicopters took off after the first torpedo was launched, but were destroyed by F-14 Tomcats [since the discovery of this SAG, 2 F-14’s were there to intercept enemy aircraft/helicopters as soon they take off]. None of the surface vessels did survive this deadly attack; The BCGN was hit by 3 torpedoes, the Kuznetsov 2. Other ships of this group each took 1 MK48-ADCAP torpedo. Enemy torpedoes, launched by Ka-27 Helix helicopters, are in the water, but the Philadelphia survived these attacks. Leaving the burning and sinking Admiral Kuznetsov and her escorts behind, the submarines travelled north again. Mission successfully accomplished. The Kuznetsov sank after 2 hours.
Meanwhile, a helicopter of the CVBG, detected and destroyed the Russian submarine, the one that attacked the CVBG with Shipwrecks. The submarine, an OSCAR II SSGN, did not had a chance. She was effectively taken out by the Ocean Hawk’s torpedoes.
As expected, a submarine showed up in the English Channel. Immediately 3 helicopters are on their way to engage the submarine. The enemy submarine is cruising 14nm northeast of the Amphibious Group in shallow waters [-80m]. Soon torpedoes were underway and hit the submerged contact [later identified as a Kilo-class submarine]. At 11.45.00 Zulu Time a RORSAT came over again. Now a jump to the evening of day #3.
19:15:00 Zulu Time.
The USS Seawolf has picked up a new submerged contact, now identified as GOBELIN-1045. Soon a second contact appeared, not far away from the first one, 350nm east of convoy #1. Minutes later, both contacts disappeared from my screen. Meanwhile, some air contacts were detected far north. 2 Tomcats are underway to intercept these aircraft. Suddenly, one of the submerged contacts showed up again, this time within firing range of the SSN 21. Immediately a torpedo was launched. The enemy submarine fired a torpedo as well. The enemy submarine [Akula II] survived the first torpedo. A second torpedo, however, hit the submarine. The Seawolf is now searching for the other submarine.
Day 3 is coming to an end.
The Amphibious Group has reached waters of Portsmouth intact. 5 AV-8B Harriers, however, were destroyed on the first day. The USS Norfolk [SSN 714] is patrolling at the entrance of the English Channel.
Convoy #2 must still travel 780nm. Convoy #2 1,500nm. The CVBG is intact as well. But escorts are running out of fuel.
Summary of this day’s losses:
Russia:
Surface vessels: 1 aircraft carrier [Admiral Kuznetsov] 1 BCGN [Admiral Nakhimof] 2 DDG Udaloy II 1 Sovremennyy I
Submarines: 1 Akula II 1 Oscar II 1 Kilo
Aircraft: 5 Ka-27 Helix A 24 Su-27 Flanker D [onboard the Admiral Kuznetsov] 1 An-12 Cub C 1 Tu-95 Bear J 6 IL-78M Midas
Scenario : Atlantic Convoys Designer : Freek Schepers Side : NATO Reporter: : Taitennek
Introduction.
This scenario takes several days to cover. So, I have decided to report by day.
I am in command of two large convoys [30+8 and 16+7], an Amphibious Group [12], a CVBG [7], 5 nuclear attack submarines [including the brand new SSN 21 USS Seawolf], as well as more than 200 aircraft and helicopters [some of the units are in maintenance or need longer readiness times before they can come in action]. My orders are to transit the convoys and the Amphibious Group through the Atlantic to Portsmouth in the UK. The aircraft carrier must survive in a position to cover future convoys. No losses of LHA, LHD, LSD and LST are allowed.
For a comprehensive version of the orders, please click here .
DAY 4
Losses on both sides are high so far. I doubt if Russia is able to stop the convoys anymore. NATO was able to destroy 17 submarines, a complete SAG [5 ships], and about 100 aircraft [49 Backfire bombers], but suffered heavy losses to their convoys as well. 21 merchants and 1 escort. 1 Merchant is damaged. The losses to aircraft are minimal so far; 7 aircraft. All submarines are still in action. The USS Philadelphia [SSN 690] is running out of torpedoes after her successful attack on the Russian SAG. She has 3 torpedoes left in her tubes.
Convoy #1: 750nm to Portsmouth, UK. Convoy #2: 1,500nm to Portsmouth, UK. Amphibious Group: 39nm to Portsmouth, UK. CVBG: 525nm east of Spain.
The USS Seawolf [SSN 21] is searching for the second enemy submarine in her patrol area. The USS Norfolk [SSN 714] is patrolling in shallow waters of the English Channel, north of Brest [not on map]. The USS Hyman G. Rickover [SSN 709] is patrolling 90nm east of convoy #1, the USS Augusta [SSN 710] 160nm east of convoy #2.
2 E-2 Hawkeye are patrolling north of the convoys, as well as 4 F-14 Tomcat fighters. The airborne helicopters are searching for enemy submerged contacts [Formation Editor].
Game on!!!
American S-2 Viking ASW aircraft
November 29th, 2003 00:00:01 - Zulu Time.
The day started with a pass-by of a Russian RORSat. There are no other contacts visible at the moment. More aircraft are available on the USS Theodore Roosevelt [CVN 71], The CVBG is now more or less fully operational [51 of 75 aircraft are now ready for combat air patrols]. There is, however, no Russian SAG left to attack. Immediately I ordered 2 S-3B Viking ASW-aircraft in the air to assist the Seawolf with her search for the enemy submerged contact.
Soon, 2 Tomcats picked up 2 airborne contacts far north. I ordered the aircraft to investigate and destroy the aircraft. Meanwhile, the USS Seawolf detected a faint submerged contact. I bet it is the same submarine which was detected first on Day #3. It is now identified as GOBELIN-1078. There are, btw, still Russian helicopters operating in the are where the Russian SAG has been destroyed. 2 Tomcats are underway to destroy the remaining of the SAG. It could mean that a second Russian surface group is approaching from the south. I launched 4 more aircraft, all F/A-18 Hornet, armed with Harpoon and HARM to cover the south flank. I also launched 1 EA-6B Prowler, equipped for EAW/ECM duties.
Contact with GOBELIN-1078 has been lost. I have to wait until the Vikings arrive in the area with their MK50 Barracuda torpedoes and excellent ASW-capabilities.
03:00:00 Zulu Time.
One of the Hawkeye’s picked up 2 surface contacts west of Portugal. Another SAG? I launched 4 F/A-18 Hornets, armed with HARM and Harpoon. Later I launched a second group Hornets. 2 Viking ASW aircraft have arrived at the scene where the submerged contact first was discovered by the USS Seawolf. At 07:30:00 I lost contact.
Meanwhile the Hornets started with the attack. First I fired HARM missiles. Both surface vessels took some hits, but the Harpoons didn’t came through the defence. The second group, however, managed to destroy one of the ships.
06:15:00 Zulu Time.
The USS Seawolf has detected the submerged contact again. Immediately I ordered the 2 Viking to kill the submarine. Sonar buoys are in the water. Later, the submarine disappeared again.
10:25:00 Zulu Time.
The 2 Vikings have returned to the aircraft carrier and have been replaced by a single Viking. The submarine showed up again and the hunt was on again.
A third group has successfully attacked the remaining surface vessel [later identified as the FFG Neustrashimyy].
Russian FFG 712 "Neustrashimyy" [Photo: US Navy]
Later I received orders for the CVBG….. The group must travel to ref. point. “2ndC12”. A journey of 860nm.
18:00:00 – 24:00:00 Zulu Time.
A second submerged has been detected by the USS Augusta [SSN 710]. The SSN 710 is patrolling east of convoy #2. I immediately ordered 2 helicopters to assist the USS Augusta. The other submarine, east of convoy #1 still hasn’t been destroyed. Several times, I loose contact. The second submarine is by the way a much higher threat as the other sub; this new contact has been detected much closer to convoy #2. The clock is ticking the minutes away. Day 4 is history now. Day 5 is the reality. 1 of the 2 enemy submarines is visible on my screen [convoy #1]. The other has disappeared again. But she is still there…………… Read about it all in Day #5 coverage.
Scenario : Atlantic Convoys Designer : Freek Schepers Side : NATO Reporter: : Taitennek
Introduction.
This scenario takes several days to cover. So, I have decided to report by day.
I am in command of two large convoys [30+8 and 16+7], an Amphibious Group [12], a CVBG [7], 5 nuclear attack submarines [including the brand new SSN 21 USS Seawolf], as well as more than 200 aircraft and helicopters [some of the units are in maintenance or need longer readiness times before they can come in action]. My orders are to transit the convoys and the Amphibious Group through the Atlantic to Portsmouth in the UK. The aircraft carrier must survive in a position to cover future convoys. No losses of LHA, LHD, LSD and LST are allowed.
For a comprehensive version of the orders, please click here .
DAY 5
November 30th, 2003. 00:00:01 Zulu Time.
Convoy #1: 425nm from Portsmouth Convoy #2: 1,100nm from Portsmouth The CVBG is moving westward to ref. point “2ndc12”
2 enemy submarines are to be known active close to convoy #1 and #2. Several aircraft, helicopters and submarines are desperately searching for them, but so far without results. Some minutes after midnight, 8 airborne contacts were detected. Fighters are in the air, but exact position of the detected aircraft is unknown at the moment.
At 00:50:00 Zulu Time, I finally was able to locate the enemy submarine close to convoy #1. A torpedo, fired by one of the helicopters, hit the target and destroyed it.
01:00:00 Zulu Time.
Missiles are in the air, underway to convoy #1. 1 missile came through the defence and heavily damaged a containership. More kh-22 Kitchen ASM were underway, but successfully intercepted by the escorts SAM’s. I also managed to shoot down some more Backfire bombers.
The SSN 710 USS Augusta has been destroyed by a Stallion [Vsplesk] ASW-missile, launched by the undetected enemy submarine! Convoy #2 now has to rely on her helicopters. And, believe it, or not, the same happened with the SSN 709. Just within an half hour, NATO suffered the loss of 2 high-valuable units. Most concerning is the fact that the Russian submarines still are in close range of both convoys. This convoy-trip to Europe is turning into a disaster for NATO.
CVN 71 USS Theodore Roosevelt [Photo: Us Navy]
06:00:00 Zulu Time.
Both convoys are behind schedule.
Convoy #1 is decimated by Russian attacks, but estimated arrival is now scheduled for 17:00:00 today. I expect another loss since a containership is badly damaged [76%], on fire and has problems with the rudder, but still can hold line at 18kts.
One specific order disturbs me; The order to pull back the CVBG far west of both convoys for future actions…..Both Convoy #1 and The Amphibious Group escorts will soon face shortage of SAM’s and only have few aircraft [USMC AV-8B Harrier, AIM-9 Sidewinders only [!!!]. They need the air cover provided by the CVBG. CVBG-escorts are running out of fuel. [Underway replenishment of ammunition is possible, but underway refuelling capacities are not included in version 3.6.3.]. A bad decision!!! Convoy #1 and the Amphibious Group depend on air support from the USS Theodore Roosevelt. I would rather escort the Convoys, replenish in Portsmouth and move the CVBG to the Northern Atlantic. Fighters of the CVBG already have to bridge 600+ nm to the English Channel. So, I have to ready the 3 Vikings for Tanker duties, this, while I need them so much for ASW-duties [especially for convoy #1; only 6 helicopters for ASW operations available].
Convoy #2 has proven that it can defend herself. The Sea Harriers were very successful so far, in my opinion better equipped with the AMRAAM air-to-air missiles than the USMC AV-8B. Convoy #2, however, still has to travel some 48 hours. She suffered only “minimal” losses so far [4 merchants], 1 supertanker [168,000 ton] is damaged [55%] and on fire, but still on course within convoy #2.
Both Amphibious Group and CVBG are still intact, the air losses not counted.
Only concern is that All three remained operational submarines [SSN 21, SSN 690, and SSN 714] only have few torpedoes left, but they have performed well so far.
06:05:00 Zulu Time.
FFG 45 USS De Wert suddenly picked up contact of a surfaced submarine. This time, however, I have exact location of this submarine. 3 helicopters and 1 S-2B Viking are underway. The nearest ship, the FFG 45, is 21nm away from the enemy submarine’s location. Soon, a torpedo killed the submarine. Convoy #1 is now cruising at 145nm from the entrance of the English Channel.
The submarine is now known as the K-418 Bars, An Akula-class submarine, identified by an OceanHawk.The helicopter launched all torpedoes [3]. Soon 1 of the torpedoes hit and destroyed target.
Russian Victor III class submarine [Photo: Russian Navy]
14:00:00 Zulu Time.
Convoy #1 has entered the English Channel. The SSN 21 and SSN 714 are patrolling just outside the English Channel, just in case if a Russian sub shows up.
There were no enemy contacts during the rest of the day, except passing RORSat.
Convoy #1 has reached the harbour of Portsmouth. She suffered great losses. Convoy #1 leaved the US coastal waters with 30 merchants and 8 escorts [CG, DD, DDG, FFG] and 6 helicopters. At arrival in the coastal waters of Portsmouth, there were 20 ships left [including 7 escorts]. 10 merchants and 1 escort have been destroyed during the transit.
Convoy #2 is still heading to the safety waters of Portsmouth. Still 550nm to go, a 30 hour journey. The CVBG is moving west to ref. point “2ndc12”
NATO losses: 1 San Juan [SSN 710] 1 Providence [SSN 709]
Russian losses: 1 Akula I 1 Akula II 1 Bear J 4 Backfire C
AAR: Guardian [Spoiler Alert] Remake from original HC game (Delwin Hinkle) by Herman Hum Harpoon 3.7.3
Situation is I'm protecting the GIUK Gap Airspace, with Denmark and Iceland bases containing Soviet planes.
My orders were to defend two airbases against two Russian ones, and to mount some OCA missions.
I launched 16 F3s from Stornoway and and E3, 4 F22s and 4 F4s from Rhein Main. Soon I started detecting MiG 29s over Denmark. a pair of F22s moved North and swiftly killed 6. My semi-circle of F3s was now patrolling 250nm around Stronoway and detected some air activity over Reykjavik. They also detected a lone merchant and a bit later 2 ships steaming at 32 knots with two helo's in attendance who kept EMCOM and thus coulc not be classified. I launched my four tornado's armed with ARM; the only planes with effective standoff weapons. Plan was to force the unknowns to switch radar on by flying F3s over them once the Tornado/ARMs were in range.
Meanwhile a skirmish over the North Sea proved that F3s are not superior to Mig29s; I lost a pair and killed a pair. I decided to redirect to F3s to RheinMain and release some F4s with AMRAAM to patrol the North Sea. Plan was to have the AMRAAM aremed planes fight it out with the Mig29s and keep the F3s for the inevitable air strikes.
However the Tornado/ARMs suddenly ran into a group of shipwrecks on their way to Stornoway. I switched to weapons free but the Tornado's did not fire sidewinders at the shipwrecks. I intercepted the missiles with F3s and launched my last 4 F3s; but the AI did not autofire on the shipwrecks and my manually fired only downed a few shipwrecks before these moved out of the engangement envelop.
At the same time my second pair of F22s downed 6 Fencers coming from Denmark to Stornoway, though the Fencers heat seaking missiles claimed both of my Raptors!
Over 16 ground targets were destroyed by the shipwrecks - game over.
This scen obviously depends on killing the Shipwrecks in flight; the player does not have the time or ordnance to kill the Russian ships before they fire. I found it nearly impossible to micromanage my planes to intercept the Shipwrecks. Maybe the intercept logic of 3.7.3. is tougher than 3.6 -- but I am not the best micromanager also! I'm sure its possible to shoot down enough Shipwrecks not to lose the game -- play this game if you like that sort of thing.
Scenario : Atlantic Convoys Designer : Freek Schepers Side : NATO Reporter: : Taitennek
Introduction.
This scenario takes several days to cover. So, I have decided to report by day.
I am in command of two large convoys [30+8 and 16+7], an Amphibious Group [12], a CVBG [7], 5 nuclear attack submarines [including the brand new SSN 21 USS Seawolf], as well as more than 200 aircraft and helicopters [some of the units are in maintenance or need longer readiness times before they can come in action]. My orders are to transit the convoys and the Amphibious Group through the Atlantic to Portsmouth in the UK. The aircraft carrier must survive in a position to cover future convoys. No losses of LHA, LHD, LSD and LST are allowed.
For a comprehensive version of the orders, please click here .
DAY #6
December 1st, 2003. 00:00:00 Zulu Time.
The day started with the detection of several air contacts north of convoy #2.
I launched Sea Harriers [4] to investigate and destroy the contacts. 4 Tomcats are in the air as well, but have to reach the area first.
5 Backfires are approaching convoy #2!
The Sea Harriers successfully intercepted the incoming bombers; none of the enemy aircraft could launch their missiles.
After arrival of convoy #1, I formed a new taskforce [3 ships, CG 55, DD 978 and FFG 50] for patrol duties at the entrance of the English Channel.
14:33:00 Zulu Time.
Suddenly the sky was filled with incoming missiles, unknown where they came from.
The just formed taskforce immediately fired SAM’s. Soon other escorts started firing SAM’s as well and managed to destroy all incoming missiles [later identified as Shipwrecks].
SH-60 Oceanhawk with Dipping sonar [Photo: US Navy]
Suddenly the sky was filled with incoming missiles, unknown where they came from. The just formed taskforce immediately fired SAM’s. Soon other escorts started firing SAM’s as well and managed to destroy all incoming missiles [later identified as Shipwrecks].
During the rest of the day and evening, there were no enemy contacts detected. Only the passes of the Russian RORSAT.
DAY #7
December 2nd, 2003. 00:00:00 Zulu Time.
At 04:00:00 Zulu Time, the second convoy has finally reached the entrance of the English Channel. Most of the escorts are about coming home in their homeport Portsmouth. Only the pass by of the Russian RORSAT’s does remember me that there is war going on.There were no attacks since the last attack with Shipwrecks last afternoon.
I do not expect Russian attacks, but have taken measurements to protect the convoys and AG during their presence in coastal waters of Portsmouth. Helicopters are patrolling in the English Channel and at the entrance to the Channel. A small surface group [3 escorts] is patrolling there as well. And last but not least: the 3 remaining submarines are in the area, in case a Russian submarine should slip through the barrier.
Portsmouth Naval Docks [Photo: BBC]
The CVBG is underway to her new position [ref. point "2ndc12]. The CVBG is still intact, only 2 of her aircrafts were destroyed during the transit. As I said in my report of the second day, I didn’t match the Victory conditions for this scenario. I did lose too many ships and I was not able to maintain the schedule.
The Amphibious Group, however, completed the transit without losses to the ships. The CVBG is still intact. But the convoys…….
Convoy #2 did suffer 4 losses [not that bad, if I had reached the waters of Portsmouth in time, convoy #2 would match the VC]. Convoy #1 did suffer heavy losses, 18 merchants and 1 escort. 2 submarines were destroyed as well. Only few [7] aircraft were destroyed.
Russia suffered great losses as well: 19 submarines [18 nuclear powered, 1 diesel-electric], 105 aircraft, 7 surface vessels.
Great Scenario!!!!!! Thanks for sharing it wih us! Taitennek:smoke:
P.S. For your convenience, the complete AAR can be viewed here
Looks like lot's of folks have been enjoying this scenario. Here's another AAR from a satisfied player:
Quote:
Freek Inspired by Frans I decided to replay the Atlantic Convoy Scenario, but from the Russian side. Some years ago after I made Atlantic convoy for NATO side, Herman took the scen, and created two Russia-playable sides; one 'easier' and one 'harder'. These scens were transformed to PDB and for the first time in years I decided to replay it
Scen: Atl_R1_1 Game: Harpoon 3.6.3 DB: PlayersDB Designer: Herman Hum (based on my Atlantic/NATO)
Day one; November 26th
I have good intel of two convoys, and amphibious group all heading for Portsmouth and a CVBG somewhere in the Atlantic. I have a number of submarines already staked out on their projected route, a larger number in transit from the GIUK gap, two Bears on patrol, and some AGIs. Northern Fleet has promised a Backfire mission consisting of 9 planes every twelve hours or so; after they refuel in the North Atlantic I can take control to use them. Also some fighters may be available and a steady stream of Bears for recon are expected from the Kola bases.
I start by plotting my subs to go south at speed. I use my two Bears and the AGIs to scout the Atlantic, sniffing for ESM signals. Initial satelite passes show no enemy ships -- but indicate some safe area's for my Bears to use.
Soon I detect aerial radars, and am able to plot bearings on what I think are the CVBG and two convoys. The Bears go low and around the detected helo's and E2 for a cross bearing. This is rewarded with signals from a cruiser and soon I have the approximate posits of two convoys plotted. However 'approximate' does not cut it, I need precise course and speed for the convoys to plot good intercept courses for my subs -- which are way out of position and will need to race at 26-30 knots to catch up.
Meanwhile, 3 of my subs racing south from the GIUK gap detect enemy subs from their launch transient. Each makes a fast turn, goes to flank speed and fires a torpedo back along the bearing of the inbound. One of my subs is lost to the Mk48, and it seems none of my torps find targets. Soon after, one of my SSKs close to the Channel detects an aird dropped torp and is hit; two subs lost for no wins -- two-nil for the AI! The situation improved though when a satelite pass revealed the exact location south of Newfoundland of a convoy of at least 30 ships. As the sat passed overhead the visual sensors ID'ed the escorts which was English and included Invincible and a US Bunker Hill class cruiser. I could vector two subs at full speed to this convoy; with an intercept location around 10 hours steaming away. The satelite also detected a lone AO tanker close to one of my racing subs, and I was able to torpedo her in the absence of escort.
The Bears went low and approached the other two convoys along their ESM tracks, and at 90 miles distance went to high alt and used its radar to plot the convoys location and speed. Both Bears were successfull, but both were intercepted by Harriers and by land based fighters from UK.
After a few hours of game time I thus had a good fix on all convoys, and multiple ESM tracks giving the the approximate location of the CVBG.
I ordered my remaining submarines to form 4 wolf packs ahead of the three convoys -- where the amphibious convoy closest to the Channel had 5 subs in range, the convoy south of Newfoundland 2 and the convoy in the mid-Atlantic two packs of 5.
While the packs raced to their intercept locations 9 Backfires arrived on station south of Iceland. Topped up with fuel I calculated they could just reach the convoy south of Newfoundland and I moved one Tu22 ahead of the other 8 to act as radar Recce unit. Two Bears were available but I was not going to try getting them close to convoys with embarked fighters.
After nearly 4 hours transit the Backfires penetrated the fighter defences at low altitude, climbed to vHigh altitude, switched on their Downbeat radars and fired 27 Missiles at 9 ships. Most were intercepted by SAMs from the CG, but some came through and destroyed two ships -- far away from my viccond of killing 25. On the way back to the refuel point the Backfires overflew one of my subs and spotted a P3 dropping a torp on her -- thankfully some miles away -- obviously dropped on an imperfect solution. My sub got away and my Tu22s all returned to base.
