Herman Hum
11 May 05, 03:34
Continental Connection - EC2003 GIUK
By Mark Gellis
This scenario appears to be almost ripped from the headlines. Nuclear Proliferation.
Since I only had one base with any ability to support my meagre aerial assets, I decided that I would have to be very careful in protecting her from attack. I only had 18 Falcons at my disposal so I elected to configure them for AAW missions. Once armed, 4 were assigned as a continuous Combat Air Patrol [CAP] approximately 200 nm NE of the base and in line with the Russian base on the Kola Peninsula.
A pair of Falcons were sent north to reconnoitre for the convoy. Their Electronic Support Measures [ESM] detection equipment picked up the distinctive emissions of a KA-31 Airborne Early Warning [AEW] helo about 160nm from the coast near Tromso. They moved in to investigate but were nearly at the limits of their fuel range. Meanwhile, all ships and subs moved to close the distance.
http://img36.echo.cx/img36/9278/f16s2tw.gif (http://www.imageshack.us)
USAF Archive Photo
The Falcons were forced to return without any additional information. On their path home, they encountered a Bear on patrol. At that same moment, FFG Hessen reported incoming torpedoes. She executed a crash stop manoeuvre and tried to turn her tail to the torpedoes while firing a torpedo back down the bearing in order to try and confuse the hidden submarine. At the same time, she launched her two Lynx Mk 88 helos to search for the submarine.
The subsea lurker was detected and identified as a Kilo-class submarine at a range of 10 miles. The torpedo was racing in at 45 knots while the Hessen fled at 29 kts. She just might survive this ordeal. The helos closed and successfully prosecuted her but did not kill her! The little submarine was struck by 2 torpedoes but did not die. Although empty of ordnance, the two helos maintained contact with her until 2 additional helos could be sent to assist them from the FF Augsburg. The four additional torpedoes were sufficient to silence this bushwhacker.
As the helo crews were patting each other on the back and returning to base, one of the systems operators sounded the alarm. "Vampires!" The ships immediately began activating their radar systems and fire-control radar. The FFG Hessen fired her SAMs but the AS-4 Kitchen missiles had obviously only been fired on a Bearing-Only Launch [BOL] attack. They passed by the ship with a wide margin. Every sailor aboard thanked their lucky stars. Had those missiles been given better targeting information, there would not have been enough left of their ship to fill a sardine can. The attacking submarine must have not been able to send complete information back to base.
Over the Norwegian Sea, one Falcon pilot could not believe his luck. The Bear recon aircraft flew, literally, right into his gunsight! All that he did was pull the trigger to claim the victory. (Game glitch. You can't stop a plane from Auto-Fire)
My initial CAP was returning to base. Their replacement were just arriving on station when 4 aircraft believed to be Fencer jamming aircraft were detected. My pilots moved to investigate when suddenly their radar screens turned to hash. In fact, they were so electronically blinded that, once again, they didn't spot the Fencers until they had run themselves into gun range. One plane triggered a snap shot and quickly killed one of the jammers. [Game glitch, again.]
As these aircraft were basically unarmed, my ROE did not permit me to destroy them. However, they kept buzzing my aircraft which continued to automatically fire on them until they were destroyed. Thus far, one Bear and 4 jammers had been destroyed. My curiosity was definitely piqued. The enemy does not send such support for nothing. What were they screening/supporting?
Soon enough, 2 Backfire appeared in visual range of the Hessen. She kept her radar under Emissions Control [EmCon] in hopes of allowing them to pass her by undetected and unmolested. Unfortunately, her automatic systems engaged and destroyed both aircraft. [Game glitch]
DDs Cassard and Dupleix were crossing the G-I-UK gap when Cassard heard the unmistakable sounds of incoming torpedoes. She put on emergency speed and ran for her life while launching her lone helo to search for the submarine. Again, no sign of subsurface activity had been seen. The waters around Vagar appeared to be heavily infested with Sugar Skunks [submarines].
