Herman Hum
23 May 05, 22:00
AAR: Broadsides
By Paul Bridge
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/9964/broadsides0sv.th.gif (http://img267.echo.cx/my.php?image=broadsides0sv.gif)
The task force started under immediate observation by a Russian Spy Trawler [AGI]. They tried to double back in an attempt to shake this Nosy Nelly by using a tactic from Roger's Rangers: "If someone's trailing you, make a circle, come back on your own tracks and ambush the folks that aim to ambush you." TF Belfast was ordered to maintain the radar picture while Bulwark went under Emissions Control [EmCon] so that the enemy could not track her transmissions.
I ordered the CAP already aloft to move to cover the TF. Enroute, their RWR detected radar and jamming. As their fuel was limited, I decided to investigate since they would not have much discretionary time remaining. It was a matter of use them or lose them. Their efforts revealed the KRI Irian and 2 Skory Mod destroyers; a big ASuW punch. I regret not locating the more potent Komar missile boats, but I was running out of fuel. The fighters would only have sufficient fuel for one quick gunnery pass and they chose to try and damage one of the DDs. They had no hope of sinking her, but they might be able to delay her long enough for additional assets to be brought into play. They made their firing passes and did light damage that was almost unnoticed by the Indonesians. On their homeward leg, 2 Fresco fighters intercepted them and they managed to kill one of them before the surviving Fresco broke off the attack.
The Bulwark group managed to shake the AGI only to be stumbled upon by a Beagle recon aircraft. Of all the bad luck. It seems as though I would not be able to shake their prying eyes, today. However, luck is a double-edged sword. The Beagle managed to locate me but also came into range of my SAMs. A volley of them quickly killed her.
I had the distinct unpleasant feeling that my group position had been relayed to the enemy's airbase at Pekanbaru and that an air attack was imminent. However, I only had 2 Javelin interceptors ready at RAAF Butterworth. If I launched them as an immediate relief Combat Air Patrol [CAP], they would likely be out of fuel by the time the real air attack materialized. With a re-fueling period of 6 hours, they would almost be out of commission for the duration of the game. I elected to gamble and keep them on the base for Deck-Launched Intercept [DLI] missions.
KRI Irian was foremost on my mind at the moment. She carried 152mm guns that easily matched those on CL Belfast. I needed to find a way to neutralize her. A gunnery duel would likely leave me on the short end of the equation so I order my 2 Neptune patrol aircraft to attack in hopes of a critical hit.
As they made their approach, they encountered a Komar boat. I quickly called off the attack and re-directed my efforts to the PGM. Her SSMs posed a greater threat. A pass from one Neptune was sufficient to kill her. The other Neptune returned to attack the Irian; a seemingly useless effort.
Two Kronshtadt-class vessels were found and killed with long-ranged gunnery and strafing attacks. I ordered my ships to hug the Malaysian coast in hopes of avoiding detection. They slowed their speed to maintain separation from the AGI and shut down their radar.
As my Hunters and other aircraft became available, I sent them to attack the Irian repeatedly. However, their puny rockets were little more than pea shooters when dealing with an armoured cruiser. One Hunter was even lost to AAA fire. I decided that only aircraft with heavy ordnance would be tasked with her destruction.
The enemy cruiser force stopped neatly astride my Path of Intended Movement [PIM]. There would be no way of avoiding the fight that appeared to be looming. I launched 3 Hunters with Bullpup AGMs. I fired all six at the cruiser, but failed to sink her. She was one tough ship. A Neptune strike left her ablaze but she was still able to make 14 knots. Say what you will about Russian standards. Their Sverdlov-Class cruisers were top-notch.
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/3244/insidepassage4nb.th.gif (http://img267.echo.cx/my.php?image=insidepassage4nb.gif)
I tried to evade the Surface Action Group [SAG] by taking an inshore route. However, somehow, the enemy commander must have guessed my move for the SAG moved to intercept me. I ordered the naval equivalent of an infantry counter-march. I tried to sail away from the enemy in order to give my aircraft one last chance to sink that armoured behemoth. Luckily, the aircraft had damaged her sufficiently so that she could only make 14kts. of steam. I could easily maintain the distance. A second Neptune strike must have managed a lucky hit for her speed decreased to 8 knots. I decided to try the inside passage again just as a flight of Hunters was re-armed and closing to attack.