Fairly regularly over the next hours one of my racing subs were detected by Canadian or British patrol planes, and I learned these often dropped a torp in the hope of spooking me into flank speed. I learnt to wait until the torpedo's course was clear and indicated danger. I also managed to avade a few more US subs/torps.
Around 10 hours later my first Wolfpack of 5 subs was in an intercept position ahead of the amphibious group. A satelite pass revealed that the defences were very strong with helo's, two layer of escorts along the path of intended motion and North of the group. I decided to move a Victor-3 south, pass at creep speed south of the group and they try to attack from the rear. It looked that the speed of the group varied from 6 to 11 knots, so I felt an attack from behind was possible. The other four subs drifted ahead of the amphibs.
Now came a nerve-wrecking period in which clearly the escorts had some contacts with my subs. I plotted regular lines of sonarbuys and a number of times had to steer clear of air dropped torps, sometimes slow, sometimes at flank speed. After several hours, three of my subs ahead of the group were sunk within a short period; I had now lost 5 subs for only three ships sunk.
A second Tu22 raid became available with an escort of Flankers and I used these to organise a combined sub and bomber attack on the amphibs. The Flankers managed to kill four Tornado's and an E3, and opened the way for 9 Backfires to attack the convoy. One Destroyer was killed, but also the amphibs were localised and had to change course and my sub south of them managed to approach at 11 knots from the rear. This Victor in quick succession torpedoed 5 amphibious ships before managing to escape West. My viccond of killing the amphibs was now achieved. She was also one of only two of the 5-ship wolfpack to survive the attack!
One of the two subs which intercepted the British escorted convoy now tried to penetrate this 14 knot convoy from the front and was attacked by three torpedoes which all missed. Having been detected this Akula sub raced at 35 knots into the convoy, firing at any ship coming in range. This split the convoy in two and brought my sub in the convoys rear where she picked of 10 merchant ships and the Invincible before running out of torpedoes and escaping West.
The end of the first day thus saw the Russians having lost 6 subs, 3 Flankers, 3 Backfires, 4 Bears but having killed 12 merchant ships, 5 amphibs, and E3 and 4 Tornado's and a number of escorts.
My mission for the coming days is to inercept the remaining convoy to kill another 13 merchant ships without losing too many more subs (as that is also a viccond).
Later more!
Freek
Quote:
Freek
At the end of day 1 two wolfpacks of 5 submarines each had managed to intercept the Amphibious group and a convoy. Both packs suffered the loss of three subs, mostly detected by helicopters along the PIM of the convoys. In each case one sub managed to penetrate the convoy, empty its magazines and escape to the West (rear) of the convoy. Two Backfire attacks by 9 planes each had scored some hits but I was clearly up against well defended targets!
At 00.00 on November 27th a RORSat satelite passed over the mid-Atlantic. The previous day I had positioned two Oscar class subs under the satelite track, and from numerous ESM tracks I knew a CVBG was close by. At midnight I brought the two Oscars to periscope depth, but the satelite pass did not reveal any surface ships -- jamming by the CVBG was probably too heavy even for the 400nm space based Radar Ocean Recon sat. My Oscars went back to deep.
A third Wolfpack of 5 subs was now in place of the second convoy, but as it had been nearly a full day since I last localised that group, I needed to know if they had changed course. My last Bear F approached the extrapolated path of the convoy at low altitude and rose to vHigh when I expected it to be within the 90nm range. The convoy HAD changed course, now being on a 55 degrees bearing at 14 knots and was around 60nm from my pack. A short sprint from my subs brought them straight ahead of the ships.
While this was going on, the 4 surviving subs from the two attacks on the amphibs and the convoy kept being detected by helicopters, and frequently had to avade air dropped torpedo's. At around 1am they managed to creep clear and set course back to the Gap, their torpedo's mostly expended.
The Wolfpack stalking the second convoy contained a Charley-class, and when I localised a ship doing 24 knots ahead of the convoy, I decided to take a chance on firing her 8 Sirens at this presumed ASW picket. This DDG/FFG (never found out) shot down all Sirens and pretty soon helicopters were dropping buoys not on the Charley but on an accompanying Victor which was quickly lost.
Half an hour later the lead Victor of my pack had 5 localised targets within torpedo range and fired. At the same time another of my subs got hit by an air-dropped torp just before coming into torpedo firing range. Almost immediately counterfire was detected (ASROC?) and my lead Victor raced into the ranks of the convoy which was splitting into two halves. Fire control on my older Victor was mediocre; the first salvo only got two hits but reloading was quick and she managed to sink 5 more ships in the next 20 minutes. Merchants racing away from the inferno of burning tankers and LPG-carriers came in range of my other subs around the convoy. One fired on two targets, then detected two air-dropped torps close in; and I quickly BOLed a salvo of 4 UUSET torps (figuring if my sub survived the torps she could take control of these wire-guided fish). Unfortunately my the two torps acquired my Victor and again only two of the 5 subs from the pack survived the pack attack. The UUSET did find targets though.
A quick tally indicated that I'd now lost 11 submarines -- and while I sank a large number of ships I was not sure if I'd achieved the 25 ship kill viccond. However my orders stated clearly that I could not afford to lose more submarines so seeing the convoy take time to regroup, I extracted both my surviving subs from this pack to the South and West of the group.
After saving and exiting I was awarded victory at 0236; November 27th. Not an easy victory as I'd lost 10 nuclear subs and a Kilo, 3 Backfires, 3 Flankers and 4 Bears. I was very surprised all 4 of my AGI had survived!
NATO lost in those 26 hours: 7 amphibious ships (some must have sunk during the night), 25 Merchants, one helicopter carrier, one AEGIS class cruiser, 2 Spruances and a Burke; plus loads of embarked helicopters and Harriers and an E3 and 4 Tornado F3s in UK.
Thanks to Frans for stimulating me to replay this scen -- and thanks to Herman for crafting the missions when it was still DB2K and converting it to PDB (everything worked!). Yes and 3.6.3 proved rock-solid and fast on my 5 yr old machine.
I command SSK Winter, a Kilo-class sub in the Baltic sea.
My mission is to stay on station, awaiting transit by German or Norwegian SSKs and sink one of them.
On game start I detect several submerged bearings among lots of surface contacts . I plot their bearing using refpoints and move to create a baseline for a cross bearing. Almost immediately Sonar reports a blade-count (5 knots) on one of the bearings, so I change course for her. This quickly enable me to plot out that the enemy sub is heading to starboard of my sub. I plot an intercept course at 5 knots. I suspect this contact is for real as false contacts generally don't have a sustained 5 knot speed and a clear bearing change.
After an hour the contact is classified as a type 206 German sub, and her course is plotted. Several hours later I suspect I'm geting closer but the uncertainty zone still extends to 13 miles, well outside torpedo range. I decide to search with Active sonar. This is a mistake - active sonar does not resolve the position of the sub. I suspect he's about 5 miles out and fire 2 Test-71 torpedo's at slow speed setting (24 knots). The enemy speeds up to 22 knots on a perpendicular course to my incoming torps. Surprisingly, he does not fire a return shot.
When my torpedo's are on the enemies stern I order them to 40 knots via my wire guidance. Almost immediately I lose the wires to the torps and both torps start to persue a neutral Ro-Ro ship and hit her! Now I'm looking at court-marshall but still want to collect the type 206!
The type 206 comes back to its previous heading of 71 degrees at 5 knots. I plot an intercept course again at 5 knots. While I never get a good fix, I wait untill the plotted range is under 3 nm and fire three Test-71s, this time at high speed setting. I cut the wires and clear the area to avoid counterfire.
This time Plot has a good fix on the sub when it speeds up and the torps quickly overtake and kill the German. Sigh of relieve - again no counterfire.
My plotting party maintains a bearing on the Norwegian Ula class sub, but I easily avoid it over the next several hours untill victory is reported.
Last night, we welcomed another player to the Harpoon3 ANW community. John (a.k.a. OFFascist) is also the roommate of Sharker2003, but I knew that there wasn't going to be any favourtism shown because of it.
We elected to try Freek Scheper's Blockade scenario from his 2nd Lebanese War Battleset. It's made with the most popular database with the ANW crowd, the PlayersDB. It's a 3-sided scenario with John acting as UNIFiL, Sharker as the Israelis, and myself as Hezbollah. Their orders were to maintain a blockade around Lebanon. My job was to break it.
From the very start, John, who is a real life Coastie, said that the scenario was just what you would see in the real world - a radar screen Full of unknown contacts (and to think that Freek only put in 1% of the ships normally found in the area!).
I was trying to sneak an old Foxtrot-class sub past the Israelis and their UNIFiL "puppets". The Fox was cruising in at 9kts when the sonar watch reported a vessel doing 31kts. It was soon identified as the Hyane missile boat and she was in a hurry to get somewhere. Fortunately, she appeared to run right over my diesel boat.
The torpedo room readied a salvo of 53-65 Wake-Homing torpedos for the infidels. Closer, and closer, she came. Finally, it was time for one quick peek with the periscope before unleashing hell. Everything was perfect. Two torpedoes were fired from less than 2nm. I couldn't check the database to see if Hyane had any functional sonar or ASW weapons (since the ANW 3.8.0 patch can still crash if you hit the DB button), but I didn't think she did. So I was hoping that he wouldn't detect my attack nor be able to respond. It turned out to be a fool's hope.
I got my response soon enough in the form of a torpedo in the water! And then, another! Damn. I immediately went to flank speed in hopes of putting as much distance between myself and the weapons. Unfortunately, diesel submarines are not known for their speed. A white noise decoy was ejected and it distracted the first torpedo. However, the second one exploded in the engine room and sent the Fox to the bottom. Both my torpedoes appeared to miss. My miserly allocation of only two weapons was certainly coming back to haunt me.
Now, all I could hope for was to run my surviving smugglers through the blockade and avoid detection. I tried to mask their identities by only moving at 15kts amongst the swarms of fishing vessels. As one vessel neared the Lebanese coast, a torpedo was detected! (I don't know how, since the ship had no sonar). Well, Insh'allah. God will provide.
The Batroun immediately engaged her jet engines. The cigarette boat had been bought from American compatriots in Florida and disguised as a common fishing boat. This was her first time to really open up the throttles. She was able to do 33kts and the torpedoes were only running 35kts - she might survive the ordeal. Minutes later, the torpedo contact was lost. Hopefully, it had run out of fuel. However, the masquerade was over. Now, only a safe and speedy arrival in Lebanon would give me victory so I made a bee-line for port.
At this point, we had to call it a night. Hopefully, we will get the opportunity to finish off this fun scenario this weekend. Thanks for the use of the server and good time was had by all sides involved.
sharker2003 This is a partial AAR of Freek's Blockade scenario. Will post the follow-up when we get all the players together again (Me, Herman and John) and finish it up, at least not until the week after next as I'm getting underway on Friday. Anyway really liked this scenario and had fun playing it.
AAR for Israeli Side *_POSSIBLE_SPOILER_ALERT*, DON'T READ IF YOU PLAN TO PLAY AS UNIFIL OR HEZBOLLAH SIDE:
Objective for Israeli side was to locate and sink Hezbollah Romeo sub using air and submarine assets. Surface assets were restricted to S of 33N. Secondary objectives were to sink PL supply boats lost in an enormous clutter of neutral traffic.
My initial action was to launch my first of two Dauphin helos (equipped with torpedoes)from the FFG's to begin the Maritime Domain Awareness/Situational Awareness portion of this little operation.
I sent my first on a sweep to the south of my FFG's, just to ensure no one was knocking at Israel's door and because I reasoned that the FFG commander would want their own AOR swept before releasing the helo's to patrol North. For organization I broke the Tactical Screen up into two seperate zoom windows, a North and South AOR, divided at the 33rd parallel. As my helo finished it's Southern Sweep my FFG detected by radar our first challanger of the day, two DE-type warship's to the north, heading into Israeli Territorial Waters and on a southerly course to cross the 33rd parallel at 28 kts. I vectored my helo towards them for an ID and issued Level One verbal warnings. The helo indentified them as two UNIFIL vessels, and though they did not respond to my hails they altered course west, away from Iraeli TTW and proceeded west a mile or so north of the 33rd. My FFG's turned and kept pace on our respective side of the line. As my helo proceeded north of the 33rd the Northern AOR was dense with commericial traffic, UNIFIL warships and aircraft operating in close proximity to Israeli aircraft. It was in this tense environment that my subs made initial contact with the rogue Romeo and began tracking. Based on the intel we were provided I made a rough guess at her destination and best speed she could be making and guessed about where I would find her, then split my subs to converge on that point. Little did I realize how accurate my guess was, LEVIATHAN acquired her early, right on top of the reference point I laid as my best guess! With the pincher's of the glorious Israeli crab slowly closing on the unwitting sub, we recieved an awful fright when, as my Dauphin was buzzing a UNIFIL warship near the sub, DOLPHIN detected two torpedoes headed straight for the UN vessel!! Perfectly pre-positioned, my helo, which could only look at the UN vessel and think 'poor bastards' swooped in and dropped two torpedoes literally on top of the Hezbollah sub's towel-wrapped head. At the same time we detected the UNIFIL vessel returning fire with ASROC as my subs increased to Flank to close...that Romeo's goose was literally cooked 6 different ways once it let those torpedoes fly. The resulting detonation and shriek of fatiguing metal was greeted with cheers by our victorious freedom fighters. I noticed the UNIFIL warship appeared to escape unscathed.
My helo, low on fuel by this point returned to mother to get stuffed and strapped while her counterpart was immediately launched to resume the patrol...more camel-jockey's remained to be located and sunk. Things were going swimmingly when LEVIATHAN's passive sonar operator again tore than headphone's away in pain...torpedoes in the water! WHAT? Turns out they came from a UNIFIL ship, which 'claimed' they issued Level III verbal warnings to surface prior to firing on an unidentified sub contact, but which we never received. Regardless my sub easily outran the ineptly fired torpedoes. Seething with rage we burned to return fire but, tragically ROE prohibited my subs from firing on UNIFIL ships. Turning our hatred where it belonged, on the Muslims, my Israeli sub resumed its patrol.
At this point it was getting LATE, and this combatant commander was ready for 40 winks, so we were looking for a stopping point. Ironically as I was preparing to log off my helo detected a Hezbollah fishing dhow! My sub loosed a fish at her at long range and I sat back to watch the fun. Unfortunatly the Dhow responded by taking off at 33 knots and outran the torpedo!! I was *HIGHLY* peeved at this and it's my only issue with an otherwise excellent scenario - having spent a year in the Persian Gulf boarding more than 300 dhows I can tell you I've never met one I can't outrun...in my sneakers. They do a max of 8 knots. Seriously. But anyway, as we saved and logged off for the nite my helo was swooping in with warshot, so maybe we'll sink her yet.
Great, great scenario...I really enjoy the Maritime Domain Awareness missions, the moderate extra traffic in this scenario is confounding and it probably 1/10th of what you actually see in these littoral environments, but for one person to manage it conveys the difficulty of sorting the good guys from the bad just right. Had fun and look forward to playing again!
Brandon came ashore from his little cruise in the Gulf and immediately came onto HarpGamer to look for a game of ANW. Can you believe this guy? He didn't even call his girlfriend before setting up a game with us. Now, THERE is a guy who has his priorities straight!
We selected Matrix Siege made with the favourite database of Harpoon3:ANW, the PlayersDB. This scenario has not yet been published, but anyone wanting to give it a try can find it on the HarpGamer ANW Server.
The scenario is a European training exercise matching a USN force against a combination of European naval forces in the Kattegat and Skaggerak. I took the European command.
I knew that the USN force had an Arleigh Burke destroyer so it was going to be a tough nut to crack. I tried to try and mask my ships by running behind a few merchant vessels travelling through the Kattegat. I had my ships match their speed of 15kts. This was successful until his helicopters showed up and surprised my northern flotilla.
Both of them were quickly shot out of the air with a combination of Stingers and AAA, but The Jig Was Up!
Soon enough, a wave of Harpoon SSMs was detected. Forunately for me, most of them locked onto a nearby freighter, Laekonda, and pummelled her mercilessly. However, two of my missile boats must have also been in the cone of detection for they each sucked a Harpoon down the windpipe. I decided to volley-fire my own SSMs down the bearing of the incoming missiles in hopes of distracting the hidden enemy. I figured it was a matter of, "Use'm or Lose'm".
We had to call it a night at this point, but we certainly look forward to completing this game. Thanks for the game and the use of the HG ANW server.
Brandon and I met up for another match, tonight. We decided to try Matrix Shield made with the favourite database of Harpoon3:ANW, the PlayersDB. This scenario has not yet been published, but anyone wanting to give it a try can find it on the HarpGamer ANW Server.
The scenario is a training exercise between a CIS submarine against combined Swedish / Polish Baltic ASW groups. Brandon elected to play the Hunters while played the role of the Hunted. But, as is often the case, the tables can quickly be turned around.
My Kilo-Class sub was just creeping around, patiently awaiting targets to appear. Soon enough, a pair of Hugin missile boats was detected to the NE and she crept off to intercept. Not long afterwards, a Goteborg corvette was detected nearby the Hugin and they were heading right for the Kilo. Minutes later, they were both in torpedo range and a pair of TEST-71 torpedoes was fired at the Goteborg and a single torpedo at the Hugin. As the torpedo room crew hurriedly re-loaded, the attack centre counted down the seconds. Less than 1nm from the target, the torpedoes must have been detected for the Hugin abruptly turned about-face and raced off at 36kts! The torpedo was only capable of 40kts so the prey would escape, this time. However, the Goteborg was not so fortunate and she was caught in a tremendous explosion. I didn't know if the enemy had pinpointed me, but he had to know that their target was in the general vicinity.
The surviving Hugin was not finished and she tried to locate me. I had the answer to that pest in the form of a 53-65 Wake-Homing torpedo. These babies were capable of running 70kts and she would not escape, again. Or so I thought. Once again, she came forward seemingly oblivious to her fate. A single 53-65 torpedo was launched after her and the crew anxiously awaited the explosion. Once again, she turned to run. However, the torpedo elected to chase a target on the opposite side of the map! (Oh, great. Looks like the targeting bug is back.) There went half my torpedo inventory rendered useless.
The surviving ASW forces started to swarm into the area. They knew that a diesel boat couldn't run very fast. However, this diesel boat still had some teeth. Although she was seemingly surrounded by hostiles, she gave a good account of herself with her remaining TEST-71 wire-guided torpedoes and sank another Goteborg and 3 Hugin boats before the Polish corvette, Kaszub raced in to deliver a SET-65 torpedo that killed her. It looks like both sides had their technical problems. The 53-65 torpedoes did not work for me, but neither did the ELMA ASW rockets work for the Hunters! In the end, the sub was sunk before it could bag its goal of 6 ships. Another excellent game even if it was a bit frustrating to see that some bugs just won't die.
Thanks to HarpGamer server for the use of their server and to Brandon for being a crafty opponent.
The situation, when we broke for an intermission, was that the Batroun had just outrun a torpedo fired from an Israeli submarine...
The only hope of victory lay with a speedy arrival in Lebanon. All my surviving blockade runners engaged their engines and went to full speed. Unfortunately, the fastest ship cannot outrun the slowest helicopter and, soon, another snooper was bearing down on my ships. However, this helo was in for a surprise because the blockade runner was under escort from a Syrian gunboat. The unwary Israeli pilots got a rude surprise in the form of an SA-7 Grail SAM! Even so, they managed to dodge the first one and only succumbed to the second. A tremendous cheer rose from the crew; the Israeli air force was not invincible, after all.
Not long afterwards, a second helo came looking. The missileer was a young man of only 19 years and he was still elated from the exhilaration of his first kill. He immediately set about to engage this second target. The captain of the vessel burst forth from the bridge just as the SA-7 left the launcher. "Stop!" he screamed. "That’s a UN helicopter!" but he was too late. The SA-7 ran unerringly into the exhaust of the Lynx. "Abdul, you’ve killed us all," bellowed the Captain. Sure enough, an incoming Exocet missile soon put a quick end to the glorious missile career of Abdul as it exploded directly underneath his feet.
The two surviving Hezbollah smugglers were within sight of Lebanon, 15nm away, but that was as close as they would come. A second Israeli helo swooped down on the little cigarette boat and blew her out of the water with a stream of rockets while a second UN Exocet claimed the other blockade runner. So close, yet so far. The three soldier-hostages would have to be removed from Lebanon another way.
Thanks for a great Part II to my opponents, John and Brandon, and to Tony for the use of his ANW server at HarpGamer.com. Blockade is made with the favourite database of Harpoon3:ANW, the PlayersDB. This scenario has not yet been published, but anyone wanting to give it a try can find it on the HarpGamer ANW Server.
AAR: Plug the Dike [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon3 scenario for the PlayersDB By Herman Hum
Quote:
The success of the Reformed Russian Republic in Norway increased the importance of supply interdiction in the Baltic Sea. The logistical requirements of the R3 army were enormous. Tons of supplies attempted to make transit of the shallow waters between Denmark and Norway.
The threat to these small convoys was limited in scope. Because of the success of R3 airfield strikes, the NATO aircraft that remained had adopted a defensive posture, awaiting reinforcements. The few offensive missions that NATO launched were primarily offensive counter-air and aimed at the R3 air bases. Convoys of five to seven ships were just too far down the list to merit much air attention.
The small missile boats of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany performed in the opening days of the war exactly as had been anticipated. They ducked out of hiding, acquired targets for their Harpoons and Otomats, launched their attacks, and died.
R3 commanders used this opportunity to try and move small quantities of sensitive materials back to research installations in the East.
Only submarines remain to oppose them.
Quiet and small, if employed correctly, they are very hard to detect. The departure of the front-line R3 ASW units to the front as escorts for the R3 Carrier Battle Groups increased their effectiveness. Plugging the choke points out of the Denmark Sea provides the best opportunity to stop the transit of materials in this area.
Freek Schepers doesn't play a lot of Multi-player games, but when he does, he always delivers a great challenge. Today, we met up on the HarpGamer ANW server and decided to play, "Plug the Gap", made for the favourite Database of Harpoon players, the PlayersDB.
The scenario matches a NATO force of diesel submarines against a lightly defended convoy in transit. Although the Russian escorts are fairly numerous, their sonar is nearly useless. I played the Russians while Freek commanded the submarines.
As the escort commander, I tried to have my nearly deaf ships fairly far ahead of my transports. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but the only indication I would have of a submarine in the area would likely be the "Screeeeee…" sound of torpedoes in the water. With 6 corvettes, I certainly hoped that I had sufficient escorts to survive the first salvo.