The race between Cassard and torpedo was neck and neck. However, in this game, all ties are resolved in favour of the torpedo. After another tense race, Cassard came out ahead by a nose. Meanwhile, the three helos from the destroyers pounded the waters with their dipping sonar in vain. This meant that I would have to go in and draw more torpedo fire with my ships serving as bait. A very unpleasant but vital function.
Cassard and Dupleix turned to run down the bearing from which the torpedoes had come from. They slowed and activated their sonar suites. Meanwhile, the helos continued their search. Another torpedo was detected! This was confirmed as a Type 65-76 weapon. It had very long range and a carrier-killing type of warhead. We were up against the varsity as only the most capable submarines carried this lethal weapon. Once again, the Cassard ran for her life while the helos tried to find the source of their tormentor.
This time, DDG Cassard lost the race taking with her the precious Lynx helo that had landed seconds before. Curse all submarines! Dupleix decided to continue the hunt but approached the area with great trepidation and extreme caution.
Meanwhile, 3 Nanuchka FFLs had run underneath my Falcons on CAP and open fired with SA-N-4 SAMs. What a stroke of luck/misfortune. They were quickly brought under fire and sunk without loss.
The convoy was moving at a rapid pace towards the G-I-UK Gap. A quick and daring pass by a Falcon pilot determined that the group contained a Slava-class CG as an escort. The Russians meant business. This ship was lethal to aircraft and ships up to 250nm with her SSM/SAMs. This was going to be one tough nut to crack with my 6 puny ships.
I withdrew to draw up a plan of action but was pre-empted by enemy action. An intelligence trawler spotted the Dutch FF Van Galen and reported her position to Russian HQ. Suddenly, she faced a veritable hailstorm of lethal SS-N-12 Sandbox missiles. Only 2 Falcons were on patrol and they were only able to shoot down 4 missiles. The other 8 detonated within her hull. There were no survivors. One problem solved the hard way. Van Galen had soaked up the entire SS-N-12 supply of the task force.
http://img83.echo.cx/img83/1821/bruinvis8ru.th.gif (http://img83.echo.cx/my.php?image=bruinvis8ru.gif)
I decided that while the Slava was the toughest ship in the entire Norwegian sea this day, she had her Achilles heel, too. I sent my 2 diesel submarines to neutralize her. The Dutch SS Bruinvis would arrive first. Imagine her surprise to find a submarine escorting the convoy! The F-16s on CAP tried to localize the ships and darned near got themselves shot down for their troubles. Those SA-6 Grumbles are very scary weapons to face.
As SS Bruinvis continued her surveillance, she learned that the Russian submarine was an SSN Akula, another elite unit. As if NATO wasn't already having a bad enough day, DD Dupleix found herself under torpedo attack yet again. She died from a Type 65-76 torpedo that broke her back.
I wasn't paying attention and all of a sudden had one of my submarines vanish. I don't even know what got her. U-31 would not make port again. Somehow, SS Bruinvis managed to penetrate the ASW Screen and positioned herself between the Akula and the main body. She loosed her torpedoes at the Slava, a Udaloy destroyer, an FFG Krivak, and the Akula and then ran to evade. The results were wildly terrific. Every escort was sunk. The merchants sailed onwards naked to attack.
http://img83.echo.cx/img83/6760/transients7dj.th.gif (http://img83.echo.cx/my.php?image=transients7dj.gif)
All that my ships had to do was board them and search them. Easy to say, difficult to do. Another Bear recon aircraft had positioned herself near the convoy. She could easily spot any vessel closing on the group and call in airstrikes from the Kola airfields. The day was not over yet. However, NATO would catch a break today. They deserved at least one. DDG Tromp managed to close to 3nm before demanding that the ships heave to and await boarding. They failed to comply so she executed her orders and sank them with gunfire.
This is truly a challenging scenario. The units are not numerous. However, NATO capabilities are very limited and demand that the player get the most out of his assets. Another superb offering from one of Harpoon's finest designers. Thanks very much for sharing your work with us Mark. The only drawback was the Game Engine. The enemy always attacks whether you want him to or not and nothing that a designer can do about it.
This scenario is hosted in the WarfareHQ File Archives (http://www.warfarehq.com/archives/index.php?)