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/9806/countermarch5bn.th.gif (http://img267.echo.cx/my.php?image=countermarch5bn.gif)
The Hunters were finally able to sink the cruiser. The surviving Skory DDs were met by the CL Belfast. Through expert seamanship, she was able to keep the enemy ships under the iron flail of her gun batteries while not allowing them to close to effective range of their own guns. Both Skory were sunk without inflicting damage on the British vessels. For this classic display of naval superiority, her Captain would win the Distinguished Service Order.
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/8746/insidepassage27md.th.gif (http://img267.echo.cx/my.php?image=insidepassage27md.gif)
The Bulwark continued her voyage. However, she was not able to avoid detection. The Russian AGI, displaying exceptional prescience, cornered her and reported her position as she made her transit betwixt the islands. The Task Force went to General Quarters and they were not disappointed as the first bogeys were detected from Pekanbaru. Three Javelin interceptors rose from Butterworth and successfully intercepted 3 Farmer fighter-bombers. Lacking further targets, they killed a pair of Fresco that had been making a nuisance of themselves on Combat Air Patrol [CAP] before returning to base.
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/7172/tagimit3cd.th.gif (http://img267.echo.cx/my.php?image=tagimit3cd.gif)
Not long after, five more bogies were detected. A pair of Javelin scrambled to intercept and were able to catch and destroy all five Invaders without loss to themselves. When the third raid was reported, only one Javelin was available. I ordered two Hunters to accompany her. Their guns would be better than nothing. There were only three Beagles in this attack but they would prove to be worthy opponents; destroying the Javelin and one Hunter before they themselves died. No further attacks were experienced as the Bulwark arrived safely.
Thanks for sharing another interesting and challenging scenario.
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By Paul Bridge
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/9964/broadsides0sv.th.gif (http://img267.echo.cx/my.php?image=broadsides0sv.gif)
The task force started under immediate observation by a Russian Spy Trawler [AGI]. They tried to double back in an attempt to shake this Nosy Nelly by using a tactic from Roger's Rangers: "If someone's trailing you, make a circle, come back on your own tracks and ambush the folks that aim to ambush you." TF Belfast was ordered to maintain the radar picture while Bulwark went under Emissions Control [EmCon] so that the enemy could not track her transmissions.
I ordered the CAP already aloft to move to cover the TF. Enroute, their RWR detected radar and jamming. As their fuel was limited, I decided to investigate since they would not have much discretionary time remaining. It was a matter of use them or lose them. Their efforts revealed the KRI Irian and 2 Skory Mod destroyers; a big ASuW punch. I regret not locating the more potent Komar missile boats, but I was running out of fuel. The fighters would only have sufficient fuel for one quick gunnery pass and they chose to try and damage one of the DDs. They had no hope of sinking her, but they might be able to delay her long enough for additional assets to be brought into play. They made their firing passes and did light damage that was almost unnoticed by the Indonesians. On their homeward leg, 2 Fresco fighters intercepted them and they managed to kill one of them before the surviving Fresco broke off the attack.
The Bulwark group managed to shake the AGI only to be stumbled upon by a Beagle recon aircraft. Of all the bad luck. It seems as though I would not be able to shake their prying eyes, today. However, luck is a double-edged sword. The Beagle managed to locate me but also came into range of my SAMs. A volley of them quickly killed her.
I had the distinct unpleasant feeling that my group position had been relayed to the enemy's airbase at Pekanbaru and that an air attack was imminent. However, I only had 2 Javelin interceptors ready at RAAF Butterworth. If I launched them as an immediate relief Combat Air Patrol [CAP], they would likely be out of fuel by the time the real air attack materialized. With a re-fueling period of 6 hours, they would almost be out of commission for the duration of the game. I elected to gamble and keep them on the base for Deck-Launched Intercept [DLI] missions.
KRI Irian was foremost on my mind at the moment. She carried 152mm guns that easily matched those on CL Belfast. I needed to find a way to neutralize her. A gunnery duel would likely leave me on the short end of the equation so I order my 2 Neptune patrol aircraft to attack in hopes of a critical hit.