"Luck" would be on my side. As the little corvettes pinged away with their puny sonar systems, it was a radar operator that rang the alarm bell. "Periscope detected bearing 053 degrees!" Unfortunately, the nearest corvettes were well out of range for their SET-72 torpedoes. It didn't matter as the sonar room immediately reported torpedoes in the water. The nearest corvette responded by launching her own salvo of SET-72 on Bearing-Only-Launch mode. She could only hope that they would be smart enough to find the submarine on their own as she turn around and ran from the oncoming torpedoes at full throttle.
As one corvette was running from the torpedoes, more torpedoes suddenly appeared in front of her! Somehow, a diesel submarine had crept in behind them. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place! She launched a brace of her own torpedoes while being chased by four weapons. With so many torpedoes in the water, the outcome was pretty much inevitable. I lost 4 escorts within minutes, but my own torpedoes managed to claim both subs. The action was so hectic, that one errant torpedo actually ran right between my two transports. There were a lot of breaths being held as it passed between them.
Now, with only one surviving escort and the two transports, I made a run for the open sea. Unfortunately, the enemy commander seemed to read my mind as he raced with his sub to intercept. Once more, we exchanged torpedoes. The Tp62 ran straight and true. At first, I did not order my transports to turn away as I did not think that the torpedoes would be able to detect them. This turned out to be my undoing as they went into search mode and found my freighters. Now, when I turned away, it was too late. One vessel was able to escape, but the other one was caught by the Tp62 after a long chase. I was able to evade further attacks, but the loss of one freighter prevented me from achieving my victory conditions and the game was a draw.
This was a really super exhibition of game-play by Freek. Even though I designed the scenario, Freek managed to surprise me with some very innovative tactics. Many thanks for the game and to HarpGamer for the use of their server.
The Scenario was Plug The Gap (not released yet I think).
I started with three D/E Nordic subs and I was tasked to prevent some escorted merchants carrying WOMD from passing the Kattegat. Not much info I thought.
I started bringing two of my subs on E/W line to cover the gap, and moving the third South to give me early Intel. Detected small corvette type Russian warships in two groups but without merchants. My main challenge would be to to find and ID hostile merchants from the neutral ones. I would need to make persicope sweeps, and while the corvettes had poor sonar, they have OK radar!
I intercepted a few merchants coming ahead of the escorts just to calibrate my scope and found I needed to be within 2nm to classify them as neutral. That meant I'd have to ID the hostiles based on behaviour.
The corvette groups were approaching the exit to the Kattegat and my two Northern subs (having passed the third one) and I started seeing them move N/W to open sea at 20knots. Sonar also detected two merchants moving at 15 to 20 knots behind the corvettes. As neutrals generally don't move at more than cruise speed I decided these were my targets and ordered my forward sub to chase after them at 17 knots. A difficult intercept.
At this point the corvette contacts were jumping all around my Swedish sub, and I decided to stick up the periscope. Even before the ESM reported enemy radar emissions, Herman shouted 'Found you' on gertrude! I fired a spread of FFV wire guided torps in reply, turned north and raced away with torpedo's following in my wake. Three corvettes raced south, one straight to my Danish sub trying to intercept the targets. The Danish captain fired a further 2 Mk37s to that target. Heard 'Damn' on gertrude (one of the best sounds I believe). Hermans corvette turned east and fired BOL torps. I fired another FFV torp from the North at slow speed just in case one of the corvettes would avade my torpedo's and turn back.
Within minutes 3 corvettes sunk, unfortunately so did my Danish sub of which the 17 knot top speed was not enough.
I now realised that in spite of this carnage, what I thought were the two primary targets might escape West out of the Kattegat so the Swedish sub turned and moved in at 17 knots to intercept. It had to pass very close to 3 remaining corvettes and when sonar detected excited shouts from the targets I fired another group of torps at this group. Also fired my last two Bearing-only at the two merchants. I scored one hit on a corvette but obviously I had a torp in my baffles as suddenly I lost the second sub.
My third sub was on the East side of the Kattegat and had just ID'd another merchant as neutral. It went to flank speed to try to head off the merchants which were running full speed South with two FFV torps in persuit. I could not see the results of the torps but could see one enemy bearing turning back North and one remaining steady.
As I could not intercept the escaping merchie in time I fired 3 torps at her hoping to force her to flee south again. This ploy failed as the torps only had 35 knot speed and not enough range.
Game ended in a draw and I found I had killed one of the primary targets and 5 corvettes but lost two.
A great game and RC8 behaved well. Only issue was that anytime I went to persicope depth; when I resubmerged the speed would go to zero and I'd have to reorder speed/heading a few times.
AAR: Alone in the Snow [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon3 scenario for the PlayersDB By Herman Hum
Quote:
Sweden's neutrality lasted only as long as the Reformed Russian Republic had no need of anything that Sweden had and not a moment longer. The determined resistance of the United States' 1st Special Forces put the R3 theatre commander behind schedule by 36 hours. Behind schedule has never been a comfortable place for a Russian Commander and this commander was determined to be uncomfortable only for a very short period of time. His plan to get things moving again involved turning Norway's southern flank. But, in order to do that, staging bases closer than Germany were required. Unfortunately for Sweden, bases that fit the bill were Swedish. The remaining life of Sweden's neutrality was measured in hours.
NATO wanted to provide assistance. The problem was, other than providing advanced warning of the attack, NATO had nothing to give. The few remaining Norwegian F-16s could not be re-oriented to cover Swedish airspace without leaving the northern FEBA vulnerable. CENTAF simply had no aircraft to spare. RAF operational reserves had been released to guard the northern approaches to the UK. The German air force ceased to exist as an effective fighting force 90 seconds after the first shots were fired. Combined chemical, biological, and conventional missile, artillery, and air attacks have a tendency to do that.
Although alone in the snow, the Swedes were not without hope. Sweden had been neutral. Sweden had not been stupid. Sweden's defense expenditures had increased from 2.9% of GNP in 1987 to 4.5% of GNP in 1996. A large portion of that money was spent on the procurement of Viggens, Sweden's latest multi-role fighter aircraft. It was with the Viggens that this battle would turn.
Rodrigo Flores was just finishing up a hard week's work when we linked up and decided on a game of ANW. We decided to try one of the latest scenario releases for the PlayersDB, "Alone in the Snow". The scenario depicts a Russian attack on "neutral" Sweden. Rodrigo played the Russians while I played the Swedes.
As the designer of this scenario, I had a slight advantage since I had an idea of the overall Order of Battle. Luckily, Rod chose the side that I would have deemed more powerful and thus evened out the match.
I had three operational airbases and numerous targets to protect. As is usual on the defensive, I had insufficient assets to cover them all. I decided to focus on Visby Island as it was the most likely target. Sure enough, enemy planes began their approach. I intercepted the first flight of four (Floggers?) with four Viggen at low level. They stayed at low altitude before climbing to the attack just as they came into range. It was the case of the classic ambush and all four bogies were splashed with no Swedish losses and Alpha flight congratulated themselves as they sped back to Visby to re-arm.
As is often the case in war, the hunters can quickly become the hunted. Beta flight came in to relieve the departing Viggen and got a wholly unpleasant reception. This time, all four were shot out of the air well beyond the range of their own SkyFlash missiles. They were quickly avenged by Delta flight, but it did not assuage the feeling of sadness from the loss of their comrades. Delta flight also lost two planes in the melee. The score was now 6:6. Unfortunately, I knew that the Russians had a LOT more planes in the barn.
As the bulk of my air patrols congregated around Visby Island, Karlskrona suddenly reported an inbound air raid! No interceptors were within range, so all I could do was grit my teeth and bear it. The air base was hammered violently. On their egress, a flight of 6 Viggen managed to catch the mixed group of Fulcrum and Fitters from Peenemunde and decimated them. The two survivors were able to exact a token of revenge, too. One Viggen caught an Aphid missile in the port side just as she was turning to flee after expending her missiles.
A lull ensued as both sides re-armed and re-fueled. I ordered my air patrols to stay at low altitude. Ground intercept radar could clearly see an A-50 Mainstay loitering over Kaliningrad and I didn't want to present any targets for the swarms of Flankers and Fulcrum circling over the Baltic unless I had to do so. Soon enough, I was forced to reveal my patrols as teams of Flankers and Fulcrum started edging nearer.
Several were ambushed without loss. As the interceptors raced back to base for re-armament and re-fueling, a veritable swarm of helicopters was spotted hugging the deck and approaching Visby. After dining on Fulcrum and Flanker as the main course, the pilots were ecstatic in their discovery of "dessert" and tore into the helpless transports with RB-74 Sidewinders and aerial gunnery passes. Nearby patrols of Flankers tried in vain to protect the helos, but they were just too far away. The entire assault force was cut to ribbons.
At this point, Rodrigo suggested that he was no longer able to achieve his victory conditions as he had no more ground attack assets. While this might have been reasonable if he was playing a computer opponent, the fact that he was playing a human allowed him to continue. A military maxim states that, "When you are no longer able to achieve victory, the definition of victory changes to the prevention of your enemy from achieving victory." Rod certainly had more than enough assets remaining to make my life miserable.
At this point, we decided to save the game in hopes of finishing it this weekend. Thanks to Rodrigo for a fun match to this point and to HarpGamer for the use of their server.
Rodrigo and I managed to get in another round of combat over the Baltic. After suffering a few crashes while starting up the game, we finally managed to pick up where we left off.
I was settling into a nice pace of defense over Visby. I thought that I had the situation well in hand. However, Rod had different ideas. I was able to shoot down the occasional interloper, but Rod discovered that he had an asset of which he was previously unaware - an A-50 Mainstay. Due to communications problems, the Russian AWACS crew had been unable to control the situation. Now that the problem was rectified, Rod started getting proper intercept vectors and there appeared to be no place that I could hide!
Soon enough, Rod sent his Fulcrums and Flankers over into Swedish air space, once again. The significant difference being their Eye in the Sky was coaching them. I could no longer spring aerial ambushes from low level any longer and Rod got maximum use from his long-ranged Alamo weapons. My Gripen fighter-bombers tried in vain to close the distance to fire their own Sidewinders, but most were shot down before their release. The exchange ratio was dreadful as I began to lose 2 or more fighters for every Russian destroyed. And the swarms seemed endless.
Wave, after wave, of Russian planes broke against the Visby Island defenders and each wave eroded the defences just a little more. The aerial losses were sickening enough, but the expenditure of weapons was extreme. I finally had to abandon Visby air base not due to damage, but due to the fact that all the weapons stored in her ammunition dump had been consumed. His Majesty's air force fell back upon the stores at Bravalla and quickly expended them, too. Only one base remained with any weapons, Soderhamn. I didn't know if I would run out of planes or missiles, first, and the Russian planes seemed endless in their procession.
At this point, we called for a second intermission. Maybe I should have taken the victory when it was first offered...
Rodrigo and I met up to see if we could finish this exciting PlayersDB scenario, "Alone in the Snow". Choowee decided to drop in and watch us fight it out. During our last session, Rod had beaten me back from Visby Island. It was not such a great loss as all the available ammo had already been depleted.
As His Majesty's forces re-grouped around Bravalla, an uneasy standoff ensued. The Russian Floggers lacked sufficient range to effectively challenge me for aerial superiority over Bravalla and I had no planes armed with long-ranged missiles to challenge him over Visby Island. The odd Fulcrum ventured too far over the Swedish mainland and got jumped by flights of Gripen, but both sides were, apparently, catching their breath.
However, Rodrigo turned out to be a cunning tactician. As he maintained his combat air patrols over Visby, several flights of helicopters were flown in behind his screens. As Sweden didn't have an airborne radar system, they were not detected until the last possible moment. Once detected, I was forced to throw all my available combat air patrols into the fray and try to intercept. The Helix B could do considerable damage if left unmolested.
Unfortunately, Rod had laid out his plan quite masterfully. By sacrificing a pair of Floggers as the first screen, he depleted the SkyFlash loadouts on my Viggen. When they finally broke through the screen, they only had short-ranged Sidewinders left to face the Flankers and Fulcrum. Two Viggen were lost to long-ranged Alamo missiles with nothing in return. It was a masterful defensive setup.
I really had no choice but to commit to an uneven battle. While facing incoming Alamo missiles, my Viggen exchanged SkyFlash with the Russians. Again, two Viggen were lost for no commensurate return. While they were engaged with the screens, they could not intercept the defenceless helicopters. Finally, after dreadful losses, one flight fought their way through to engage the ground assault elements. Sadly, they were only able to shoot down one helo and a defending fighter before they, themselves, were brought down by super lethal AA-11 Archer.
After shooting down the remaining Helix B attack force at tremendous cost to themselves, the men of the Swedish air arm simply had no more to give. The Russian planes swarmed over the Baltic like a swarm of angry Yellow-Jacket hornets just outside of a screen door. Out of planes, ammo, and luck, the Swedes retired northward as the game ended in a draw. The severe mauling of the Swedish forces prevented Swedish victory and the lack of surviving ground attack assets prevented the Russians from sufficiently reducing Visby air base. A tremendous game was played by Rodrigo. Thanks for the match and thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their server.
Rodrigo and I had another electronic showdown on the electronic seas, this weekend. This time, we clashed in the Norwegian Sea while playing "Nordkapp" by Freek Schepers. This scenario was written for the PlayersDB. Rod played as the Russians hunting for a small amphibious group and I took the Dutch side.
I was ordered to evacuate a small task group centred on the LPD Rotterdam after she had finished disembarking her Marines in Northern Norway. She was under escort by the FFGs Zeven de Provincien, de With, and PTM Orn.
The first sign sign of the enemy was in the form of a helicopter's radar signature. Since I knew that these short-ranged aircraft had to operate from ships, I knew that there had to be a surface combatant hunting us. Fortunately, Rod underestimated the power and range of the Standard missiles carried aboard the Zeven. All it took was one to blind mine enemy's eyes. :p
Stinging from the lost of his first helo, others followed more cautiously. Both sides launched their SSM attacks piecemeal and they were summarily brushed off by the powerful SAM defences from both sides. PTM Orn managed to close with the enemy and deliver her Penguin SSMs, but she was detected and summarily executed while making her dash for safety. The lousy missile performance by both sides resulted in each player violating his Rules of Engagement and we each killed a neutral vessel.
However, my orders were not to destroy the enemy. Instead, I was to screen Rotterdam as she made her escape southwards. In this, I was successful and was awarded victory as Rotterdam managed to "slip out the back door" whilst everyone else was engaged.
Thanks to Freek for another fun PlayersDB scenario, Rod for being a willing and patient opponent, and HarpGamer for hosting the server.
Here's an excellent After Action Report by Ralf Koelbach. It is re-printed here with at the request of the author.
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PROJECT PENINSULA 94 Peninsula 94 is a series of 4 related scenarios (Recon, Ingress, Strike Ops, and Egress) representing different phases of a US multi-carrier battle group attack on the Kola Peninsula. From the Russian perspective, this is the mission the navy has trained for since its beginning: defense of the homeland.
These scenarios are related by a common order of battle and a concurrence of mission. Any discrepancies can be attributed to poor bomb damage assessment and better than expected damage control. They should be played in order and from the same side to appreciate the developing momentum an operation of this magnitude has.
Reconnaissance:
From the NATO perspective, this scenario is a submariner's delight. A force of SSNs must enter Russian waters and conduct an intelligence sweep of the area prior to the arrival of the CVBG. This scenario is going to require discipline and restraint on the part of the NATO player if he hopes to be successful in the overall strategy. Many targets of opportunity may present themselves, but adherence to the Rules of Engagement is the only way to win.
From the Russian perspective, it's only a matter of time. Much of the fleet has been forced to retreat out of the North Atlantic and is now trying to re-group in the Norwegian Sea. The next logical step for NATO is an attack on the Kola Peninsula by a large CVBG which would surely be preceded by a submarine force to gather intelligence. This scenario is a large-scale ASW operation with a wrinkle, that being several unescorted capital ships in transit to re-organization points. The challenge here is force allocation. With limited first-line ASW assets, hard choices will have to be made and risks taken.
"Project Peninsula 94: Reconnaissance" Scenario designed by Herman Hum
Based on an original Harpoon Classic HDS-II-scenario Database: Players DB 6.4.9
A. Foreword:
Herman likes to rebuild HC scens, especially those of the HC HDS-II-Battleset, with AGSIs permission. "Reconnaissance” is part of a group of scenarios which belong thematically together. The Nato side has eight first line subs and a very difficult mission: First to get six subs in designated search areas. Second, keeping them six hours there - weapons tight. After that weapons are free and the subs have to kill Soviet HVUs. Scenario duration is 36 hours.
B. My experience
It all starts on January 3rd, 1993, at 10:53 PM. I set course for six subs to the designated areas, some of them being already close to it. Therefore I set my subs to deep and speed to cruise at most.
Soon it becomes clear that there are lots of Soviet ships and subs underway. This is a grave problem for SSN Omaha, already being in shallow waters without much space to hide.
11:17 PM Bogie over SSN Dallas. Dallas detects several support vessels crawling around. Nearby is the CVHG Adm. Gorshkov, another target.
11:54 PM Phibs detected. So now I had contacts on several targets to sink after the six hours period of waiting.
January, 4th, 1993 00:25 AM The first subs, SSN Dallas and SSN Augusta, have reached the search zones. I send them deep, crawling.
08:00 AM For subs are now on station. Still underway are SSN Omaha and SSN Groton (this one has about 150nm to go and a lot of ships and subs nearby).
09:35 AM SSN Cincinatti has a visitor only 5 nm away - a red sub. Has he got me? Another skunk closing in. I decide to shoot. Both killed with torpedoes.
11:20 AM SSN Omaha has reached its search zone - at least.
11:37 AM SSN Birmingham reports torpedo contact. No problem. Contact fades out.
08:00 PM SSN Groton detects a sub right in front. Evade! 40nm left to go to designated area.
09:23 PM Ships over SSN Dallas! Has the sub been detected? What to do? Too many skunks to sink...
January, 5th, 1993
00:36 AM SSN Groton has reached its search zone. Now all six subs have made it. From now on six hours weapons tight. Then the duck shoot can start.
Sometime between 01:00 AM and 02:00AM SSN Dallas has been sunken. Just did not notice it. Six subs, six search areas - hard to handle. Anyway: Dallas had been on station for more than six hours. Thus it is not so bad.
02:03 AM SSN Augusta has been detected! Several ships and subs closing it. No chance to evade, I guess. Ok - head to head. What marvellous subs these 688s are! The Augusta sinks several ships and at least one sub with MK48s. Then the path is clear and she evades.
06:36 AM The last six hours period ends - weapons free!
The subs get new courses and start prosecuting the HVUs. I am rather sure I'll get the targets.
10:53 AM
Defeat! Game time is over. 36 hours are gone.
C. Resume
I missed my chance winning this one by losing too much time with the SSN Groton heading for its search area. I had to risk more and accelerate the sub to cruise or full speed. That could have saved me some hours and therefore the game.
All in all this is a real nice remake of the original scenario. I really had a lot of fun.
Here's another excellent After-Action Report by Ralf Koelbach. It is re-printed here at the request of the author.
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AAR (SP) "A Fight to the Death" - playing Soviet side H3 ANW 3.8.0 RC11 Player's DB 7.4.7 Pentium 4 2,93 Ghz / 1Gb RAM
1. Introduction
This scen is one of my all-time favourite ones. I wrote about playing it MP as Soviet side and losing without any chance. Winning it against the AI is possible, but not so easy….
2. How it worked
1994-12-19; 12:00 Start
I am lucky this time! My CVGB is in the North of the map, not so much away from my land base and it is unlikely that there was a Nato CTF between them.
Instantly I launch every AC stationed at Kevlavik. I sent my Backfires and Badgers North-West and station them directly over the CVBG.
Kevlavik gets support too: I fley four Flankers to Iceland and station them on CAP right in from of the base.
I then send one Bear-D right beside the CVBG and the other one far Southeast.
12:59
Time to start actions: I order the South-Eastern Bear to go active. Numerous surface contacts - south to my CVBG and not so far away! The carrier is identified - luck!
I send the four Badger bombers south in order to attack the carrier.
13:05 Bear Southeast shot down. Tomcats.
All Badgers launch their missiles.
13:07 Two Badgers shot down.
13:14 Several Hits on Nimitz reported.
Meanwhile I have sent my Backfires - all six of them - on full speed and low altitude South-West. Heading for the wounded Nimitz. Each Backfire carries ten Kickback missiles.
13:20 I start all fighters from my carrier and sent them south in order to harass the Tomcats and Hornets and keep them North of the group.
13:24 Another Badger shot down. Both sides lose AC in a furious air battle.
13:28 All Backfires have reached their positions SouthWest to the CVBG and launch their missiles! 60 missiles on their way towards the US carrier.
It has worked like it did in Clancy's "Red Storm Rising": There an obviously incapable admiral sent all his Toms north killing drones he thought to be bombers and left his back door open. There too he was visited by Backfires inbound from North-West.
13:30 Five Backfires shot down.
13:33 Nimitz has got hits, doing only eight knots.
13:33 First salvo SSMs from my CVBG
13:40 Second salvo.
13:44 Nimitz down to four knots.
13:45 Final SSM salvo fired.
13:45 TASMs coming it!
13:51 TASMs without exception intercepted. Nimitz down to zero knots; "Probable kill - on fire".
14:03 Goblin detected.
14:05 My CVBG heads for Iceland at creep speed in order to avoid a nasty surprise. All AC back on the carrier or at Kevlavik. The CVBG has some helos in the air.
14:38 The VicCond have been successfully completed!
3. Hints for rebuilding it
a) Single player
- The Soviet side should get at least two subs, one close to the Nato CVBG. - The Soviets should have some more fighters. All in all at least one full regiment (20-24 AC). - AEW birds for Kevlavik - The AI should set up better CAP for the US CVBG. There should be fighters all around the group - not only in the PIM - , thus denying the red player surprise attacks on the carrier.
b) Multi player
- More SAMs for Kevlavik - at least 10 interceptors for Kevlavik; a full load on the Soviet carrier. - AEW birds at Kevlavik
MP has been somewhat quiet, but the community welcomed another member last night. JaTB (a.k.a. Norbert) came onto the Server looking for an opponent. Even though he bought the game last year, he hasn't had time to play it until now.
We started off with Dawn Patrol re-made for the PlayersDB. His baptism of fire as the Russians was short and brutal. JaTB revealed his position by radiating his radar and was rewarded by a salvo of Penguin SSMs. We switched sides and tried again. This time, he learned very quickly and we totally sank each other's forces.