And at the FilesOfScenShare (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/FilesOfScenShare/)
Coming soon to HarpGamer.com
By Mark Gellis
This scenario appears to be almost ripped from the headlines. Nuclear Proliferation.
Since I only had one base with any ability to support my meagre aerial assets, I decided that I would have to be very careful in protecting her from attack. I only had 18 Falcons at my disposal so I elected to configure them for AAW missions. Once armed, 4 were assigned as a continuous Combat Air Patrol [CAP] approximately 200 nm NE of the base and in line with the Russian base on the Kola Peninsula.
A pair of Falcons were sent north to reconnoitre for the convoy. Their Electronic Support Measures [ESM] detection equipment picked up the distinctive emissions of a KA-31 Airborne Early Warning [AEW] helo about 160nm from the coast near Tromso. They moved in to investigate but were nearly at the limits of their fuel range. Meanwhile, all ships and subs moved to close the distance.
http://img36.echo.cx/img36/9278/f16s2tw.gif (http://www.imageshack.us)
USAF Archive Photo
The Falcons were forced to return without any additional information. On their path home, they encountered a Bear on patrol. At that same moment, FFG Hessen reported incoming torpedoes. She executed a crash stop manoeuvre and tried to turn her tail to the torpedoes while firing a torpedo back down the bearing in order to try and confuse the hidden submarine. At the same time, she launched her two Lynx Mk 88 helos to search for the submarine.
The subsea lurker was detected and identified as a Kilo-class submarine at a range of 10 miles. The torpedo was racing in at 45 knots while the Hessen fled at 29 kts. She just might survive this ordeal. The helos closed and successfully prosecuted her but did not kill her! The little submarine was struck by 2 torpedoes but did not die. Although empty of ordnance, the two helos maintained contact with her until 2 additional helos could be sent to assist them from the FF Augsburg. The four additional torpedoes were sufficient to silence this bushwhacker.
As the helo crews were patting each other on the back and returning to base, one of the systems operators sounded the alarm. "Vampires!" The ships immediately began activating their radar systems and fire-control radar. The FFG Hessen fired her SAMs but the AS-4 Kitchen missiles had obviously only been fired on a Bearing-Only Launch [BOL] attack. They passed by the ship with a wide margin. Every sailor aboard thanked their lucky stars. Had those missiles been given better targeting information, there would not have been enough left of their ship to fill a sardine can. The attacking submarine must have not been able to send complete information back to base.
Over the Norwegian Sea, one Falcon pilot could not believe his luck. The Bear recon aircraft flew, literally, right into his gunsight! All that he did was pull the trigger to claim the victory. (Game glitch. You can't stop a plane from Auto-Fire)
My initial CAP was returning to base. Their replacement were just arriving on station when 4 aircraft believed to be Fencer jamming aircraft were detected. My pilots moved to investigate when suddenly their radar screens turned to hash. In fact, they were so electronically blinded that, once again, they didn't spot the Fencers until they had run themselves into gun range. One plane triggered a snap shot and quickly killed one of the jammers. [Game glitch, again.]
As these aircraft were basically unarmed, my ROE did not permit me to destroy them. However, they kept buzzing my aircraft which continued to automatically fire on them until they were destroyed. Thus far, one Bear and 4 jammers had been destroyed. My curiosity was definitely piqued. The enemy does not send such support for nothing. What were they screening/supporting?
Soon enough, 2 Backfire appeared in visual range of the Hessen. She kept her radar under Emissions Control [EmCon] in hopes of allowing them to pass her by undetected and unmolested. Unfortunately, her automatic systems engaged and destroyed both aircraft. [Game glitch]
DDs Cassard and Dupleix were crossing the G-I-UK gap when Cassard heard the unmistakable sounds of incoming torpedoes. She put on emergency speed and ran for her life while launching her lone helo to search for the submarine. Again, no sign of subsurface activity had been seen. The waters around Vagar appeared to be heavily infested with Sugar Skunks [submarines].
The race between Cassard and torpedo was neck and neck. However, in this game, all ties are resolved in favour of the torpedo. After another tense race, Cassard came out ahead by a nose. Meanwhile, the three helos from the destroyers pounded the waters with their dipping sonar in vain. This meant that I would have to go in and draw more torpedo fire with my ships serving as bait. A very unpleasant but vital function.