As they made their approach, they encountered a Komar boat. I quickly called off the attack and re-directed my efforts to the PGM. Her SSMs posed a greater threat. A pass from one Neptune was sufficient to kill her. The other Neptune returned to attack the Irian; a seemingly useless effort.
Two Kronshtadt-class vessels were found and killed with long-ranged gunnery and strafing attacks. I ordered my ships to hug the Malaysian coast in hopes of avoiding detection. They slowed their speed to maintain separation from the AGI and shut down their radar.
As my Hunters and other aircraft became available, I sent them to attack the Irian repeatedly. However, their puny rockets were little more than pea shooters when dealing with an armoured cruiser. One Hunter was even lost to AAA fire. I decided that only aircraft with heavy ordnance would be tasked with her destruction.
The enemy cruiser force stopped neatly astride my Path of Intended Movement [PIM]. There would be no way of avoiding the fight that appeared to be looming. I launched 3 Hunters with Bullpup AGMs. I fired all six at the cruiser, but failed to sink her. She was one tough ship. A Neptune strike left her ablaze but she was still able to make 14 knots. Say what you will about Russian standards. Their Sverdlov-Class cruisers were top-notch.
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/3244/insidepassage4nb.th.gif (http://img267.echo.cx/my.php?image=insidepassage4nb.gif)
I tried to evade the Surface Action Group [SAG] by taking an inshore route. However, somehow, the enemy commander must have guessed my move for the SAG moved to intercept me. I ordered the naval equivalent of an infantry counter-march. I tried to sail away from the enemy in order to give my aircraft one last chance to sink that armoured behemoth. Luckily, the aircraft had damaged her sufficiently so that she could only make 14kts. of steam. I could easily maintain the distance. A second Neptune strike must have managed a lucky hit for her speed decreased to 8 knots. I decided to try the inside passage again just as a flight of Hunters was re-armed and closing to attack.
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/9806/countermarch5bn.th.gif (http://img267.echo.cx/my.php?image=countermarch5bn.gif)
The Hunters were finally able to sink the cruiser. The surviving Skory DDs were met by the CL Belfast. Through expert seamanship, she was able to keep the enemy ships under the iron flail of her gun batteries while not allowing them to close to effective range of their own guns. Both Skory were sunk without inflicting damage on the British vessels. For this classic display of naval superiority, her Captain would win the Distinguished Service Order.
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/8746/insidepassage27md.th.gif (http://img267.echo.cx/my.php?image=insidepassage27md.gif)
The Bulwark continued her voyage. However, she was not able to avoid detection. The Russian AGI, displaying exceptional prescience, cornered her and reported her position as she made her transit betwixt the islands. The Task Force went to General Quarters and they were not disappointed as the first bogeys were detected from Pekanbaru. Three Javelin interceptors rose from Butterworth and successfully intercepted 3 Farmer fighter-bombers. Lacking further targets, they killed a pair of Fresco that had been making a nuisance of themselves on Combat Air Patrol [CAP] before returning to base.
http://img267.echo.cx/img267/7172/tagimit3cd.th.gif (http://img267.echo.cx/my.php?image=tagimit3cd.gif)
Not long after, five more bogies were detected. A pair of Javelin scrambled to intercept and were able to catch and destroy all five Invaders without loss to themselves. When the third raid was reported, only one Javelin was available. I ordered two Hunters to accompany her. Their guns would be better than nothing. There were only three Beagles in this attack but they would prove to be worthy opponents; destroying the Javelin and one Hunter before they themselves died. No further attacks were experienced as the Bulwark arrived safely.
Thanks for sharing another interesting and challenging scenario.
SZO file archives (http://www.strategyzoneonline.com/forums/downloads.php?do=cat&id=30) - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB
http://img271.echo.cx/img271/7972/badger0ma.th.jpgFilesOfScenShare (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/FilesOfScenShare/)
http://img108.exs.cx/img108/5898/hgbanner33xr.jpg
HarpGamer.com (http://www.harpgamer.com) - Home of the HCDB.