We then moved on to Power Sweep, by Dave Steinmeyer. Norbert is quite an experienced naval wargame player and has experience with Dangerous Waters, Fleet Command, and Janes and it showed. He certainly drove a mean submarine. His Victor II was pursued by 4 Spearfish torpedoes and he managed to dodge them all. Thank goodness I had a fifth one...
JaTB (a.k.a. Norbert) is on vacation. How better to pass the time than playing Harpoon ANW head-to-head?
We finished off the previously saved scenario, Power Sweep re-made with the favorite database of Harpoon ANW, the PlayersDB.
When we last signed off, I had just sunk his SSN Victor II with a volley of Spearfish torpedoes. We were matched up with SSGN Charlie and Tango vs. SSN Superb and SSK Kunna. SSN Superb moved in to collect the Charlie when all of a sudden, my world turned upside down.
Sonar reported a transient from the Charlie and soon afterwards, SSN Superb just disappeared. Damn! I've just been on the receiving end of an SS-N-15 Starfish Nuke! When dealing with nukes, close is close enough. :cry:
Now, I only had SSK Kunna against two Russian subs; short odds, indeed. However, luck did smile upon me when the Tango sped up and revealed her previously hidden location. This earned her a spread of Tp61 torpedoes which caught her as she tried to evade.
Although I was still facing a nuclear-armed Charlie, I was fairly confident that he had not been able to counter-detect me so I crept in close before launching a full salvo of every remaining torpedo in my tubes. If I was going to go up in a ball of nuclear fire, I wanted to be certain to take him with me! Luckily, he was too busy trying to evade to return fire and the torpedoes caught him at maximum depth. Another great end to another great scenario.
Thanks to HarpGamer for hosting the server and to Dave Steinmeyer for the scenario.
JaTB (a.k.a. Norbert) and I decided to try a few more scenarios made with the favorite database of Harpoon ANW, the PlayersDB.
We tried to run Flaming Datum, but ANW is just too slow on the calculations. Even though the number of units was relatively small, the size of the map was the Gulf of Alaska.
Instead, we decided to play a PlayersDB classic, Nordkapp with me as NATO against the Russians. I was trying to evacuate an amphibious force from Northern Norway and he was trying to stop me.
My little flotilla fled under cover of darkness and EmCon. In a brilliant coup de main, JaTB fired a volley of Sunburn SSMs which caught me flat-footed as two of them slammed into FFG de With. She barely activated her SAM systems in time to shoot down the last two missiles. With half of her flotation destroyed, she was hurting badly. Worst of all, her own Harpoon SSM launcher had been damaged so she could not reply!
FFG Zeven de Provincien responded for her by slamming a Harpoon salvo into FFG Neustrashimyy to even the score. The PhibRon successfully left the area, but the ViConds would not activate (looks like yet another ANW bug :OHNO: ).
With time remaining in the afternoon, we decided on one more PlayersDB scenario, Matrix Shield. I played the SSK Kilo being hunted by Swedish ASW forces. It was a long game (as most scenarios involving diesel submarines are), but once the action began, it was quite thrilling.
Norbert had the undesirable task of locating and sinking my Kilo boat. I had a strong lock on his units throughout the game and picked off each hunter one at a time. Luckily, I managed to kill his most effective ASW units, first. FF Kaszub and an FSG Goteborg were the initial victims of my Type 53-65 Wake-Homing torpedoes. Without their sensors, his remaining PTM Hugin were virtually blind. However, the ANW weapons targeting bug kept me from completing my mission and winning the game as torpedo after torpedo ended up chasing after the wrong target when I was trying to claim one more Hugin and victory.
Thanks to Freek Schepers for some great scenarios and to HarpGamer for hosting the server.
JaTB (a.k.a. Norbert) and I met up to put the ANW Server through her paces, again. We wanted to try a few more scenarios made with the favorite database of Harpoon ANW, the PlayersDB.
We chose to run Matrix Knight. This scenario has not yet been released, but anyone wanting to try it can find it on the HarpGamer ANW Server.
Matrix Knight is an SSBN exercise played from both sides. While hunting an enemy SSBN, you must also protect your own SSBN. I commanded SSN Hartford and SSBN L'Inflexible against similar forces controlled by Norbert.
Hartford cruised across her patrol zone at a leisurely 10kts hoping to pick up the trail of her quarry while my SSBN crept around her launch area at minimum steerage. Hartford caught a whiff of her prey, first. After a series of course corrections designed to maximize the effiicacy of her Target Motion Analysis, she localized the simulated Delta IV SSBN closely enough that a pair of Mk 48 ADCAP torpedoes were launched. She sat back to await the explosions but was totally surprised when both of them missed! A second volley of 2 ADCAP fared better and the SSBN was caught at a depth of 400m.
The other half of the equation was the safe-keeping of the SSBN L'Inflexible. As she lurked within her launch zone, a transient was soon detected. It turned out to be an old SSN Valiant. As the Valiant appeared to be creeping in search of the SSBN, I decided to creep away in the other direction; hoping that this would preclude him from closing the distance.
Not long afterwards, sonar reported another contact ahead of me. It turned out to be SSN Swiftsure. Once again, since discretion is the better part of valour, I crept off in a new direction. My launch area measured 50nm by 50nm, so there should be plenty of room to hide. Obviously, he must have caught my scent as the bloodhounds appeared to try and box me in. It was an eerie feeling knowing that my enemy probably detected me but was out of range, as yet.
I let my pursuers close in on me slightly. They had to make more noise than I did in doing so. At maximum torpedo range, I sent a volley of 2 F17 towards Swiftsure. I was hoping that they would have sufficient range, but would be happy if they forced my pursuers to keep their distance. Unfortunately, the sonar suite aboard Switftsure was very alert and detected the launch transients almost immediately. She ran at flank speed (28kts) with 40kt torpedoes in pursuit.
JaTB also tried a wild new tactic that I had not seen before. He ordered his submarine to the surface in hopes of the torpedoes losing track of him in the surface clutter. I do not know if it worked, but both torpedoes missed. After the evasion, both submarine contacts returned, but at a much slower speed.
Valiant approached from the NE quadrant and got the same reception, a volley of F17 torpedoes in the face, and reacted similarly. He tried the same evasion technique of putting his boat on the surface. There might something to it since both weapons missed, also!
Now, with time running out in the exercise, I had the breathing room necessary. I only had to survive for twelve hours -- only had 30 minutes remained. Norbert's hunters did not get close enough for any further engagement before time expired.
A really fun scenario with a great opponent. Thanks to HarpGamer for the use of the server and JaTB for his cunning and wiles.
AAR: Interfet-Stabilize [Spoiler Alert] Harpoon ANW scenario for the PlayersDB by Freek Schepers
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East Timor is an old Portuguese colony which was annexed by Indonesia in 1975. In August 1999, the citizenry overwhelmingly voted for independence, and, almost immedately afterwards, Indonesian-backed militia bacame active. By September, 250.000 people had fled the killings.
In September, President Habibi of Indonesia finally agreed to the deployment of a multinational UN-peacekeeping force in East Timor so long as it was primarily Asian troops.
While US, New Zealand, Italian, Singaporean, Malaysian, and Norwegian troops began the long preparations for deployment, Australia was ready and an amphibious convoy put to sea.
Indonesia objected strongly to this breach of the agreement.
Although this scenario has not yet been released, Tony and I decided to give it a try on the HarpGamer ANW Server. Anyone else interested in this scenario can also try it out there, too. In order to preserve the element of surprise if Tony should decide to play this scenario solitaire, I commanded the Indonesians while Tony took the UN forces.
My orders were to destroy several troop transports carrying soldiers for the Interfet operation as it is much easier to destroy units while they are embarked on ships than after they disembark and deploy. Several contact bearings were reported by submarine so I launched an unarmed Super Frelon helo to triangulate the contacts.
Once the convoy was solidly pinpointed, the submarine was ordered to dive and creep along at maximum depth. The convoy path would take it right overhead and she did not need to make any extraneous noise. Strangely, FF Anzac seemed to accelerate and pull away from the rest of the group at 31 knots. Luckily, she was still running directly towards the SS Cakra. When she was only 2nm away, I decided to launch a spread of torpedoes. I knew that she was not my main target and that I might be revealing myself early, but I was following the adage of "the bird in hand...." In addition, she held a potential inventory of 8 Harpoon missiles that could wreak havoc among my approaching ships.
The spread of four SUT torpedoes broke the surface 1 nm away from their target. An alert lookout must have noticed them as the ship began immediate evasive manoeuvres. Although the ANZAC was able to flee at 31 kts, the range was too short and the 34 kt torpedoes soon caught her and cut the SSMs available to the UN in half. Yahoo!
Unfortunately, turnabout is fair play, too. Soon afterwards, a salvo of Harpoon missiles was detected from the surviving NZ frigates. After one was shot down, I went onto the chat channel to boast about my excellent gunnery. Meanwhile, a second wave of missiles demolished both of my own Harpoon-armed Ahmad Yani missile boats before they could fire their missiles. Argggh! Moral of the story was: "Don't gloat during combat." I only had two more boats armed with the shorter-ranged Exocet. One "good" outcome of the Harpoon attack on me was the fact that one of the missiles started tracking a local fishing boat and blew her out of the water. Now world opinion would turn against the UN for harming civilians.
On the East coast of Timor, FF Hasnuddin detected the fast ferry, Jervis Bay rounding the point and set her ablaze with old-fashioned gunfire. Luckily, she did not try to escape with her phenomenal 42kt maximum speed as the frigate was only capable of 24kts in pursuit.
Back to the Amphibious convoy, a Mandau-class missile boat silently crept up on her prey. She maintained EmCon to prevent the Kiwis from ascertaining her exact identity as she was getting navigational cues from the orbiting Super Frelon helo. A second helo armed with Exocet missiles launched to try and coordinate a pincer attack with the Mandau. Just as they arrived to simultaneously deliver Exocet from the surface and the air, fire control radar was detected from the frigate! The tattletale helo exploded in a fireball, but she had done her duty and 6 Exocets were sufficient to overwhelm the little frigate's defenses. The Mandau did not live to see the results as she fell victim to return fire.
At this point, just when I thought things were getting interesting, Tony conceded defeat. With only one frigate left to protect the convoy, he didn't think that it would be sufficient to accomplish the mission. We saved the game in case he changed his mind.
Thanks to Freek for another superb scenario and to Tony for a great game. It was too bad that I had the opportunity to help test this scenario during development, but I tried not to take advantage of my prior knowledge.
Another great AAR re-printed here with the permission of the author.
Originally Posted By: rkoelbach;895667
AAR
„Naval Infantry“ Scenario designed by Herman Hum
Based on an original Harpoon Classic HDS-II-scenario Database: Players DB 7.4.7 Game Engine: 3.6.2
A. Foreword:
Herman rebuilds a lot of HC scens, especially those of the HC HDS-II-Battleset, with AGSIs permission. “Naval Infantry” belongs to the HDS-II-GIUK-Battleset, Herman´s favourite.
In Norway Nato is down to two squadrons of Falcons and one of F-5s. Four Orions are stationed at Kevlavik and the main force are three diesel subs. This is what ought to do the job: to stop an full scale CIS amphibious landing at Bodo in the tracks. Therefore I have to sink three amphibious landing ships.
B. My experience
1. It all starts on August 10th, 1995, at 05:50 PM.
2. About 06:40 PM: Several boogies to the East; the Russians are coming.
3. At 06:50 PM: sub contact, an Echo II
4. Since 07:00 PM: constant air attacks at Bodo – Floggers wherever I look, and – very nasty - Fencers. My Falcons get their share, but will it be enough?
5. About 09:35 PM: The Echo is dead, one Orion got it.
6. About 11:20 PM: Bodo is still under constant air attack, don´t know how much Floggers and Fencers are left.
7. Day 2 – August 11th, 02:00 AM: I lose one Orion after the other – there are CIS aircraft West of Bodo – Fulcrums – is there a Kusnetzov class carrier approaching?
8. About 05:30 AM: Skunks to the North West detected. Here they come. Looks like there are two CIS Task Forces approaching, maybe one centered around the carrier.
9. About 06:10 AM: Bodo gets hits by Shipwreck SSMs – can those killers really hit land targets?
10. 06:30 AM: Sandbox attacks on Bodo. There will be not much left of the Base. Hangar after hangar gets blown up.
11. At 08:50 AM my chances have decreased very much: The last Orion has fallen due to missile fire.
12. At 11:20 AM I am down to four ac and three subs.
13. At 11:40 AM I get contact on a surfaced Victor I near Bodo and vector my SSK Walrus towards it.
14. About 12:30 AM: The Victor is dead, sunk by two MK-48s. At least some good news.
15. At 01:00 PM: All ac lost. Down to three subs.
16. About 01:45 PM: Got several surface contacts and vector all subs towards them. Will they arrive on time and get those LSTs?
17. At 05:30 PM SSK Tigerhaij is sunk by torpedoes. Don´t know how they detected and got it. The ANW game engine would have reacted more friendly I guess.
August 11th , 05:52 PM
Defeat! Game time is over. 24 hours are gone.
C. Hints for the designer:
1. AFAIK Shipwrecks cannot hit ground installations. 2. That Victor I west of Bodo should not be surfaced.
D. Resume
All in all this is another real nice and accurate remake of the original scenario. I really had a lot of fun and will soon start another attempt to master it.
Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) had a little down time from flight operations tonight, so we decided to play Freek Schepers's, Nordkapp scenario, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
As soon as my helicopters were ready, I sent them airborne to scout for the enemy. They detected the FFG Zeven de Provincien, FFG Heemskirck and LPD Rotterdam hugging the coastline. I checked the range and it was only about 60nm -- I was well within SAM range! I prayed that I would be able to dive fast enough to get out of the SAM envelope. I guess my prayers were answered since no Standards arrived to blow my Helix helos from the sky. Whew! :smoke:
With a firm location in hand, my little force of frigates closed the range. I also managed to manoeuvre a sub in front of the Phibron. Everything looked perfect.
Once they were all in range, I decided to try and kill the FFG Heemskirck as a priority. Both FFGs held 8 deadly Harpoon missiles, but the Zeven should have been a much tougher nut to crack with here phenomenal SAMs. 8 Switchblade SSMs were allocated to the Heemskirck and 8 Sunburns to the Zeven. I only allocated the Sunburns to the Zeven to keep her busy. As it turned out, the Zeven didn't have her radar on, so she ate them and blew up in a huge fireball! Scooooooooooorrrrrre! :laugh:
The Heemskirck was actually able to shoot down all of her assailants. :OHNO:
She survived long enough to return fire with her Harpoons. Amazingly, the LPD turned around! Argggh. The sub had her in their sights, but wanted to wait just a little bit longer to minimize the run time on her torpedoes when she turned tail and ran. She'll never know how close she came...
However, Russians make good point defenses. A lone frigate salvo had no chance of penetrating and they were easily swatted aside. With all SSMs expended from both sides, the Russian frigate force manage to chase down the LPD and blast her from the water with old fashioned naval gunnery.
A really great round of MP play. Thanks to Jerome for a fun game and to HarpGamer for hosting it.
AAR: Azore Loser [Spoiler Alert] Harpoon: ANW scenario By Eric Weincam
Originally Posted By: FreekS
I selected to play this scen from EU side in ANW.
I started by putting up CAP and both P3s to search for the Amphib formation.
My strategy was clear - no American amphib group could be defeated by three FFGs and 10 F16s without ASMs. So my three subs would play the main roles.
My own French and Russian SSNs quickly picked up and identified Austin on passive sonar. I plotted a course for my two SSNs and one SS (at snort depth adnd 12 knots) to close on the formation.
Meanwhile my 4 bomb armed F16s made a futile attempt to bomb the American base and were shot from the sky by an undetected Patriot battery.
Soon I found out the composition of the formation; and blade count gave me accurate speed of the heavies. My P3s and F16s could not get close enough to get a course; and one of each died trying. The enemy course remained elusive. Using cross bearings - plotted as nav-zone lines on the chart - I concluded it was zig zag-ing. Course was important as my intention was to drift my Russian Sierra class into the formation. I was up against a Burke class so needed to be a hole in the water.
Suddenly I got a warning of launch transient! Sierra had stumbed over an escorting Los Angeles-class SSN. My Sierra responded instantly; firing back a torp down the bearing and racing away. I ordered my torp to high speed, cut the wires and hoped for the best. Minutes later I put a second UUSET on the LA, which was making its own avasive action. When sonar cleared all three torps had run out of fuel and my SSNs now 'boxed' the LA-class - which continued to creep at 5 knots.
Hours later my French and Russian SSNs approached the enemy formation which was drifting for reasons I was soon to find out. A helo detected Sierra, and dropped two torpedoes. The torpedoes however ignored Sierra (about 1nm away) and instead chased the French SSN 10nm to the south. The French SSN avaded both torps in spite of its low speed, and thus played a crucial role in bringing Sierra to the front of the enemy formation intact.
From 3nm away, when I detected another torp in the water I fired 4 torps at Burke. She blew up in a nice explosion. minutes later, CG Eerie was at the edge of my torp range and I fired another spread of 4. Eerie joint Burke and the last torp even ran on to sink one of the amphibs. At that moment, three other air dropped torps locked on to Sierra and killed her.
While I fought my way through the escorts, the Americans had not been silent. Harriers were suddenly detected inbound Llajes by the Portugese Frigates. When they went active, ASMs were fired from the last group of Harriers. Sea Sparrows shot down the missiles. 4 more Harriers continued on to Llajes, F16s got three and some inbound helo's but the last Harrier managed to help the American ground forces destroy two French tank platoons on the Azores.
With the escort sunk, I launched helicopters which found and killed the Los Angeles close to where it had attacked my sub hours ago, and my French SSN used her last torpedoes and Exocets to kill the last two amphibs. Victory was awarded shortly afterwards.
Thanks for a nice game - the late airstrike was a nasty surprise and so was the American SSN in perfect position to protect the amphibs.
Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) demanded revenge, so we decided to re-play Freek Schepers's, Nordkapp scenario, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. Same scenario, same sides.
Since we already knew each other's Order of Battle, I didn't try to hide my positions or identities. As soon as my helicopters were aloft, I immediately activated the radar and the jamming equipment aboard the ships to try and blind my enemy.
As our forces closed on each other, I tried my former tactic of quick attack. The FFG Heemskirck was slightly outside the protective SAM umbrella of the FFG Zeven de Provincien so I tried to launch a sneak attack in hopes of killing her and the 8 Harpoon missiles she carried. 8 Switchblade SSMs were fired in a volley once the prey had been fully localized. As they neared their target, I was about to rejoice in killing the frigate when, all of a sudden, they turned and struck a distant neutral cruise liner. Looks like a court-martial for me. I'll blame it on AGust of Sunspot Interference.
Unfortunately, there was still a fully armed frigate out there. I had to fire my second salvo of SSM Sunburn missiles at her. Three managed to get through the defenses and leave her ablaze from stem to stern. However, she was able to unleash her own SSMs in reply before she was hit. As before, a single wave of Harpoon missiles were unable to penetrate my defences. This time, he also included the missiles from FFG Zeven. Luckily for me, the two attacks were sequential and not simultaneous. This allowed me sufficient time to shoot down all the SSMs even though it exhausted my SAM inventory on the Neustrashimyy.
With no additional offensive weaponry available, the little KUG [surface action group] tried to close for a gunnery engagement. The Adm. Chebanenko had a 130mm gun with a range of 9nm. Unfortunately, my ships were out-ranged by the FFG Zeven with her 127mm gun and 11nm range. Getting close was going to be a challenge.
This was to be my undoing. By only focusing on the gun range of my opponents, I neglected to take into account her SAM battery. Only when I was near the 12nm mark did I realize my short-sightedness. My squadron immediately broke up and tried to flee, but they were not successful. The SAM defences did an admirable job, but several Standard missiles struck the ships before they finally retreated outside of sight and SAM range. The damage suffered slowed down my ability to effectively chase the PhibRon.
On a second approach, I sent my sole undamaged frigate around the islands in an attempt to box in my prey while the other two ships pressed from the West. They started to launch USET-80 torpedo attacks from maximum range in order to herd the prey into a kill zone. Also, I was trying to distract attention from the ASW helos he had out hunting for my sub. If I was lucky, the sub would come into play as the hidden dagger.
But, today, I wasn't lucky. Jerome was very diligent with his dipping sonar and soon found my sub on her way to intercept the LPD. They dropped both depth charges and ASW torpedoes and she never even heard the weapon that destroyed her.
My futile surface torpedo attack failed miserably. The weapons simply didn't have sufficient fuel to reach their targets, but they did keep the PhibRon busy evading them. Long enough that we declared the game a draw.
A superb game from Jerome and thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their server.
Since our previous encounter left doubt in the mind who actually won and who lost the scenario, Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) and I decided to settle our differences where matters of honour are normally handled; the electronic battlefield. We decided to help play-test one of the scenarios re-built for the impending HUD3 database release, Watch that First Step. A version of this scenario is also available for the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
One of the first steps to war is the deployment of the SSBNs to their patrol areas. Although the oceans offer a great many places to hide, there is only one submarine support base and only one way in or out. I took the USN side attempting to deploy the Ohio SSBNs and Jerome undertook the Russian side attempting to destroy them. The scenario starts just as the SSBNs begin to clear the Gulf.
Not long after, WHEC Hamiliton detected a sub nearly in her baffles! It was within 6nm. This was Danger-Close! At that range, she was vulnerable to all sorts of ASuW weapons. She immediately let loose a salvo of Mk46 torpedoes from her Port tubes as she desperately tried to leave the area at flank speed. Luckily, three helicopters and one Orion Maritime patrol plane were in the vicinity. If she were sunk, they could at least avenge her. Luck was with the USCG, today. No incoming torpedoes were detected, but the Mk46 appeared to have missed, too.
Soon enough, the helos arrived and began to prosecute the submarine. It turned out to be a Victor III class SSN and it was very capably driven. Although the sub as blanketed by sonobuoys, it struggled valiantly to break contact. Only after the expenditure of 16 aerially delivered torpedoes was she finally sunk. It was remarkable. If all Russian sub drivers were this good, it was going to be a long war.
As the forces began to unite, a second sub contact was detected by DDG Iroquois. One again, helos and Orions converged on the target. This sub turned out to be an Alfa-class SSN; a real sprinter. The contact was quite vague, so a very large area had to be searched. I decided to use the faster Orions for the general search and hold back my helos. I ordered the the SeaHawks to hover. Luck must be smiling on me, today, for one SeaHawk found herself right over the Alfa! This sub, too, required nearly 8 torpedoes to finally sink her.