Cassard and Dupleix turned to run down the bearing from which the torpedoes had come from. They slowed and activated their sonar suites. Meanwhile, the helos continued their search. Another torpedo was detected! This was confirmed as a Type 65-76 weapon. It had very long range and a carrier-killing type of warhead. We were up against the varsity as only the most capable submarines carried this lethal weapon. Once again, the Cassard ran for her life while the helos tried to find the source of their tormentor.
This time, DDG Cassard lost the race taking with her the precious Lynx helo that had landed seconds before. Curse all submarines! Dupleix decided to continue the hunt but approached the area with great trepidation and extreme caution.
Meanwhile, 3 Nanuchka FFLs had run underneath my Falcons on CAP and open fired with SA-N-4 SAMs. What a stroke of luck/misfortune. They were quickly brought under fire and sunk without loss.
The convoy was moving at a rapid pace towards the G-I-UK Gap. A quick and daring pass by a Falcon pilot determined that the group contained a Slava-class CG as an escort. The Russians meant business. This ship was lethal to aircraft and ships up to 250nm with her SSM/SAMs. This was going to be one tough nut to crack with my 6 puny ships.
I withdrew to draw up a plan of action but was pre-empted by enemy action. An intelligence trawler spotted the Dutch FF Van Galen and reported her position to Russian HQ. Suddenly, she faced a veritable hailstorm of lethal SS-N-12 Sandbox missiles. Only 2 Falcons were on patrol and they were only able to shoot down 4 missiles. The other 8 detonated within her hull. There were no survivors. One problem solved the hard way. Van Galen had soaked up the entire SS-N-12 supply of the task force.
http://img83.echo.cx/img83/1821/bruinvis8ru.th.gif (http://img83.echo.cx/my.php?image=bruinvis8ru.gif)
I decided that while the Slava was the toughest ship in the entire Norwegian sea this day, she had her Achilles heel, too. I sent my 2 diesel submarines to neutralize her. The Dutch SS Bruinvis would arrive first. Imagine her surprise to find a submarine escorting the convoy! The F-16s on CAP tried to localize the ships and darned near got themselves shot down for their troubles. Those SA-6 Grumbles are very scary weapons to face.
As SS Bruinvis continued her surveillance, she learned that the Russian submarine was an SSN Akula, another elite unit. As if NATO wasn't already having a bad enough day, DD Dupleix found herself under torpedo attack yet again. She died from a Type 65-76 torpedo that broke her back.
I wasn't paying attention and all of a sudden had one of my submarines vanish. I don't even know what got her. U-31 would not make port again. Somehow, SS Bruinvis managed to penetrate the ASW Screen and positioned herself between the Akula and the main body. She loosed her torpedoes at the Slava, a Udaloy destroyer, an FFG Krivak, and the Akula and then ran to evade. The results were wildly terrific. Every escort was sunk. The merchants sailed onwards naked to attack.
http://img83.echo.cx/img83/6760/transients7dj.th.gif (http://img83.echo.cx/my.php?image=transients7dj.gif)
All that my ships had to do was board them and search them. Easy to say, difficult to do. Another Bear recon aircraft had positioned herself near the convoy. She could easily spot any vessel closing on the group and call in airstrikes from the Kola airfields. The day was not over yet. However, NATO would catch a break today. They deserved at least one. DDG Tromp managed to close to 3nm before demanding that the ships heave to and await boarding. They failed to comply so she executed her orders and sank them with gunfire.
This is truly a challenging scenario. The units are not numerous. However, NATO capabilities are very limited and demand that the player get the most out of his assets. Another superb offering from one of Harpoon's finest designers. Thanks very much for sharing your work with us Mark. The only drawback was the Game Engine. The enemy always attacks whether you want him to or not and nothing that a designer can do about it.
This scenario is hosted in the WarfareHQ File Archives (http://www.warfarehq.com/archives/index.php?)
And at the FilesOfScenShare (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/FilesOfScenShare/)
Coming soon to HarpGamer.com