Once the destroyers made their rendezvous with the SSBNs, they formed a wedge to 'plow' the path for their charges. Hopefully, any enemy sub would engage them before they could reach the Ohios. One SSBN reported a distant fuzzy sub contact. The accompanying Orion immediately took off to investigate. The vague nature of the contact meant another wide area search. After dropping a few sonobuoys near the Ohio, I guessed that the sub was quite a distance away. I measured out a distance of 34nm (the range to the first Convergence Zone [CZ] ) from the Ohio reporting the contact, placed a Reference point on the map, and flew towards it to start my search. When she arrived at the reference point, her very first sonobuoy found the lurking submarine. "X" really does mark the spot! It would also mark the grave of the Russian sub as 4 Mk 46 torpedoes caught her.
Just as the SSBNs were approaching their patrol area, a final sub was detected. This one turned out to be an Akula-class SSN, one of the best in the Russian inventory. Sonobuoy, after sonobuoy, was dropped in an attempt to localize her. However, I was never able to pinpoint the slippery character even though the sonobuoy field was thick enought that I should have been able to nearly walk on them. To add further shame to my frustration, the Akula managed to fire a long-range Type 65-76 wake-homing torpedo at my escorts 21nm distant!
Enough was enough. I decided to drop a single torpedo to goad my assailant into moving and it worked. The Akula sped off at 35kts and clearly revealed herself to everyone within 100 miles. Four torpedoes were sent after her and they caught her twisting and turning at maximum depth.
My SSBNs are only a few hours away from their final destination, so the game is well in hand. Barring a catastrophe, the game is all but won.
Another superb effort from Jerome and thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their HUD3 server. The HUD3 seems to be holding up very well with the submarines quite stealthy. The initial detections seem to appear at quite some distance even for supposedly quiet submarines, but attempts to localize them are a cast-iron b****.
Eds had some time this past weekend and was in the mood for a little ASuW action so we decided to play Matrix Siege, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
This scenario has a frigate and destroyer from the USN vs. a combined force of 15 European missile boats. The numbers looked good, but the capabilities were far from equal.
We both elected to remain under EmCon. I was hoping to close the range for my weapons before revealing my forces and Ed was hoping to remain undetected. We were both successful.
Just as my separate groups were about to trap his force in between them, a Sea Cobra helo appeared and my plans unraveled. It was quickly shot down, but not before it revealed the disposition of my southern groups.
Before I knew it, two ships exploded in fireballs. Since my presence was known, there was no sense in hiding so all radar became active. Unfortunately, Ed seemed to know my position, but I had no idea where his ships were.
As my missile boats went to flank speed to close the gap in hopes of launching their missiles before their destruction, a radar contact revealed the frigate and 8 missiles were immediately fired from the northern group; and none too soon as both missile boats blinked out of existence soon afterwards. Their crews would have been happy to learn that the enemy frigate soon joined them at the bottom of the Kattegat.
One target remained, the Arleigh Burke destroyer. Faced with 10 missile boats, this seemed like easy prey. However, never underestimate the power of a lone AEgis-equipped vessel. Soon, I was losing more gun boats to Harpoon SSMs. Luckily for me, he was expending his valuable ordnance on gunboats and not the more powerful missile boats; a group of 7 of which finally found the range. They loosed 22 SSMs at the Burke and turned to run for their lives.
I thought that the game was well in hand until 4 of the missiles suddenly veered off and struck a neutral cruise liner passing by. The rest of the salvo acted correctly and remained locked upon the destroyer. Several struck her, but could not sink her. With my missile tubes empty, there was no point in continuing the attack since the 127mm gun on the destroyer had far greater range than any projectile weapon carried aboard my puny vessels.
The game turned out to be a draw. I had lost too many ships in the pursuit of my objectives and the loss of the frigate prevented Ed from accomplishing his mission.
A superb afternoon of cat and mouse thanks to Ed and to HarpGamer for the use of their HUD3 server.
After beating Jerome (a.k.a Angle of Attack) during our first ASW confrontation in Watch that First Step, he asked for a re-match and we decided to switch sides to see if I could do any better . This scenario is made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
Having played the USN side last time, I had an idea of just how sensitive the sonar was on the SSBNs. I was hoping to catch the SSBNs as they deployed from the Gulf instead of trying to hunt them in the wide ocean. This proved to be my undoing.
I had an Alfa-class SSN closest to the mouth of the Gulf. She was super fast at 42kts, but she was also super noisy. I remembered picking up her acoustic signature almost immediately. I had to assume that she had already been detected. My long-ranged sensors quickly detected the 2 USCG WHEC cutters and the DDH Iroquois. I ordered the Alpha to attack and try to destroy the nearest cutter.
When she got within 12 nm, the enemy cutter turned away. I suspected that she had already been detected and that the Alpha would soon be under attack, so I ordered her to maximum speed. The Russians built her as an "interceptor" submarine and she would prove it today. The WHEC cutter could only make 29kts at maximum speed while the Alpha closed on her at 42kts.
At a range of 4nm, she started firing 70kt wake-homing torpedoes. I didn't know if they would start chasing targets on the other side of the ocean, so I ordered the Alpha to continue closing on the target. Meanwhile, Jerome had attacked with an Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft. I was hoping that my phenomenal speed would allow me to survive long enough to at least kill the cutter before my own death. A Mk46 torpedo (quite possibly fired from the target) caught the Alpha and imploded her titanium hull. She was soon joined at the bottom of the ocean by the cutter as three torpedoes slammed into her.
The next target was the Canadian destroyer, Iroquois. She had a respectable sonar and could carry deadly helicopters, so she had to die. A Sierra II-class SSN crept up on her and let loose with 2 Type 65-76 torpedoes. Although she did counter-detect the attack and managed fire a Mk46 down the bearing of attack, the fantastic range of the Type 65 allowed me to engage her from outside the range of the Mk46 return fire. The two torpedoes chased her down and broke her back. The Sierra returned to her hunt for the Ohio SSBNs.
The search for the SSBNs was not going well. My decision to attempt to interdict them near the coast was a bad idea. I had a smaller area to search for the SSBNs, but the enemy also had a smaller area to protect, as well. One Victor III-class SSN was creeping in when she detected a torpedo attack (probably from another Orion) upon her. With over four torpedoes chasing her, she knew it was only a matter of time to her destruction. In order to get some use from her weapons, she rose to shallow depth and fired off her SS-N-15 Starfish and SS-N-16 Stallions on Bearing-Only-Launch attacks. Right after she launched, a torpedo killed her. Fortunately, a nuclear-tipped Stallion also landed close enough to the surviving USCG cutter to take it out, too.
The pesky Orion MPA killed my Akula-class SSN and left me with only 2 submarines before I realized the folly of my decision. The two survivors retreated to conduct their hunt in deeper waters. With both sides creeping around at 5kts, it made for a very long game.
Occasionally, Jerome would drop a torpedo on a vague contact in hopes of goading me into moving and making noise. Once or twice, it nearly worked, too! I had to resist the temptation to react to every torpedo I heard in the water.
Finally, my two subs made a detection in the SW corner of the map. Unfortunately, so did Jerome. No sooner had I started moving towards the Ohios than a torpedo was dropped right in front of my surviving Victor III-class SSN. Damn, it was only 3nm away. I couldn't take the chance that it might have acquired me, so I hit the gas and ran at 30kts. Sadly, I was unable to evade and the Victor ate the torpedo at a depth of 600m.
My sole surviving sub was the Sierra II. She decided that this was for all the marbles so she loaded her tubes with every available Starfish and Stallion before creeping up to shallow depth. Once there, she gambled. Sonar estimated that the subs could be no further than the first Convergence Zone (34nm), so she decided to lob her two conventionally armed Stallions into the 34nm region in hopes of spooking the SSBNs into flight.
In the middle area, I dropped a couple of Starfish to provoke the same reaction. And, in case I had him in the direct path and he was close, I launched a USET-80 torpedo to cover the area from 0-10nm. I would save the nuclear-tipped Starfish / Stallion once he started moving for the coup de grace.
My plan worked like a charm. Once the torpedoes dropped into his neighbourhood, his SSBNs reacted and revealed themselves. It was easy to send him to the bottom with a final volley nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the game ended in a draw since I had lost too many submarines in accomplishing my goals.
Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) decided to try out the "Hugo's Folly" battleset inspired by Freek Schepers. To get a full appreciation of this fine collection, we wanted to start from beginning to end. The first scenario is Flight of the Governor, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
Elections in the Netherlands Antilles have seen gains for the political party seeking closer ties to Venezuela and its President, Chavez. The Government has fallen and the legal status of the islands is unclear; with Curacao an independent nation within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba, and Bonaire seeking a similar status, and the three smaller islands of St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, and Saba being municipalities within the Netherlands. Early this morning, Venezuela carried out a sudden invasion of the ABC islands.
#1 Flight of the Governor Venezuela has recently received deliveries of new Su-30 Flankers from Russia. Coupled with the political chaos of the current situation and the aspirations of a megalomaniac, this is a potentially volatile and lethal mixture.
I played the Dutch while AoA commanded the Venezuelans. I did not control many forces. I had a frigate, two coast guard vessels, and merchant ship, a pair of passenger planes, and a single F-16 Falcon. Facing down the entire Venezuelan military was not going to be an option.
To get a feel for the upcoming onslaught, I launched my Lynx helicopter for a quick radar picture. The area was cluttered with civilian vessels of all types. The governmental offices were still operational so I was getting a direct feed from the maritime and aerial authorities who tracked all the merchant traffic in the area. I moved my frigate closer to the island to try and help shield her with the Sea Sparrow battery. As soon as Flanker radar was detected, I landed the helo. I didn't want her to face the potential AA-10 Alamo missiles.
My orders were not to engage unless attacked. Unfortunately, the computer had its own ideas. Once the Flankers were in range, missiles started firing regardless of whatever I tried to do to stop it. Oh well, so much for attention to orders...
Jerome was facing the same problem. He approached civilian airliners and tried to identify them visually in hopes of spotting the one carrying the Governor. Unfortunately, he couldn't prevent his planes from wasting their AA-11 Archer missiles on innocent and defenceless targets, either. So, I guess the problem "balanced" itself out. We both called this phenomenon, Another Genuinely Stupid Idea.
After one hour of game time, the Governor was ready for evacuation by plane or ship. A helo flew onto the waiting Maersk Explorer which then raced off towards the dubious safety of St. Maarten at flank speed accompanied by the frigate and coast guard vessels as escorts. This was a decoy and the Governor decided to leave on one of the the Maritime aircraft. Unfortunately, the island was currently surrounded by Su-30 Flankers.
In an attempt to distract from his departure, he sent one of the Maritime Fokkers on a decoy mission towards Mexico and had all the civilian airliners surge. Hopefully, the large number of aircraft would take time for the Venezuelans to track down and verify so that he could make good his escape. To his horror, the Venezuelans just shot the civilian airliners full of evacuees right out of the sky due to Another Genuinely Stupid Idea. Luckily, he was still sitting on the runway with the surviving Fokker.
The Flankers tried to bomb Aruba and came in at low altitude to deliver their ordnance. One was promptly shot down by a Stinger ManPADS. (It was obviously flown by an inept Flunker.) The situation was pretty much a Mexican stand-off. The Governor could not leave the island and the Venezuelans could not bomb it. However, they didn't need to as there was an entire invasion fleet approaching.
The little rag-tag evacuation fleet detected incoming Otomat SSMs on radar. One tracked onto a coast guard vessel and blew it clean out of the water. Seeing as the Venezuelans decided to open fire from their ships, the FFG #%&*$# returned fire at frigates Urdaneta and Soublette with four Harpoons, each. I suspected that a full salvo would be required to sink a vessel, but I was optimistic (wildly so) that I might be able to get both in one volley. The SAM gunnery of the frigates was good and only one missile struck home, leaving the Urdaneta on fire. If I was lucky, she would sink on her own.
Meanwhile, under cover of the missile attack, the Governor decided that this might be the opportune time to make good his escape. Accompanied by the lone Falcon, he set off at low altitude; hoping to evade detection. Sadly, luck was not with the man, today. A Flanker soon returned to intercept him. The F-16 Falcon manoeuvered aggressively to deflect the attack. Both planes were expertly flown and AAMs were exchanged with neither side getting the upper hand.
The deciding factor was the detection of two additional Flankers coming to join the fray. There was no way that one Falcon would be able to fend off 3 Flankers so the Governor ran back to Aruba airport; hanging his final hopes on finding an opening in the Flanker interdiction patrols in which he could escape through. The situation looked extremely dire.
When all hope seemed lost and facing imminent capture, the cavalry arrived in the form of USAF Falcons! Hurrah! Evidently, my American friends had decided to play a role and a pair of Falcons intercepted and shot down the remaining Flankers. Now, the coast appeared to be clear for the gubernatorial departure. [The best part of the episode (like the best part of most MP games) was listening to Jerome question the fate of his planes ]
At this point, we decided to call it a night and saved the game for completion another time.
Thanks, AoA, for a really great game incorporating real life strategies and diplomatic exchanges. As always, the banter is probably the best part of most MP games. And thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their server.
Wow, yesterday was a really busy day on the server. Three separate sessions were played with three different people and we welcomed a new Harpoon ANW player to the MP battlefield, Tracy Vierra.
TracyV was eager to start and said that he had been playing for nearly a year so we opted to jump right in with the recently revised Matrix Siege, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
This is an exercise between NATO missile and a USN destroyer/frigate combination. I commanded the polyglot force for NATO.
I was hoping to execute a pincer attack from the north and the south at the same time. Unfortunately, Tracy's Super Cobra stumbled upon my northern gunboat screen and revealed my intentions.
It was shot down, but it also drew and immediate USN reaction. Harpoon missiles slammed into two of them and left them sinking in the Kattegat. Luckily for me, he sank the less useful gunboats and left me with my missile boat intact.
It was simply maddening to watch this helo sitting outside the edge of SAM coverage while directing a second Harpoon volley. This time, I lost two valuable missile-firing Flyvefiskin missile boats. Arggh, and I didn't have a clue where his ships were!
Finally, "Radar Contact to the NW Bearing 351!" Even then, they were vague. At the rate I was losing missile boats, I decided to fire now instead of waiting for a simultaneous attack with my northern groups. 24 missiles streaked towards the DDG Burke. Only one, maybe two, got through the withering SAM fire, but it wasn't enough to sink him. My boats immediately turned to run for their lives.
Only minutes later, the northern group came into range and volleyed their 16 Exocet missile. Once again, the impressive SAM defences swatted them from the sky. However, they did get very close. If only they could have launched together, the groups would have swamped the defences. As it stood, all my SSMs were expended and there was no way a gunboat was going to be able to survive a gun duel with a destroyer.
With nothing to stop him, Tracy sailed his force past Laeso Island for victory. A nicely played game for a newbie. Tony Eischens was observing the game and taping it for a soon-to-be-released video. He was also impressed how you managed to kill most SSMs with a single SAM. Great shooting!
Welcome to the world of Harpoon MP. Thanks for the game, TracyV, and to HarpGamer for hosting it on their server.
Another busy day for Harpoon ANW, PlayersDB, and the HarpGamer server. Three separate sessions were played with five different people.
Misha1971 came aboard hoping to continue our saved game of Sea Okhotsk. Unfortunately, we had to abandon it due to the server constantly dropping me out of the session from scenario size. It was a real shame since it was developing quite nicely.
Instead, we chose to play another PlayersDB scenario, Save the Queen. We barely got started, but it seems to be turning into a real barn-burner. I took the UK side while Misha commanded his motherland's forces. My orders were to defend the UK from Russian attack.
I had a pair of E-3D Sentry aircraft at my disposal so I decided to make the best use of them. Soon after launch, they picked up emissions from the approaching Russian task force. They took up position NE and NW of my CVH group and were accompanied by 4 Tornado fighters, each, as a Combat Air Patrol.
After the radar picture firmed up and, without much other activity, I decided to send my CAP on an offensive sweep to cull some of the enemy's CAP and AEW aircraft. Bad idea.
Four fighters, two AEW helos, and 2 ASW helos were confirmed. Both CAP flights crept in at Medium altitude to avoid radar detection. Once close enough to the enemy CAP, they let loose with AIM-120 AMRAAM and targeted 4 on each fighter with a pair on each AEW helo. Three were shot down along with the two helos. While preparing a second volley for the surviving fighter, my planes started disappearing! Apparently, Misha had deployed his BCGN and Slava cruisers (prime AAW defense platforms) far in front of his ASW screen!
What I thought were harmless ASW frigates turned out to be deadly SAM-spewing cruisers. They quickly blew 7 of the 8 Tornadoes out of the sky. Their loss was bad enough, but now there was nothing standing between the surviving fighter and my AEW aircraft! Son of a B...
As I desperately tried to scramble more fighters, his survivor got close enough to blast one Sentry and another group closed on the second Sentry. My surviving Tornado managed to get three of the Fulcrum interceptors, but the last one closed and loosed a single AA-10 Alamo that incinerated the AEW platform. Damn, and double-damn. Curse all sneaky Russians.
Now, I was essentially blind. I still had AEW helos from the CVH, but they were very limited in capability. Even so, Misha tried to punch out all my AEW with more Fulcrum flights. Luckily, a second flight of Tornadoes arrived in time to kill the Fulcrum. I am going to miss the Sentry coverage, though.
To make matters worse, Misha ordered his nuclear submarines to attack. He said that he was trying something with them and wondered if I had detected them. However, I am not someone who gives my opponents Free Intelligence during a game, so he can check this thread after we finish the match. I did detect his Akula and Victor (?) subs as they moved.
We saved the game at this point and will pick it up, tomorrow.
Great opening session, Misha. Curse all sneaky Russian bastages, though. Thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their server.
TracyV came back for his second ANW game right afterwards. This time, we chose to play Airlane Gambit, made with the community's favourite ANW database, the PlayersDB.
I commanded the NATO defenders of Lajes while Tracy controlled a Russian amphibious invasion force.
With my two Sentry aircraft, I was quickly able to locate the approaching task group and it certainly looked impressive with BCGN Frunze, CG Slava, and CG Azov as escorts. However, there were only two DDG Soveremenny-class destroyers as escorts, so I would play my ace-in-the-hole, SSN Seawolf.
With such impressive AAW ships, the matching ECM capabilities were awesome, too. Once they were activated, my radar picture was severely reduced.
To help in the penetration by the Seawolf, I launched an ASuW strike with my 8 available P-3 MPA [Maritime Patrol Aircraft]. They targeted both with 16 Harpoon missiles, each. Against such SAM defences, I thought I might have a 50% chance of killing both. As it turned out, one kill was all I got . Thankfully, it was on the side that the Seawolf was already making its approach.
The Seawolf was able to sneak in past the thin ASW screen and made her way past the Slava and Sovremennyy. She wanted the heavy amphibious ships. She timed her approach and attack to coincide with a second strike from Lajes airfield. 10 A-6E Intruders armed with 4 AGM-84 Harpoons each launched everything they had at the Slava along with 2 frigates firing 8 Harpoons each. As the missiles flew over the Seawolf, she added 8 more from her torpedo tubes. She hoped that the Russians would not realize that there was a submarine in their midst when they saw the Harpoons. Although 64 missiles might appear impressive, they were easily swatted from the sky by the defences. In retaliation, the Russians obliterated my two frigates with Shipwreck missiles.
As Seawolf vainly tried to re-load with torpedoes for her second assault, the computer kept re-loading with Tomahawks. After a number of tries, 6 tubes were re-loaded with Mk 48 torpedoes. This would have to suffice.
Once into the heart of the convoy, she aimed 3 torpedoes at the BCGN Frunze and one each at Ivan Rogov-class LPDs and support ships. The BCGN exploded in a thunderous explosion from a combined force of nearly 1500lb of explosives under her keel. along with the amphibious ships. Now, it was a race between the torpedo re-loading teams and the enemy torpedo crews.
Once again, the AI would only allow me to re-load one tube at a time with Mk 48 torpedoes. CG Azov managed to drop a torpedo right behind Seawolf. For all their surprise, the Russians reacted quickly and efficiently. Only a Mk3 decoy saved the Seawolf. In response, she fired her first torpedo back at the Azov when she turned on her engines and ran at flank speed. Her torpedo killed the Azov. Now that the escorts were out of the way, she took her leisurely time dispatching the survivors.
Once done, Tracy conceded defeat as he could no longer fulfill his Victory Conditions.
With the exception of the torpedo re-loading bug, it was a really fun time by both sides. Thanks for the game, Tracy, and HarpGamer for the use of the server.
Misha1971 and I tried to finish our game of Save the Queen, made with the PlayersDB. It was another spell-binding engagement.
After slaughtering a good portion of my fighter cover, we settled into an uneasy "phony war". Neither side ventured forth with both just protecting their surviving assets. The situation could not last forever.
I tried to approach the Russian battlegroup for a submarine attack, but, evidently, one was detected as a swarm of ASW helicopters was detected in the vicinity of one. The RAF commander could not allow the RN to take such a heavy blow if the SSN were lost. One CAP flight was detailed to eliminate the hunters. From my previous experience with the phenomenal Russian SAMs, I ordered a dog-leg approach to minimize exposure to them.
Meanwhile, my other SSN also had an uninvited guest in the form of an Akula SSN. Once his general position was identified, a pair of Spearfish torpedoes was launched from a range of 15nm. It was going to be a long shot, but I felt that the 70kt torpedoes would be able to catch him. When they were half-way to the target, they must have been detected as he kicked his sub into high gear and ran at 35kts. However, he was unable to evade the Spearfish and they caught him at the end of their run.
Returning back to the other SSN, the Tornadoes were able to 'scratch the fleas' off its back. Hopefully, that would give him sufficient room to manoeuvre clear.
After the helos went down, the Sierra Strike consisting of Tornado GR.1B, Sea Harrier, and Nimrods made their ingress. The Tornado and Nimrods were able to successfully release their 64 combined Harpoons and Sea Eagles, but the Nimrods detected SAM emissions just as the last weapons fell off their racks...
We saved the game for future completion. I wonder which of my planes will survive.
Another great session, Misha, and thanks to HarpGamer for playing the gracious host.
Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) tried to finish off our scenario with Flight of the Governor, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
Having shot down the bulk of his Su-30s, the only thing left for me to do was evacuate the embassy personnel aboard the Maersk Explorer and the frigate, Van #%&*$#. However, AoA wasn't giving up without a fight!
As the little rag-tag evacuation force made its way to St. Maarten, a submarine contact was detected
Normally, this would not present much of a problem. I ordered my SH-14D Lynx helicopter aloft to prosecute the contact. Luckily, I had kept my eye on the radar screen because coming out of the SE was another Flanker! (Just how many of those things did Hugo buy!?)
There was no way that my Lynx was going to survive an encounter with a Flanker, so I quickly ordered it back to the ship. So, another Mexican Standoff ensued. I could not prosecute the contact because it was protected by the fighter and the fighter lacked the ability to attack my ships.
Something had to give. As my orders directed me to make St. Maartens best possible speed, I would just have to close with the submarine and engage the old fashioned way, with a broadside torpedo launch.
I ordered the Van #%&*$# to make flank speed towards the sub contact in hopes of screening my merchants from retaliatory attack. However, AoA had his own ideas. Once he knew that had been detected, he sent a lone torpedo towards my ships and hope that he could break contact while my ships evaded the diversionary attack.
It was a beautiful idea since it screwed up my plans and might just prevent me from achieving my Victory Conditions as I had to get my ships as close to St. Maarten as possible. My ships turned to run until the torpedo ran out of fuel. This burned both fuel (and Time!), since I was headed in the wrong direction.
In 'retaliation', I hinted to Jerome that I had a sub in the Aruba area waiting to return the favour.
In fact, I had no sub at my disposal, but it was entertaining to watch AoA pound the waters with his sonar searching in vain for a sub that wasn't there. This was probably as close to a real life situation as we could get. Just the mere hint of a submarine's presence can cause a frenzy of activity in one's enemy.
At this point, we decided to call it a night and saved the game for completion tomorrow, hopefully.
Thanks, AoA, for making this game so realistic and to HarpGamer for the use of their server. We crashed it three times, but it always came back up. Bravo
Tonight, Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) and I were determined to finish off our scenario with Flight of the Governor, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
After evading the lone torpedo salvo, the evacuation ships quickly returned to their course for St. Maartens. There was another sub out there and no clue to it's location.
As usual, when it rains, it pours. Once again, a submarine was detected. However, soon afterwards, a second was detected, too. Free from the Su-30 threat at last, I launched the Lynx to prosecute the sub contact that lay astride our path. It was a calculated risk. Hopefully, the sub in the aft quarter was too distant to be a threat.
Soon after launch, the Lynx dipped her sonar and localized the sub about 11nm from the frigate and closed to point blank range before releasing her Mk46 torpedo. She didn't want to give the sub any time to fire a final barrage of torpedoes before her death. The plan worked and no torpedoes were detected from that quarter.
The stern quarter was another matter. 12 torpedoes were detected, but they were only running at 28kts while the ships were fleeing at 23kts. They soon ran out of fuel.
This was near the 12 hour game limit. The scenario expired and I think that I won, but can't be sure due to the ever-present Victory Condition bug.
Thanks, AoA, for making truly realistic and challenging game and to HarpGamer hosting it.
Here's another superb AAR from Ralf [re-printed with permission]
Originally Posted By: rkoelbach;907666
AAR
"Alone in the Snow" Scenario designed by Herman Hum
Based on an original Harpoon Classic HDS-II-scenario Database: Players DB 7.4.7
Game engine: H3 ANW 3.8.0 Release Version Aircraft Logistics on
A. Foreword:
Herman rebuilds a lot of HC scens, especially those of the HC HDS-II-Battleset, with AGSIs permission. "Alone in the Snow" belongs to the HDS-II-GIUK-Battleset, Herman's favourite.
Sweden's situation is difficult, but not hopeless: It faces an airborne Russian invasion. Sweden has got several squadrons of fighter-bombers in order to keep his bases intact, especially to save Visby.
B. My experience
1. Start is November 21st, 1997, at 00:30 AM.
2. First thing to do: Change all Gripen loadouts into AMRAAMs.
3. Launched one flight of four Viggens from Visby.
4. At 00:43 all four Viggens are shot down. They are totally outgunned by Flankers and Fulcrums with Alamo missiles.
5. About 00:52: The air attacks against Visby have begun: first hits. So here is the dilemma again: If I keep my outgunned aircraft on the ground, they are hammered there - together with their base. If I make them airborne they fell victim to a real turkey shooting.
6. At 01:00 I launch two more Viggens from Visby in the hope of shooting down some attackers.
7. Seven minutes later both are shot down. Humiliating.
8. First blood! At 01:35 my AMRAAM equipped Gripen kill two Fulcrums and manage to run aways from a cloud of Alamos.
So is that the right tactic: To keep the Viggens ground in order to wait for the Russian helos and to conduct surprise counter attack with the Gripens on Russian fighters?
9. After several dogfights we have 03:00 AM. My Gripens perform on nearly equal terms with the Flankers and Fulcrums, but will it be enough?
I have to survive for another 21.5 hours!
Hadn't thought that even AMRAAMs are barely equal to those Russian killer missiles.
Ok, back to my orders: I must not lose more than 24 ac; I have to kill 20+ helos and I have to protect Visby.
That will become a race against time. I need to keep enough fighters to perform my own turkey shoot on the Russian helos. But if I do no protect Visby against air attacks I will never see those incoming helos...
10. Its 08:00 AM. I lost 20 ac so far - too many, I fear. My tactic has been to aggressive. I got about 17 Russian fighters and fighter-bombers, but the kill-ratio still is bad for me.
And there are 16 more hours left. Of course the Russian helo pilots will wait as long as possible before they board their machines in order to capture Visby.
11. At 09:07 its over: Four more Viggen shot down in a failed attempt to stop the next attacks on Visby.
D. Resume
This one is a brain-teaser. Even the "AMRAAM-updated version" is very hard because of several reasons:
a) The Swedish side pays heavily for not having any jammers or AEW birds. b) Finding the right tactic is extremely difficult: Keeping the birds grounde will lose by losing Visby. Sending them to fight means sending them to the butcher.
The right way to win it may be a mixed strategy: First - Ferry all Viggens to a backward base, loading them with AAW missiles - and keep them on the ground. Second - Sending pairs of AMRAAM armed Gripens to defend Visby and run away after firing from max. distance.
I'll try it!
And I'll try the original HC scen in order to compare both versions.
For those folks interested, here's the AAR from Ralf's HC run [re-printed with permission]:
Originally Posted By: rkoelbach
AAR: Alone in the Snow Original Scenario / HDS-II GIUK HC 2002 Gold 2003.16b3 AAR by Ralf Koelbach
After having failed winning its H3 ANW rebuilt (done by Herman), I tried the original HC scenario.
When I started and looked at my aircraft I was shocked a little bit - no AMRAAMS. The same situation as in Herman's "clean" rebuilt (before he made the AMRAAM-update), of course.
Well, I went for it and was curious how the HC game engine would perform in contrast to the H3 ANW engine.
The result was similar: In HC 2002 Gold I was outgunned to - the Sky Flash armed Gripen were wiped out of the sky by Fulcrums and Flankers. Very aggressive AI behaviour - great.
So there was no real difference between HC and H3 ANW concerning this.
But I was lucky and won because the helos came in dumb few hours after the start. At this point I had enough Gripen and SAMs on my base thus it became a massacre: In few minutes I managed to shoot down 21 helos - one more than necessary to win.
Thus the original HC scen lacks a time delta for the attacks on Visby. That would be no problem. Another thing are the SAMS located there: 120 of them are enough to ruin your day.
So: Two issues, both could be fixed in HC and then it would be the same killer scen as it has become under Herman's hands.
INVASION OF ANTILLES Harpoon ANW scenario for the PlayersDB Author: Freek Schepers
Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) came looking to try another scenario from Freek Scheper's Hugo's Folly battleset, made with ANW's most functional database, the PlayersDB. Having played the first one, we chose the second one in the series, "Invasion of Antilles" with Jerome continuing in his role of S. American aggressor.
Quote:
Elections in the Netherlands Antilles have seen gains for the political party seeking closer ties to Venezuela and its President, Chavez.
The Government has fallen and the legal status of the islands is unclear; with Curacao an independent nation within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Aruba, and Bonaire seeking a similar status, and the three smaller islands of St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, and Saba being municipalities within the Netherlands. Early this morning, Venezuela carried out a sudden invasion of the ABC islands.
Netherlands has a standing presence in the Caribbean with an FFG (currently Van #%&*$#), 2 companies of Royal Marines, and several Coast Guard Cutters to deter any aggression and interdict drug shipments. The 2 short companies of Royal Dutch Marines fought a gallant rear-guard action towards the airport and left the island in two Fokker patrol planes.
The Netherlands has announced that it will send a task force to retake the islands, and convened an urgent NATO meeting this morning. The NATO meeting ended in an uproar after the NATO president determined that Article 5 did not apply and recommended diplomacy to end the crisis. The Dutch ambassador announced that Netherlands was ending its NATO military mission in Afghanistan with immediate effect and that in fact the 1500 Dutch troops there were already packing. It looks like Netherlands will have to fight the first phase of the aggression alone.
With my successful escape from hordes of Venezuelan Flankers, now I was charged with the defense of St. Maartens. Any hope of a successful liberation of the ABC Islands would require use of St. Maartens as a springboard.
I ordered all my ships to flank speed to hurry back to the island and bolster her defences. There were reports of a paratroop drop on St. Eustatius with possible re-inforcements arriving by sea, air, or sub. As I had no idea what AoA intended, I launched my Maritime Fokker patrol planes out to eyeball the situation.
A quick flight over St. Eustatius was enough to confirm the presence of enemy paratroops on the island. I ordered the FFG van #%&*$# to make a slight detour in order to smash the invaders with her naval guns. The Fokker continued on her way to classify and identify the shipping in the area. The last thing I wanted to find was a follow-on amphibious force. Suddenly, she detected more Flanker radar! (Just how many of the damned things did Hugo buy?!) She dove to the deck and shut down her radar all the while running back for the safety of St. Maartens. Unfortunately, she only made 278kts and was caught over 100nm away and shot down.
Soon enough, the Venezuelans discovered the FFG van #%&*$# and sent in their Exocet-armed Mirage to attack. There were four Mirage, but they failed to execute a combined attack. Three Exocet were fired and then a final one followed minutes later. The frigate's Sea Sparrow easily defeated them. However, there were a finite number of missiles in the launcher.
Having failed to destroy the target, AoA ordered his bomb-laden F-16 Falcons to attack. (AoA is an ex-Argentine army pilot, so he remembered all the tales of bravado and daring from the Malvinas conflict.) He separated his Falcons and each came in on afterburner at low level from a different vector. The approach would have been called 'beautiful' if it were not for the fact that he was running down my throat! The van #%&*$# got one of the attackers with her 76mm gun, but another managed to lay her stick of bombs right across the bow of the frigate. Unlike in the Falklands conflict, there were no fuzing errors and little warship blew up in a tremendous explosion.
The remaining strikers tried to suppress St. Maartens airport and only left it damaged after one of their number was shot down on the approach. At this time, we decided the game was a draw since neither side could achieve its Victory Conditions. My loss of the frigate and the destruction of AoA's paratroops meant that the game could only end in a draw.
AoA, you did the Aerea Fuerza Argentina proud, tonight. Thanks for a great game and thanks to HarpGamer for hosting the server.
Misha loves to play the Russians in all our engagements. Unfortunately, most of the scenarios invariably end in crashes due to their size. After crashing The Merge, Okhotsk, Linchpin from size, we chose 2nd Battle of Tsushima Strait, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
Misha commanded a force of surface ships desperately trying to return home to Vladivostok via the Tsushima Strait while I controlled the Japanese squadron detailed to close that very same Strait.
I didn't know what Misha had up his sleeve. I ordered the P-3 Orion and F-15J Eagle fighters aloft to ascertain the situation. The moment they detected MiG-31 Foxhound radar, they fled the scene and landed. There was no way that the Eagles could begin to challenge for aerial superiority with the Foxhounds and I wasn't intent on simply sacrificing them. Misha then launched his Bear recon aircraft and it just sat there outside of range of my destroyer flotilla; reporting its every move to headquarters. There would be a day of reckoning, my friend, but, until that time, I would simply have to grin and bear this snooper.
Further south, I suspected that his surface strike group must be close to the Tsushima Strait so I decided to try a surprise attack on the group with my AGM-130-armed Eagles in hopes of possibly killing one ship before he realized that he had been detected. They crept in at low altitude and were not detected until they rose to minimum release altitude for their weapons (1000m). At that point, they quickly energized their radar, shot down a Ka-29 Helix surveillance helo, and released their AGM-130 missiles. As they turned to flee, they dove to the deck and lit their afterburners. Their speed managed to save half of them from destruction as they were chased all the way home by the Foxhounds.
At this point, I decided that there was no way I could win under the current conditions. I could not challenge the Foxhounds since their AA-9 Amos missiles had more than double my own AIM-7 Sparrow range. So long as they and the Bears were present, I could not attack the Russian fleet as it bristled with over 30 long-ranged Sandbox and Shipwreck missiles, each with a range of over 300nm. My own Harpoons were a pitiful 75nm in range.
There was only one choice -- close down Vladivostok. I ordered the Escort flotilla northward for an old-fashioned bombardment mission. Under the protective SAM umbrella provided by the AEgis destroyer Kongo, they were molested by MiG-29 fighter-bombers, but were undamaged as they entered the bay. 30 minutes of naval artillery fire was sufficient to smash the hangars and revetments of the base along with several batteries of SA-12 SAMs.
Once the protective air cover was gone, it was an easy mission to shoot down the Recon Bears. At that point, I ordered the destroyers to shut down their radar in hopes of Russians losing them in the background noise. This would be my only chance of delivering a successful SSM strike before being annihilated by the return fire.
Meanwhile, the surviving Strike Eagles had re-armed and launched to try and pick off a ship from the Russians. Even if they were not successful, it was hoped that the AGM-130s would at least force the Russians to expend more of their SAMs. I was facing very long odds and I had to play every card I had.
The Eagles managed to make their ingress undetected. Once again, when they rose to 40nm, they were engaged. With a pair of Sparrows aimed at each of the two hovering helicopters and all AGM-130 released towards the DD Udaloy, they turned to flee the scene of the crime. This time, they took no losses, but inflicted none, either. The SAM defences of a Russian battlefleet are simply awesome.
At this time, we decided to call it a night. A superb game, Misha. Looking forward to its completion, soon. Thanks to HarpGamer for the user of their server.
Misha and I met up in hopes of finishing the 2nd Battle of Tsushima Strait, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
With Vladvistok in flames, I denied Misha any aerial reconnaissance. I positioned flights of Eagles near his SAG and shot down every helo that tried to rise from his decks. With him essentially blinded, I order my Destroyer Flotilla to make their approach.
What I didn't realize was the number of submarines that Misha still had in his Order of Battle. A Victor II-class boat was detected on the towed array sonar from the oncoming strike fleet. A nearby P-3 Orion was ordered to intercept and destroy it. Hopefully, it would not have counter-detected my own ships. I immediately ordered the ships to a dead stop.
The Orion successfully destroyed the submarine, but the question remained in my mind: Had I been counter-detected? Was there a cloud of Shipwreck and Sandbox SSMs on their way? I decided to re-position my Eagles as a stop-gap measure between my ships and the Russian fleet. This would prove to be fortuitous.
Not long afterwards, another submarine was detected. Before the Orions could pounce on her, sonar reported "Transient, Transient! Missile tube firing!" I was too late. My position had been revealed. Sure enough, a second barrage of Shipwreck and Sandbox SSMs were detected rising from the Russian fleet. Damn. A multi-axis attack is truly a beautiful sight (except if you happen to be sitting on the bullseye!)
The Eagle flights managed to get a few. Thank goodness for that. The DDG Kongo then engaged with her SAMs and got the rest. Unfortunately, she used up her entire SAM magazine in the defense, but it allowed the flotilla to survive the onslaught. The fact that the Soviets had attacked in 3 separate waves also allowed the flotilla to escape without loss. I would not make the same mistake. I would engage with one massive strike.
After soaking up my defensive SAMs, the Charlie had outlived her purpose and the Orion obligingly terminated her with a Mk 46 torpedo. Now, I had the Soviet fleet hemmed in against the coast near Kyoto. However, as everyone knows, a cornered animal is the most dangerous kind, of all. This Bear still had Sunburn SSMs on his DDG Sovremennyy and a ton of SA-6 Grumbles that would be effective anti-ship weapons, too.
At this time, we called it a night. Another superb session. Looking forward to its completion this weekend. Many thanks to HarpGamer for the use of their server.
Tonight, Misha and I were determined to finish the titanic 2nd Battle of Tsushima Strait, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
After the second intermission, the situation stood as follows:
My Destroyer flotilla was closing on the Soviet SAG [Surface Action Group] after the Soviets had expended their long-ranged SSMs for no hits. My Harpoons had a range of 75m, but the Soviet SAM defences were nothing short of awesome. DDG Soveremennyy still had her full complement of Sunburn SSMs with a range of 80nm. Along with her 130mm naval gun, she was the most dangerous of the Soviet ships since that gun had greater range than the 127mm guns aboard my own ships. Although the BCGN and carriers were more tempting targets, she would be the prime target. Even with its offensive striking power mostly expended, this Soviet force would still be a hard nut to crack.
The Soviets were well screened by submarines. As the flotilla made its attack run, sonar suddenly reported an incoming torpedo. Damn! My sonar was virtually blind during the high speed attack manoeuvres and now I was paying the price. A Victor-III class sub had been laying for the group and loosed a single Type 65 torpedo. To make matters worse, the Sovrmennyy added a few Sunburn SSMs to the party. The SSMs were shot down by Standard SAMS while all the ships turned to run, but the phenomenal range of the torpedo easily chased down and killed DD Hatakaze. Her 127mm guns were going to be sorely missed along with the eight Harpoons in her mounts.
The flotilla had split into two groups due to their speed differential, but both made a simultaneous attack on the Soviet squadron. I had 48 Harpoons at my disposal. I elected to fire 28 at the Sovremennyy and 12 at the BCGN. I didn't expect any to actually hit the BCGN, but I needed to soak up her potent SA-N-6 Grumble SAMs. Originally, I thought that 36 missiles should be plenty to sink the lone destroyer (I forgot that 8 sank with the Hatakaze). I could not be more wrong. Of the entire attack, the destroyer suffered a single hit. Later, I would pay dearly for my divided fire allocation later.
Once the SSMs were expended, it came down to a naval gun battle, like it did in 1905 -- nearly 90 years earlier. Misha threw everything he had at me in order to soak up my Standard SAMs and he did admirably. Upon reaching 20nm range, I fired the entire remaining inventory at his DDG Sovremennyy. Once again, the defensive SAM fire from the DDG was phenomenal and only a few struck home. Unable to destroy the enemy group, I ordered the flotilla to close for direct gunfire.
At this point, my failure to destroy the Sovremennyy came back to haunt me as she managed to sink one of my destroyers and cripple another before finally succumbing to a massed barrage from the surviving 5 destroyers. With only the CV Kuznetsov and CVH Kiev remaining, the JMSDF closed to administer the coup de grace (or so they thought).
As they came into gun range, the Kiev still sported torpedo mounts for the USET-80 and several were fired back in my direction. My ships turned to flee this new threat. I think that they would have claimed the crippled destroyer, had they been able to run to completion, but I was awarded victory for sinking 3 Soviet ships and the game ended.
What a monumental battle. It was quite surprising and exhilarating to actually re-fight Tsushima and end it, once again, with a gunnery duel. Thanks for a fantastic fight, Misha, and thanks to HarpGamer hosting it on their server.
Jerome (a.k.a. Angle of Attack), a native of Argentina, and I had played Malvinas II several times. Each time, AoA played the Argentines while I played the UK. After several losses, we switched sides to see if I could do better. Malvinas II, has been made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
We began, as usual, with a round of scouting and counter-scouting. AoA had his AEW helos airborne in hopes of locating my surface fleet. I immediately activated the jamming suite on DD Hercules to counter his efforts. While his helos were brightly radiating their position, I ordered my Mirage fighters to creep in and shoot them down from low level.
Once the UK was effectively blinded, I focused on his Harrier CAP, next. The Harriers were much slower than the supersonic Mirage, but they carried the lethal Sidewinder AAMs that far out-ranged my own Magic missiles. It was quite a tricky task to engage them. Luckily, he flew his CAP at high altitude so they were clearly seen by my own radar stations on Malvinas and the Hercules. Several were caught from behind and shot down before they even knew I was in the neighbourhood by using Ground-Controlled Intercept solutions. However, revenge was swift. In the end, I managed to kill 8 Harriers for the lost of all 12 of my Mirage. It was a steep price, but it had to be paid.
Generally free from Harrier depredation, my Trackers roamed the skies. I had grouped my surface forces near Port Stanley to await the invasion force. A sudden missile attack on them was repulsed after using up nearly all my SAMs. However, the attack suggested the presence of a submarine so a search was conducted by Tracker.
Sure enough, a sub was detected 6nm away from the ships. As the Alouette and Trackers began their attack, the submarine showed here teeth by firing a spread of torpedoes back at me. My blood froze when I detected these phenomenal weapons. With a top speed of 70 knots, there simply would be no escape from them in a straight chase situation. The only defense would be to put a wall of earth between my ships and the torpedoes. The Trafalgar died quickly, but she would have been quite surprised to see my ships dart behind the bay. When they reached their Pre-planned Activation Points [PAP], they promptly slammed into the shore. Whew, that was close. However the tactic was not without cost. DD Sarandi somehow managed to beach herself (another stupid game bug) and thus ended up as a partial mission kill.
I used the trackers to generally locate the enemy amphibious forces and sent in my Exocet-armed Super Etendards. Although the positions were very hazy, they were sufficient for the Exocets. I needed to soak up some of the dangersous Sea Dart SAMs the enemy carried.
The enemy was no slouch, either. Once I carried out my AShM attack, he replied with an AShM strike of his own delivered by Sea King helos. I had re-positioned my ships into a bay in hopes of the tall valley walls providing some semblance of protection from missile strikes as my own SAMs were severely depleted. A second strike was also repulsed, but DDG La Argentina took a missile strike that left her limping along at 8 knots. I was in fear of losing her, but her valiant crew managed to limit the flooding to 50% and she sailed onward. Unfortunately, the ships were now virtually naked as nearly all SAMs had been expended.
A final round of SSM attack was mixture of Harpoons from the destroyer escorts combined with the remaining Sea Eagle from the Sea Kings. It felt like Ft. Apache with missiles coming in from all directions. Without any SAMs to counter the threat, several ships were struck and destroyed. However, some did survive.
At this point, I decided to throw the dice and gamble the game on one stroke. The five Etendard were re-launched along with 12 Skyhawks from Port Stanley. With the enemy SAM shooters closing on the base, air operations would soon be too dangerous to conduct since they would be launching and landing under the enemy's SAM umbrella.
The Trackers had located the Amphibious vessels thus allowing my strike elements to make their long circuitous journey around the enemy CAP and knocking directly on his back door. Unfortunately, the surprise party was prematurely detected by a roving Harrier. It shot down one of the Etendard before the release point. All hope of further surprise went down in flames with the unlucky plane and the strike leader decided to initiate the attack immediately. (This was probably the best point in the game. AoA nearly wet his pants when he saw the mass of Skyhawks appear next to his Amphibs and said, "That's it. I'm dead. Game over" on the mIRC channel :D)
The four surviving Super Etendard released their Exocet at the nearest DDG. They held no expectation of actually getting a hit, but they hoped that the salvo would occupy the DDG long enough for the Skyhawks to slip past the defenses.
The Skyhawks hugged the waters and drove in their attack at 30m altitude. The SAMs got a few and four of them decided to suppress the DDG on their ingress. They dropped their loads of Mk82 bombs and emptied their 20mm cannon on her to leave her a mass of flames as the strike split up to pass east and west of her to bore in on the Sir Galahad.
The western element died when it was shot to ribbons by Sea Wolves as it tried to split the defences between two Broadsword frigates. The eastern element took losses, too, but 3 survived long enough to deliver their bombs on target. Unfortunately, this was insufficient to sink the vessel. The damage was significant, but the flooding was eventually stopped at 30%. (I'll never know if the four bombers that took out the DDG Birmingham would have made the difference if they had survived long enough to bomb the Galahad. )
With no surviving strike assets, AoA merrily continued his parade to the beach. I had 3 diesel subs waiting for him, but with a surfeit of ASW helos to conduct a thorough search of the waters, they were soon located and killed by aerial torpedoes.
Thanks for yet another superb game, AoO. Games that are fought to the last round of ammunition are the best. Thanks also to HarpGamer for the use of their server.
Ed and I met up for our weekly ANW match. This week, we elected to try out Bart Gauvin's first scenario production, Ice Picket, made with the Harpoon community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
I played the Soviets while Ed commanded the NATO forces. My orders were to prevent NATO from reinforcing the Jan Mayen Island outpost with a PhibRon.
Right away, one of my spy trawlers [AGI] picked up radar transmissions and one of my Victor III subs detected the distinct acoustic signatures of Tarawa-class and Wasp-class vessels and moved in to investigate. The AGI soon spotted a SH-2 SeaSprite helo coming over to give her a look. The pilot was very cagy and came in slowly while the AGI had trained a pair of Gremlin SAMs tracking her all the time. Closer, and closer, she came until she was just outside of maximum range. Crap. She fingered the AGI, so there was no further need for stealth. She went to flank speed and raced to nail down the position of the enemy PhibRon.
Soon enough, a pair of AH-1 SeaCobras came in on an attack run to fire Hellfire missiles. However, they got too close and one was brought down by a Gremlin. The AGI was burning furiously and listing, but still afloat and she had confirmation of the course and speed for the PhibRon. This was transmitted to SubSquadron 31 and the nearest Victor III calculated an intercept course. Unfortunately, the PhibRon was moving at a very high rate (24kts!) so there was no chance of the SSN catching it without moving at a high speed, herself. Captain Ivanov ordered the sub to full speed (23kts) and hoped that he would survive long enough to deliver his attack.
Once she transmitted her data, the AGI had outlived her purpose. When two Harriers from the PhibRon came to finish her off, she was determined not to go down without a fight. They Marine pilots fired Mavericks, but they also came in too close and one of them suffered the same fate as the previous SuperCobra and was blown from the sky by a Gremlin. The Mavericks found their mark and the AGI was soon sinking by the stern.
Captain Ivanov was approaching perpendicular to the course of the PhibRon. At his closest approach, he decided to let loose his Type 65-76 wake-homing torpedoes. Their phenomenal range meant that they could actually catch the large landing ships. He fired them on bearing-only launch.
As soon as they left the tubes, the NATO sonar operators must have heard their launch transient for a helo came out to investigate. The crew kept their fingers crossed and hoped to live long enough to deliver the rest of their ordnance. Once the tubes were re-loaded, a second, then a third, brace of lethal 650mm killer torpedoes were launched.
This also gave the helo systems operator sufficient information to further localize the onrushing submarine and a Mk46 ASW torpedo was dropped. Although nearly blind in their haste, K-305's sonar operator detected the high-pitched eminations from the approaching torpedo. As a final act of desperation, the K-305 fired the 3 USET-80 torpedoes in her tubes on the last generated sonar bearings just as the Mk46 struck. With 92% of their flotation destroyed, the crew blew the ballast tanks and tried to fight their way to the surface. The pressure of the North Atlantic ended their race at -190m when their pressure hull imploded.
Although they did not live to see it, their torpedoes ran true and first LHA Saipan, the LHD Wasp were struck by the massive Type 65-76 torpedoes. Both were lost immediately. The USET-80 torpedoes selected the CG Leahy for their terminal run and two were more than enough to leave her listing with here engine room flooded.
With his three High Value Units sinking, Ed conceded the game. Jan Mayen would get no re-inforcement this day.
Thanks for a very nice game and congratulations to Bart on the first MP session for his debut scenario. Thanks, also, to Harpgamer for hosting the server.
AAR: Sea King to Chile Incident [Spoiler Alert] A Harpoon ANW scenario Author: Freek Schepers
Jerome Chiecchio (a.k.a. Angle of Attack) and I elected to try out this hypothetical scenario set in the Falklands.
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One of the most mysterious events of the war happened on May 16th, when a Sea King was found burning and abandoned near Punta Arenas airbase. The British claimed a 500nm navigation error but, after the war, it became clear that SAS Special Forces had been planning a raid to take out the Exocet-armed Super Etendard aircraft which had sunk Sheffield and Atlantic Conveyor. Speculation on the nature of this operation still ranges from SAS-Hercules aircraft landing on Rio Grande airbase in order to destroy the planes on the ground to the setting up of covert radar facilities to provide early warning for the fleet.
Fact is that Chile felt it was the next target of the Argentine junta and, therefore, open to cooperation with the British.
With most of my ships off replenishing their stores, I only had Invincible and a lone escort with which to accomplish my mission. My orders were to transfer two Sea King helicopters with SAS forces to Chile and take out the Super Etendard aircraft that had been a plague on Her Majesty's forces thus far.
I decided to gamble and ferry my two available Harriers and the Sea Kings to the ad hoc RAF base in Chile. I hoped to provide my vulnerable helos with a modicum of escort at least part of the way. They took a long round-about path to Punta Arenas by flying around Tierra del Fuego and off the coast of Chile in order to stay below the radar horizon of Rio Grande air base. It was a long and tense journey as I had no airborne early warning capability. The first sign of an enemy presence might very well be tracer rounds or the smoke trail of an in coming missile. However, no of this came to pass as all the aircraft landed safely in Chile. Part one of the mission was complete.
The second phase of the operation was the tricky part. I had to locate the enemy Etendard unit before I could send in the air strike. There were four possible locations for the unit: Rio Grande, Rio Gallegos, San Julian, and Comodoro Rivadavia. I only had a few unarmed PR.9 Canberra reconnaissance aircraft at Punta Arenas and a few aircraft along with an SAS unit on San Felix in the Pacific. It was a difficult order, but I decided to send in single aircraft on virtual suicide missions to photograph the four bases. I would lose the asset, but at least I would be certain of the Etendard aircraft. One flight from Punta Arenas would at least have the benefit of an armed escort in the form of the two recently arrived Harriers.
One PR.9 Canberra took off for Rio Grande accompanied by the two Harriers. They hugged the deck and hoped not to be detected. As they climbed to cross over the island and approach Rio Grande from the landward side, they must have been detected. I saw no indication of it until an F-86 Sabre suddenly appeared in visual range! Both Harrier pilots quickly loosed a single AIM-9 Sidewinder at the target and began evasive manoeuvres fearing return fire. The Argentines also had the Sidewinder.
The F-86 exploded in a ball of flame with no loss to my UK forces. However, the element of surprise was lost and the Canberra was much too far from the base to continue the mission so it was aborted. The best part of this encounter was the repeated inquiries from AoA, "Was that your aircraft? Was that Chilean? Are you in control of the Chilean forces?..." He really had no idea what had transpired as he was unable to make visual confirmation of the attack. He never even knew it was delivered by Harriers since the Chileans also used a version of the Sidewinder. I just stayed mum over the whole affair and replied with my usual, "No Free Intell" response. It was to pay significant dividends in the long run.
After my shaken crews returned to Punta Arenas, they planned for a second mission. This time, they would try to approach Rio Gallegos. Since there were no Sidewinders available at the ad hoc base in Punta Arenas, they would have to do so with only 6 available missiles. Soon after launch, an unknown contact came zooming in a low level on an intercept course! A thousand thoughts raced through the minds of the pilots. "Had the Argentines figured out where that last mission launched from? Did they know that RN forces had deployed to Chile? Was this the payback they had been fearing?" With nervous trigger fingers, they watched it come closer and closer. It was well inside Sidewinder range, but still outside visual range. If it was hostile, the Harrier pilots decided that we would both go down in a blaze of glory since neither side could escape the other's Sidewinder missiles. Finally, at a range of 1 mile, it was confirmed to be a Chilean Hawker Hunter. With a huge sigh of relief, the Harrier pilots re-engaged the Master Arm safety switches for their weapons. An international incident with the country covertly aiding them was avoided this time.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, the exact same thing was happening over at Rio Grande air base. Evidently, a Chilean flight was near the border when it was intercepted by Argentine patrols. In the ensuing confusion, the Argentines must have fired upon the Chileans which in turn put the Chileans automatically into a state of war with the Argentines! My little reconnaissance mission on Rio Grande had reaped untold rewards. As a direct result of my clandestine activities, I had managed to provoke a war between my opponent and a neutral country.
Once again, as my Canberra and Harrier escorts crept towards Rio Gallegos, they were detected. I tried to push the matter by making a high speed photo pass at the base to see if the Etendards were there, but the Argentine combat air patrol stood their ground and firmly blocked any possibility of breaking past them with my lumbering Canberra. All thoughts turned to escape. I engaged the fighters with my remaining Sidewinders and dove to the deck to evade. Again, both Argentine pilots died in fireballs. However, I was now defenceless as the Harriers and ran for the border. Another Argentine interceptor was detected closing on the fleeing Harriers and I thought that the game was over for them since they had only their 30mm Aden cannon to fight back with. Closer and closer it came until it inexplicably turned away without ever opening fire. I guess the pilot just lost his nerve and didn't want to end up with a missile shot in the face.
I was to learn that AoA was having other Chilean problems at Rio Grande. Once enraged, the Chilean Air Force had mounted an air raid on the base and destroyed the very Etendard planes that I had been searching for! What a truly macabre set of circumstances. I managed to get my opponent to fire on a neutral country which in turn returned fire and accomplished my mission goals for me. At this point, AoA realized that he had lost the game and conceded defeat.
A truly magnificent game with all the flavour of real world brinkmanship. Thanks to AoA for a fabulous match and to HarpGamer for the use of their server.
Jeronimo Chiecchio (a.k.a. AoA) met up to try out a new scenario. We chose Ralf Koelbach's Mixed Doubles, re-made with the community's favourite database, the PlayersDB. These scenarios were written by Ralf Koelbach for the HUD3 and Harpoon ANW and have been re-written for compatibility with the PlayersDB and Harpoon 3 by Herman Hum with the consent of the author.
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This is the third scenario of the PaSon battleset. These scenarios are designed for beginners. They presume that the USSR did not collapse back in the early 90s. In fact, the Cold War went hot and NATO and the USSR got their shoot out. They met with their best equipment and fought it out. All scenarios of this battleset use the same map, starting with using smaller parts of it. The complexity and difficulty of the scenarios increases steadily.
I was in charge of a Russian Surface action Group [SAG] ordered to break out into the Atlantic and AoA was the NATO commander standing in my way. We started the scenario and I found myself with a number of submarines just outside of torpedo range from his little flotilla. As he cruised along blissfully unaware of my presence, my Akula-class SSN opened fire with Type 65 torpedoes. I was aiming for the Ticonderoga with her superb AEgis system, but I'd pretty much settle for anything I got.
The 4x 50 knot torpedoes raced in against the 30 knot task force and caught them after a long chase. Unfortunately, they only managed to kill a single Spruance destroyer. The response was quick and devastating. My Akula sub was sunk along with another diesel sub in close proximity as was an Echo II missile-guided sub (but not before she launched her missiles ).
Not long afterwards, AoA was to return the favour. One of his diesel-electric subs had also found my ships. I managed to get a quick sonar contact off of him from a range of 5nm and turned just before he opened fire with a brace of Mk24 Tigerfish torpedoes. Unfortunately (for him), his torpedoes could only make 35kts while my ships ran at 30kts. The speed difference was unable to close the distance. A pair of SS-N-14 Silex missiles landed torpedoes right atop his position and the brave little submarine could not evade both of them.
As my other submarines closed on his task group, they stumbled over a second diesel boat. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, my Victor II commander dropped a pair of UGMT torpedoes from SS-N-15a Starfish rockets onto him. He didn't want the situation to escalate, so he did not elect to employ his nuclear-tipped weapons. However, he did a magnificent job of evading both. A Kilo-class SSK boat heard the commotion and also dropped a pair on him. Again, with no result. That little sub was good. The enemy quickly detected my two attacking boats and sank them with Mk46 ASW torpedoes. As a sop to my pride, the NATO SSK kept firing Seehecht torpedoes at a phantom contact that must have been on his sonar screen. Both of my subs were already dead, but he kept firing torpedo after torpedo at the ghostly image.
The sacrifice of my two subs was not in vain as it drew attention away from another pair of submrines penetrating the NATO screens. Another Kilo SSK and a Victor III SSN were just barely able to make the interception. As soon as the SSN was in range of the CG Leahy, he let loose with a pair of Type 65s. I didn't want to risk the chance of detection and then having the targets run. Unfortunately, this ruined the firing solutions the SSK was developing. The torpedoes ran down their targets after a long chase. One Duke-class frigate and one Bremen-class frigate were sunk. Somehow, the big cruiser targets kept managing to escape my torpedo barrages! Once their positions were revealed by the attack, both submarines were tracked down and destroyed soon afterwards.
With only one Tango-class submarine left in my order of battle, I was severely limited in my options. Luckily, he found himself between the enemy and my own ships; a perfect position. As the enemy moved to attack my SAG, he ran right over the sub. Just as she was attempting launch her weapons, a game bug caused her demise. Arrrrgh.
Not long afterwards, the NATO SAG had closed with my own and I decided to open fire with everything at a range of 60nm. It would turn out to be a bit premature as it allowed the AEgis cruiser and the CG Leahy to summarily shoot down all my missiles.
The NATO riposte was quick in coming. A wave of 32 Harpoons appeared on the radar screens and nearly swamped my SAM defenses. It was a good thing that a number of NATO ships had already been sunk. Otherwise, serious damage could have been inflicted. As it was, the fleet was able to bring down all the Harpoon without sustaining any damage.
The NATO mission was to stop me, but my mission was not to kill the NATO platforms. My orders were to break out into the Atlantic to interdict the vital merchant convoys. As NATO moved in to engage with guns and SAMs, I ordered my flotilla to 'sprint for the finish line'. Destroyers Burnyy and Kashin were ordered to screen the rest of the SAG with torpedoes as best they could. While no one likes rear-guard actions, they are necessary and the sacrifice of a few for the overall mission is sometimes a military imperative.
NATO saw the manoeuvre and tried to cut them off, but I sporadically launched USET-80 torpedoes to keep the enemy at a distance. The screening destroyers paid a heavy price for their actions as SAM after SAM hit them, but they were fulfilling their duty. As NATO surged forward recklessly, they ran right into the USET-80 torpedoes. The remainder of the NATO force was soon slipping beneath the waves as the battered rear-guards slowly re-joined the SAG and moved into the Atlantic and victory.
Thanks for a phenomenal match, AoA. Over 10 hours of combat in one session. And thanks to Freek Schepers for the use of his server.
AAR: Matchplay #4 - Battle of Britain II [Spoiler Alert] - Dutch A Harpoon 3 scenario By Freek Schepers
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The purpose of this scenario is to investigate war between pretty much the entire military forces of two modern countries.
Holland has moved ground forces into Belgium and defeated French attempts to interfere. The Charles de Gaulle has been sunk and the French air force is licking its wounds.
The UN has authorised all members to take steps to reverse this situation and the UK has taken up the call of duty.
SITUATION
The Campaign against Belgium and France has concluded. Flanders has rejoined the Kingdom. A daring raid against Denmark has resulted in the liberation of 30 Danish F-16s previously sold to Netherlands. Delivery was withheld due to the war.
The Queen has re-instated the "Militaire Willemsorde" and more Willemsorde's have been awarded for this one raid than in all of WW2. Losses have been severe, but Belgian and Danish F-16s, now operational in the KLu, have made up for combat losses. All airbases except Florennes are operational. AMRAAM and Patriot Missiles are still scarce. The Navy has been hard hit and its surviving Frigates are short of SAMs.
The Security Council has issued a resolution urging all UN members to force the Netherlands to relinquish Belgian territory. Germany is thought to remain on the sidelines due to the stranglehold we have on the Ruhr through the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp.
The UK, however, has mobilised its forces and has issued an ultimatum requiring unconditional Dutch compliance with the UN resolution within the next 24 hours.
Jonkheer van Hoorn was the S-4 officer for the wing of F-16 Falcons based at Volkel. As such, he was responsible for providing and coordinating supply and maintenance. He was just finishing up his part of the briefing to the pilots gathered around the theatre.
“As you know, our operations against the French have severely depleted our supplies of the AIM-120 AMRAAM. The Brits are coming into this war and they have their bunkers full of the damned things. Now, I’ve managed to find a few more in, of all places, the bunkers of the Belgians that the army has overrun! So, if you fire off your AMRAAM, divert to the airfields at Kleine Brogel and Florennes. It’s easier for you to go to the missiles than for them to come to us. However, if you use them up the way ‘Piss’ does, then there’s no hope for you or any of us and you’ll end up throwing rocks at the Tommies when they come over the coast.”
This brought a wave of laughter from the assigned pilots as the briefing broke up. Lt. Jeroen (pronounced ‘urine’) “Piss” Girerd had acquired his nickname during combat with the French. His Falcon had stumbled upon a French E-3F Sentry. In his excitement at such a prize, he had pickled off all six of his AIM-9M Sidewinders when he could just as easily have shot down the lumbering plane with his internal Vulcan cannon. Except for the scathing rebuke he received from his squadron commander, “Piss” was pleased with himself over his first combat experience. He was more than happy to bear his new nickname so long as no one ever found out about the little ‘accident’ he had when his plane was ambushed by a Mirage over Belgium. His flight suit had dried by the time the mission was over.
Reports were coming in from all around the UK. Many aircraft were seen to be launching and the Royal Navy was planning to sortie. SSK Walrus detected multiple ESM contacts from her periscope mast in the direction of Liverpool and moved to investigate while SSK Dolfijn was ordered to block the channel near the Pas de Calais.
Since the Netherlands did not operate any dedicated Airborne Early Warning [AEW] aircraft, a P-3 Orion from Valkenburg and two helos from de Kooy were launched to provide surveillance and a modicum of early warning. Expecting a sortie from the Royal Navy, frigates van Spejik, van #%&*$#, and van Heemskirck moved south-westwards to intercept. They kept close to the Dutch shore in order to be protected by the SAM umbrella provided by the Zeven Provincien and land-based Patriot batteries.
More information was coming in from the submarines. One vessel was confirmed as DDG Exeter. The jamming environment was fierce so FFG Zeven de Provincien was ordered to radiate her radar systems. The picture cleared up quickly, but not quickly enough. An Orion had moved in to try and pin-point the RN ships apparently departing Liverpool. Only ESM bearing-only [BOL] contacts were detected and more precise data would help SSK Walrus to intercept them. She promptly ate a missile just off the coast. A second Orion crew noted that a radio transmission from her was interrupted in mid-sentence and quickly surmised the fate of the crew. They would not venture as close as their fallen brethren.
Sky Flash met AMRAAM for the first time that day, high over the skies of the English Channel. A pair of Falcons intercepted a Tornado contact. After loosing a pair of AMRAAM, the Falcons turned and fled on afterburner. The Tornado, to her credit, managed to return fire with a pair of Sky Flash Super TEMP, but these dropped into the sea after losing guidance when the Tornado was destroyed by the AMRAAM. Two more Falcons repeated the performance on another unsuspecting Tornado. That was the most common story of the day. When AMRAAM met Sky Flash, the Falcons usually walked away from the scuffle.
And then Typhoon radar was detected! At about the same time a Lynx helo providing AEW support exploded in mid-air! Surprise... Both Falcon flights went to afterburner to close the distance and managed to loose four AMRAAM. They got her, but lost three of their own from return fire. Typhoons are Scary! Another was detected loitering over the Mid-lands. It was decided to postpone the ground missions until aerial superiority could be achieved. Even one Typhoon was very bad news for lightly armed strikers.
The Falcon Combat Air Patrols [CAP] re-grouped just off the Dutch coast. Rather than venturing over English territory, they would fight under their own radar coverage. The English obligingly cooperated. Soon, many flights of Tornado GR.4 were detected at low altitude. They were expertly covered by their Tornado ADV [Air Defence Variant] cousins. KLU high command had decided that each pilot would engage “according to his ability”. It was planned that the AMRAAM-armed Falcons would concentrate on their equally deadly counterparts while the planes armed only with short-ranged AIM-9M Sidewinders would close on the enemy strikers. The arrangement worked exceptionally well and the skies were soon cleared of the Tornadoes.
As everyone was congratulating themselves on their good fortune and expertise, the second wave appeared and they blanched. They had already expended a considerable number of AAMs [Air-to-Air Missiles] in repelling the first wave. Now, low on weapons, they were facing a wave as large as the first. The second wave was even more dangerous than the first for it contained the more advanced Tornado F.3. This version was capable of carrying the same AIM-120 AMRAAM carried by the Dutch.
Orders went out to quickly re-arm the bomb-laden Falcons with AMRAAM. Wing S-4 van Hoorn protested, but was mollified when the Wing Commander asked him if he would prefer the enemy to destroy them on the ground.
Again, the waves of English strikers were well timed with their escorts. The escorts engaged the Dutch interceptors at the cost of their own lives. However, they enabled the Tornadoes to reach their launch points and release their ordnance. A storm of Sea Eagle AShM [Anti-Ship Missiles] dropped off their pylons enroute to the few surviving frigates of Her Royal Majesty’s Naval Ships. Although the majority of them were eventually intercepted by a combination of Sidewinder missiles and Sea Sparrow from the ships, one leaker got through and slammed into frigate van #%&*$#. Like in a lottery, you only need one ticket to win. Today, the number for the men of the van #%&*$# would finally be up. The impact was directly over the ship’s torpedo magazine for its Lynx anti-submarine helicopter. The resulting sympathetic explosion left very few survivors.
The furball over the North Sea consumed missiles, planes, and men at a prodigious rate. The Klu was holding their own, but they were using up every missile they carried in order to do so. Finally, something had to give. After receiving appalling losses to its strike formations, the controllers aboard the E-3D Sentries circling over the British mid-lands decided that they could not complete their mission and withdrew. In the test of men and nations, they had lost their nerve. Not until many years later would they learn just how close they came to victory for every single missile aboard Dutch planes and ships had been expended. A window of vulnerability existed, but the British failed to take advantage of it. They would later live to regret it.
Meanwhile, in the English Channel, SSK Walrus was caught with her periscope up just a little too long. An English Lynx ASW helo saw the feathery wake and closed before dropping its Stingray torpedo on her. The Walrus sent one final report before the torpedo struck.
SSK Dolfijn would avenge her. The carrier task force sailed up the Channel and right into the waiting arms of the Dolfijn. By positioning herself directly on their Path of Intended Movement [PIM], she simply sat and awaited her prey. Vengeance would be swift in coming. Once the task force drew near, she launched three Mk48 torpedoes at the carrier and another at the nearest escort. With her cloak of invisibility removed, she immediately increased speed to full and ran directly at the formation while her husky torpedo men raced to re-load.
Sonar immediately called out, “Transient! Torpedo in the water! Bearing 269.” Evidently, the frigate had detected the attack and launched her own fish back down the bearing of contact towards the sub. It was a race between the ‘steel eels’. The Mk 48 caught the frigate first and snapped her keel with 600lb of high explosive.
Although the crew of the Dolfijn heard the explosion through the hull, they had problems of their own. The Stingray had locked onto them and was in continuous-ping mode. It was time for their ‘last-best move’. The skipper ordered white noise countermeasures dropped and hugged the bottom while everyone kept their fingers crossed. Another explosion was heard, but everyone realized that you had to be alive to hear it. The torpedo must have detonated on the sea floor.
Not willing to look a gift horse in the mouth, the Dolfijn immediately sent out a second volley of lethal Mk 48 torpedoes even before their first torpedoes had arrived at the carrier. Every ship in the formation received a present from the men of Dolfijn.
The torpedoes arrived at the carrier and detonated nearly simultaneously and ripped gigantic holes in her hull. She would eventually turn turtle and take 300 of her crew with her after two hours of damage control efforts.
The second round of Mk 48s was just as lethal and gutted the entire formation. Three air-defence destroyers and another frigate were left sinking. Only one stubborn frigate remained. However, this frigate was cagy and refused to approach the little submarine. Instead, he coordinated the approach of several Nimrod ASW aircraft. A second Stingray torpedo was soon in the water. Out of torpedoes and out of luck the Stingray did not miss and the crew of the Dolfijn soon joined their British adversaries on the floor of the Channel
Over the Kent coast, the wave of retaliation was quickly closing on English airbases at Cottishall, Waddington, Wattingham, Marham, Cottismore, and Wittering. With most the air defenders floating in the Channel, only a few Harrier rose in futile defence. Unlike their Battle of Britain predecessors, the Harriers were unable to exact any meaningful price from the Falcon strikers before being torn from the air with AMRAAM. The Dutch survivors quickly dropped their Mk 84 2000lb bombs onto the hangars and crushed them atop the defenders along with any hopes the British had of launching future defences. As they touched down back at their bases, the Queen announced that a message had been received from 10 Downing Street. It acknowledged that the affair between the Netherlands, Belgium, and France was not a concern for the United Kingdom. For now, the war was over.
AAR: Matchplay #4 - Battle of Britain II [Spoiler Alert] - UK A Harpoon 3 scenario By Freek Schepers
Quote:
The purpose of this scenario is to investigate war between pretty much the entire military forces of two modern countries.
Holland has moved ground forces into Belgium and defeated French attempts to interfere. The Charles de Gaulle has been sunk and the French air force is licking its wounds.
The UN has authorised all members to take steps to reverse this situation and the UK has taken up the call of duty.
SITUATION
The UK government has observed the aggressive behaviour of the Dutch government over the past week.
The attacks on Belgium, France, and Denmark are unacceptable, and, in view of the huge losses taken by the Dutch, may not have been wise.
The RAF and RN will now implement the recent UN-resolution and do so in a manner as to take away the ability of the Dutch to wage war.
The Royal Air Force is in transition. The Joint Force Harrier is being created, preparations are being made to replace the older Tornado F.3s with the Eurofighter, and the Jaguars are about to be sold. As a result, many airframes are unavailable.
HMS Spartan had been sitting off the port of Antwerp for the past week in order to monitor Dutch and French actions. Although it would never be revealed to the public, she had been ringside to watch the immolation of the French amphibious group from the Dutch SSMs [Surface-to-Surface missiles]. The latest FLASH message received in the radio room indicated that the Prime Minister had decided to heed the United Nations’ call to action. Spartan intended to play her role.
Multiple contacts scattered around the plot and mixed in with many civilian craft that simply refused to recognize that a state of armed conflict existed between nations. "Can't really blame them, either," though Cmdr. Naismith as the periscope rose from her sheath for the umpteenth time. "I'd have to try and earn a living if I was in their shoes, too." At the same time, he ordered Harpoons loaded into tubes one, three, and five. Spearfish torpedoes are nice, but nothing beats the ability to 'reach out and touch someone' the way UGM-84 Harpoons can.
The first order of business, as always, was to get some ‘eyeballs’ into the air. The two E-3D Sentries from Waddington lumbered into the air. One was destined for a patrol off the east mid-lands while the other would loiter over Luton. Hopefully, they would be able to triangulate on most contacts for more effective management. No sooner had they taken to the air when Falcon radar transmissions were detected. Like the prettiest girl at a country dance, this kind of attention is expected. Tornadoes from Leeming and Leuchars moved to parry the Dutch.
Jamming was intense so DDG Cardiff was ordered to support the AEW aircraft with her radar systems. It was a gamble, but MinDef decided that it was worthwhile. All actions in time of war are risky. To support the move, the only two Typhoons in the Order of Battle [OoB] were also sent to support the effort with their sophisticated radar.
Just off the coast of Cottishall, the first flight of Tornado received a rude surprise as one of the three quickly exploded in mid-flight without any indication of missile launch! Immediately, the two survivors engaged afterburners and hoped to close with the fuzzy contacts on their radar screens. They were not to be so lucky, today. All three Tornado were destroyed within a matter of thirty seconds. The second Battle of Britain had begun.
The Typhoons immediately went to afterburner to protect the priceless Sentries. It took four AIM-132 ASRAAM, sixteen AIM-120C7, and six Sky Flash air-to-air missiles [AAMs] to finally destroy a flight of two Falcons in exchange for three Tornadoes destroyed. This was a most inauspicious start for the RAF since most of the AIM-120C7s in all of Britain had just been expended in one sortie! It was going to be a hard day for the UKADF [United Kingdom Air Defence Forces].
Two more Falcons came roving over RAF Marham and three more Tornadoes moved to intercept. Only a single Tornado walked away from the ensuing fracas. The battle-hardened veterans of the KLu were exacting a terrible toll from the RAF and driving the AEW Sentries from their patrol positions. At this rate of exchange, could the RAF survive as a viable force? There seemed to be no end in sight from the onslaught as yet another flight of Falcons flew over Cottishall to attack the AEW aircraft.
The last unengaged Combat Air Patrol [CAP] moved to intercept and two captured Belgian Falcons were rubbed from the sky. However, the attack had been cunningly planned. Unable to intervene, additional flights of Falcons hammered Cottishall mercilessly and destroyed the hangars along with many strike aircraft preparing for counter-air operations. The defending Rapier battery managed to get four of the attackers, but this was cold consolation for the dozen smoking wrecks now lying under ruined hangars and revetments. Eight Falcons had caused more havoc than an entire air flotilla from the WWII Luftwaffe. The KLu would gladly exchange their four losses for the thirty-six wrecks they left behind.
Three Danish Falcons were detected approaching RAF Leuchars by an outbound CAP flight. AMRAAM were quickly exchanged with the planes stolen from Denmark and one was quickly destroyed. However, the survivors continued on doggedly. It looked as though no base in the entire UK would be free from attack. The Tornadoes closed to re-engage with AIM-132 ASRAAM. Theoretically, they would out-range the AIM-9 Sidewinders the Falcons might be carrying. However, the AIM-120 trumped them all, if there were any left on the Danish planes. Four ASRAAM / Falcon were needed to finally destroy the flight. However, the Dutch were very persistent. A second flight approached and three Tornadoes with AMRAAM barely managed to clear the runways before engaging and destroying them on their ingress.
Meanwhile, one E-3D Sentry had been able to positively classify Dutch frigates Van Speijk and Van #%&*$# in North Sea off the midlands. A flight of Tornado GR.4 configured for maritime strike with Sea Eagle AShMs [Anti-Shipping Missiles] quickly paid them a visit. Unfortunately, the ECM environment was so hostile that their attacks failed as the missiles were blinded by the jamming from the frigates.
At the south end of the North Sea, HMS Spartan decided to try and “pull a fast one”. She had detected FFG de Zeven Provincien from her distinctive radar emissions. Although she only had a warm fuzzy feeling about the exact position of the air-defence frigate, Cmdr. Naismith decided to gamble and fired all of his Harpoons at the current solution. The unexpected move must have taken the frigate by surprise as three of the four Harpoons slammed into the frigate and left it a pyre.
Throughout the skies over the North Sea and British coast, Tornadoes clashed with Falcons. The advantage of Dutch AMRAAM over the British Sky Flash was sorely felt this day. All the brave British aircrews could only do their best by running towards the Dutch on afterburner and accepting heavy losses in order to return fire with the near obsolescent Sky Flash AAMs. Like the tactics employed by American Sherman tank crews in WW2, every Dutch Falcon was swarmed by at least four Tornadoes and UK HQ expected two not to return. The price was appalling, but had to be paid for the years of neglect in the British armed forces.
While the RAF fought the Dutch KLu to a bloody standstill, Strike command paid a return visit to FFG van Speijk and van #%&*$#. This time, they carried ALARM Anti-Radiation Missiles. The combination of Sea Eagle and ALARM were sufficient to set both ships ablaze. Without adequate air cover, it was only a matter of time for the little frigates.
Over the Channel, the Dutch proved that they could be just as cunning and devious. With UK radar severely degraded by jamming, RAF Wattingham did not notice an air raid by AH-64 Apache helos until they appeared on their doorstep, literally! The local Rapier battery commander immediately ordered his unit to engage. However, it was already too late as the stream of Hellfire missiles slammed into the airbase. Made to smash the armour of main battle tanks, the missiles had little difficulty demolishing the relatively thin ‘armour’ of the base facilities. Although too late to prevent the attack, Tornadoes from Leeming did manage to bring down all the helicopters as they attempted to make their egress over the Channel.
However, it was the last gasp for the KLu. Their ranks were severely depleted from the near continuous demands of the previous week. Although they acquitted themselves well, there simply weren’t sufficient resources to defeat a second fully equipped air force. With no one left to vie for supremacy of the skies, Strike Command decided to conduct phase two of the orders from MinDef.
Led off by a stream of Storm Shadow ALCMs [Air-Launched Cruise Missiles] from Tornado GR.4s, additional Tornado strike teams followed closely behind. The Tornadoes excelled at low-level penetration attacks and they were hugging the earth at 20m off the ground. However, in order to release their ALARM, they had to climb to 100m and the Patriot SAM batteries could engage them at that altitude. It was a race between inbound and outbound missiles. Both sides scored successes. Six Tornadoes fell to the lethal SAMs, but the concentrated ALARM volleys also silenced the ground batteries.
With no enemy aircraft rising to contest the airspace, the Tornado crews calmly climbed to 20,000 ft. in order to release their GBUs [Glide-Bomb Units]. Instead of hurriedly delivering their payloads, crews worked in teams to assess the damage from previous strikes before re-attacking from a different angle. Although strike doctrine normally called for a single pass, these were basically undefended targets. Slowly and methodically, Strike Command shut down every airfield in Holland and Belgium. Once this task was complete, the Jaguars proceeded to hammer the invading army formations in Belgium. After hours of incessant air attack, the Dutch government recognized its inability to even hold onto the gains it made during the past week and signalled its intent to withdraw behind its borders. The Second Battle of Britain was over and, once again, "Never was so much owed by so many to so few".
That's very flattering. However, I seriously doubt that anyone would pay real money for my scribblings.
I write them to thank the scenario authors and encourage more releases (for me to play -- yes, I have a selfish ulterior motive). And, to tell others of the enjoyment I had playing the game in hopes of them joining me in the future.
#2987095 - 04/01/1001:59 AMRe: AAR: Matchplay #4 - Battle of Britain II [Spoiler Alert]
[Re: Herman]
Joined: Feb 2002 Posts: 4,920Moses
I have a Rather Large
Moses
I have a Rather Large
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,920
Tulsa, Ok, USA
So which version is this? H3 or ANW? I have H3 I think it is Ver 3.6, i looked for an update for 3.6 to 3.9 but didnt see one available. i think Really would like something that hits 1900x 1200 Like Harpoon classics way, but updated.
AAR: Matchplay #4 - Battle of Britain II was played with Harpoon v3.6 If you are fortunate to still have that version, it is the best for the game, IMO. The author, Freek Schepers, has also tested the scenario under ANW, but I do not think that it functions nearly as well in H3.
If you are looking for a game to support 1900 x 1200 graphics, I think that you might have to use / get ANW or HCE. I do not think that H3.6 will support it. You can grab the ANW/HCE demos to see if your computer will support their graphics.
There is a demo available for ANW. It is now expired, but if you dial your system clock back to January 1, 2009, I think that you can still run it.
Great to hear that you enjoy HCE. There is no update for transforming H3.6 to ANW. ANW is a separate game and must be purchased independently. However, ANW (supposedly) can run the H3 scenarios (in a degraded state, IMO). Since you already own H3, you may not wish to spend the additional funds for ANW.
However, if you decide to teach your co-workers how to play Harpoon and want them to play against you in Multi-player matches, the only choice is ANW. HCE does not have multi-player capability.
p.s. What the hell kind of job do you have that allows you to play HCE at work!? (And how do I make an application?)
#2987794 - 04/01/1011:09 PMRe: AAR: Matchplay #4 - Battle of Britain II [Spoiler Alert]
[Re: Herman]
Joined: Feb 2002 Posts: 4,920Moses
I have a Rather Large
Moses
I have a Rather Large
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 4,920
Tulsa, Ok, USA
lol I work alone 80% of the time inm there and we have lots of down time between servers going down and new stuff to be put in or old crap being taken out.
Even better! I am sure that HP would not mind if you occasionally took one of your servers offline and dedicated it to being an ANW MP server. I can just imagine how fast the game would run on one of those monsters.
Mario (a.k.a. CaptPiluso) came for a match and we selected a new release, David and Goliath, made with the community's favourite database, the PlayersDB.
[indent]"In a carefully planned series of attacks, the Warsaw Pact begins a war against NATO. Their goal is to seize West Germany, gutting NATO militarily and economically. The Soviets will demand a high price for Germany's return, or assimilate its industry and technology for their own use."
"The Soviet Union, battered by a series of economic disasters, has demanded substantial economic assistance from NATO and the USA. If not, it threatens, "it cannot be responsible for the peace and stability of Europe." The corrupt old men in the Kremlin expect that either way, they will win: Either they get the aid they need to stave off collapse, or they will launch an attack on NATO. They have already started a program of propaganda inside their borders, blaming all their troubles on a deliberate program of economic strangulation, all orchestrated by the West. The implied threat has not been lost on NATO, and while negotiators frantically try to satisfy almost impossible Russian demands, the military frantically mobilizes. The Soviet Defense Council has decided that the Geneva conferences are an attempt by NATO to buy time while it further tightens its economic stranglehold on the Soviet Union. Offensive operations against NATO, before they are fully mobilized, now offer the only way to alter the correlation of forces and break the economic conspiracy."
3.0 Orders:
Advance to the Andfjord area. Observe and report on Soviet naval movements and take no offensive action unless the Soviets intitiate hostilities. Use your radar and sonar to gather as much information on enemy movements as possible, as well as demonstrating NATO's presence and resolve.
StaNavForLant usually has a tanker/replenishment ship assigned, but it has topped off the force and broken off, heading south for safer waters.
Several civilian ships are attempting to evacuate foreign nationals from Norway in expectation of hostilities. Protect these vessels as best you can.[/indent]
I commanded the NATO StaNavForLant force ordered to protect the Norwegian base while Mario controlled the Soviets. Although hostilities had not yet been declared, they were deemed imminent. A cautious posture was adopted as the ships set sail towards the base. One helo was launched to check the area. Her range was limited, but at least she had radar.
As the force made its approach, a subsurface contact was detected. Immediately afterwards, a torpedo was, too! the ships turned to run, but the torpedo was making 70 knots and the frigate could only run at 25kts. She was certainly going to lose, but she bought sufficient time to launch her helo with 2 others to prosecute the sub.
The trio of helos was quick with their revenge and a Lynx dipped close to the enemy sub and a single Mk 46 torpedo sank it. At least I could now know that war was on and that anything flying a Hammer and Sickle could be engaged. Fight's on!
The helicopter detected a Soviet missile corvette and a large group of vessels approaching. One of them was a light cruiser in the company of two Sovremennyy destroyers and other assorted craft. The corvette packed a considerable punch with 4 Sunburn missiles so I tried to trim down the opposition with a quick strike of 4 Harpoons against her. The attack was successful and the little ship went down with all her missile inventory.
StaNavForLant arrived at the SOSUS station ahead of the Soviets and positioned themselves as a barrier. The biggest threat was the CL as she was able to pound the installation into dust. All available Harpoons were targeted on her. She soaked up the attack and kept coming like a sailing mountain of steel. She was damaged, but still able to make 24kts.
As she closed to SAM engagement range, the Perry frigate locked on and emptied her SAM batteries into the behemoth with apparently little effect. She slowed down, but just kept advancing. Several barrages of Sunburn missiles were received from the destroyers and one got through.
Once the Standard batteries were exhausted, the Sea Sparrows were fired at the Sverdlov-class cruiser. I think she finally flooded and sank. Unfortunately, there were insufficient arms to prevent the Soviets from closing on the port. The Soviets were unable to accomplish their aims without the big gun cruiser, but so had StaNavForLant and the game ended in a draw.
Thanks to Mario for a fun match as well as to Ryan for the use of his server.
Anyone looking for an MP game can drop a line here. For complete instructions on using Wolff's Server, visit HarPlonkHQ
Kamarada Mijail Nikolay Popov Vinogradov (a.k.a CapPiluso) has received secret orders from Kremlin and commanded a powerful task force to attack sosus Norwegian station and show NATO forces that they are not alone when it comes to rule the world.
Initial contacts were only unclassified skunks but ships were heading straight to sosus station,which had been detected right from the begining.Also 2 air contacts appeared and loitered there for a long time but my AAW weapons were unable to catch them,obviously they were trying to identify my ships. As my own ships advanced, alarm warned about vampires but they got lost,I was sure to find some enemy ships blocking my access to sosus station and here they were...Sunburn missiles greeted them but enemy opened fire with furious Harpoons sinking one of my corvettes. Now approaching the point, I detect 4 enemy ships blocking the sosus station but only could sink one of them,a tactical error left my CL alone and she was being badly damaged by enemy missiles. I was now close to the port but chances to meet VC were null for both of us, so we decided to declare a draw
This scenario was really interesting and I consider to play it again from a different tactical situation.Thanks to Herman for a great match and Wolff for the use of the server
#3507326 - 01/30/1208:49 PMRe: Harpoon 3 scenarios for the PlayersDB
[Re: Herman]
A new video After Action Report for "Escape from Diego Garcia" has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
Another video After-Action Report for Harpoon3 has been added to the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
Another video After-Action Report for Harpoon3 has been added to the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
Another video After-Action Report for Harpoon3 has been added to the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
This is really great stuff. I was always fascinated by this game but also always afraid of it's complexity. Finally I can study it with the help of your YT channel and actually start to enjoy it (bought it over a year ago). Appreciate your work
#3671117 - 10/28/1211:32 PMRe: Harpoon 3 scenarios for the PlayersDB
[Re: Herman]
You are very welcome. Glad that we could be of service. Let me know if you ever want an MP match. We made the videos specifically so that you could have them run alongside the game as you play so that you can stop/pause each to plan your next move.
A new video for "Malvinas" has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for The Bastion [MP] has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Yellow Sea [MP] has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Night Action (ROK) [MP] has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Tattletale II (USSR) [MP] has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Installing ANW and HUE images has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
Apologies in advance for the length of this video, but the request for assistance specified a detailed walk-through for this scenario. Therefore, this game was recorded in real time without the use of any pauses normally employed in the recording process to abbreviate videos.
A new video for Shark's Teeth [MP] has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Night Raiders (DPRK) [MP] has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Korean Counter (DPRK) [MP] has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Wolves v. Wolves has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Duel has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Dreamland (NATO) [MP] has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
We just learned of Tom Clancy's passing. This is how we wish to remember him. He was a game player before he was an author. He gave a lot to the wargame community and inspired a lot of interest in the hobby. He wrote "The Hunt for Red October" and "Red Storm Rising". This scenario, Dreamland, depicts a memorable scene from "Red Storm Rising."
A new video for Advance Guard [MP] has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for The Last Exocet (AR) [MP] has been added the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Dawn Patrol 2015 [MP] (NATO) has been added to the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Dawn Patrol 1985 [MP] (NATO) has been added to the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Shadow: Interpretation of RoE [MP] (ROC) has been added to the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Operation Journeyman [MP] (UK) has been added to the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help Harpoon players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for MayDay has been added to the YouTubeHarpoon for Dummies channel to help players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Mugging the Forrestal has been added to the YouTube Harpoon for Dummies channel to help players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for TattleTale I has been added to the YouTube Harpoon for Dummies channel to help players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
A new video for Mugging the Forrestal [MP] has been added to the YouTube Harpoon for Dummies channel to help players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
The Grey Ghost of Harpoon returns with a pair of AARs.
Quote
FreekS
Must be close to 10 years since I played the game and wrote scenarios. The falklands battle set was written by me - and I’ve forgotten all about it - time to replay!
A new video for Liberation of Antilles has been added to the YouTube Harpoon for Dummies channel to help players navigate the complexities of the game and to deliver the best possible playing experience.
SZO file archives
FilesOfScenShare
HarpGamer.com
XG file archives
Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB
FilesOfScenShare
)
The response was quick and devastating. My Akula sub was sunk along with another diesel sub in close proximity as was an Echo II missile-guided sub (but not before she launched her missiles 
).
