Herman Hum
16 Nov 05, 15:05
AAR: First Contact [Spoiler Alert]
A Harpoon 3 scenario
By Ragnar Emsoy
The Soviets have been conducting intense military exercises for weeks and are now deploying exceptional quantities of military hardware in Eastern Europe.
On the northern front, Finland has allowed unusually large numbers of Soviet troops to enter the country, and Finnish airbases have become crowded with Soviet fighters and attack aircraft. Large mechanized formations are racing west through the Finnish Wedge towards the Norwegian border, taking the shortest of only two overland routes to Norway's main line of defense in Troms, five hundred kilometers from the Soviet homeland. A powerful Red Banner Northern Fleet SAG and two amphibious groups sailed into the Norwegian Sea 36 hours ago. The amphibious groups have now been spotted about seventy nautical miles off the Norwegian coast, heading for the Troms area.
Fighter, attack, and bomber reinforcements have arrived in large numbers on the Kola Peninsula, boosting the already formidable force normally based there. The most fearsome addition is the fifty or so Backfire bombers of the 46th Strategic Air Army. These aircraft will most likely be tasked with supporting the Northern Fleet's operations in the Norwegian Sea, adding awesome striking power to the Naval Aviation's force of sixty Badger bombers. Backfire regiments of the Soviet Strategic Air Armies were regularly forward deployed to bases on the Kola Peninsula during the 1970s and 1980s, and the Soviet have gained valuable experience in operating these formidable bombers in sub-arctic conditions against simulated carrier battle groups and convoys in the Norwegian Sea.
NATO has been closely monitoring the Soviet activities. The Soviets' intentions are still unknown, and Soviet authorities have made no credible explanations regarding the last days' events. Most NATO countries have now issued the order for a full mobilization. http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/1987/firstcontact8dp.th.gif (http://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=firstcontact8dp.gif)
Reports were received from all throughout the Norwegian Sea: many unidentified ships and aircraft were spotted closing in on the Norwegian coast. Fighters had been scrambled, but we needed to conduct a proper surface search. As four Orion P-3s of the 17th Maritime Patrol Squadron prepared to launch from Andoya, most of the unidentified contacts were localized through ESM efforts. Some contacts were easily classified as Kresta cruisers and others as Sovremenny/Hangzhou destroyers. Northern Command ordered us to ascertain the identities and intentions of these contacts.
http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/3144/firstcontacttheatre1qx.th.gif (http://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=firstcontacttheatre1qx.gif)
While waiting for the P-3s to arrive on station, the F-16s aloft were ordered to close on the contacts for a visual search. Lieutenants Sivertson and Matheson soon reported 2 separate groups of fast attack craft. Each consisted of 6 Nanuchka/Osa IIs operating at high speed. Although the pilots had been scanned with radar in a hostile manner, no other action had been taken against them. The regional commander could not conclude that they had been fired upon and, according to the ROE, did not order any retaliatory action.
The Orions began to arrive on station and were able to learn additional information but were unable to classify the contacts from radar alone. The TACCO wanted to conduct a visual search. However, the aircraft commander overruled her and ordered the fighters to conduct a visual search. Major Lundh later reported that he had a suspicious feeling that day. He said, "They were all formed up in pretty columns with what appeared to be a screen of escorts. If the situation soured, the fast movers would stand a much better chance of survival. After all these years of getting of taking crap for flying an aircraft unable to break Mach 1, it is time for the fighter jocks to earn their pay."
http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/6677/firstcontacttromso4tt.th.gif (http://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=firstcontacttromso4tt.gif)
As Lt. Sivertson's flight sped in to investigate the group nearing Andoya, many thing began to happen. Bad things. Radar had been tracking the Lt.'s plane, but now a fire control set had begun radiating and the RWR announced that a SAM had been launched and was tracking the aircraft. The Lt. immediately went to afterburner and began evasive maneuvers while punching out flares and chaff. The nearest Orion detected the launch and was now able to classify the contact definitively as a Soviet DDG Sovremenny. A Flash report was immediately sent up the chain of command to the COMNON HQ and a response was received in less than 90 seconds. However, in war, 90 seconds is a lifetime...
http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/2669/firstcontactbodo6yo.th.gif (http://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=firstcontactbodo6yo.gif)
A Royal Navy ASW group was conducting exercises north of Andoya when the AEW helo reported multiple inbound high speed air contacts. The Commodore immediately ordered general quarters and for all ships to radiate and maneuver to unmask batteries. Secondly, he ordered a flash-priority warning to all commands. His chief of staff cut him off and told him that they had just received the warning. Damn. A penny short... All decks were to be cleared of aircraft. The helos launched immediately, but the Harriers had just been recovered from an exercise and were still in the process of fuelling. Commodore Ralston muttered, "Now I know how Nagumo felt at Midway." The escorts began launching SAMs, but there were only a pair of fire control directors on each of the Invincible and DDG Exeter and almost 30 missiles inbound. Anyone could see that 30 of a kind would beat 2 pair any day.
The frigates Phoebe and Argonaut were the first to go down. They preceded the DDG Exeter by mere seconds. The Invincible put up a valiant defense. However, even with assistance from the Exeter, there were still 6 missiles remaining when the SAMs were no longer able to engage. It only takes one to ruin your day. All 6 missiles made today Commodore Ralston's "Mother of All Bad Days". The first missile hit the hangar just above a fueled Harrier that was being wrestled labouriously by a crew into launch position. The next 5 followed in quick succession. The Invincible had fought just 97 seconds of the Third World War.
COMNON Lt. General Lium ordered NATO units to engage all Soviet forces with priority given to landing ships. He thought that he put it simply by saying, "If it flies the Soviet Red Star, It Dies." Little did the General suspect of the confusion that the specificity of his orders would create.
Lt. Siverson was approaching the group off Bodo when his radar detected the launch of several missiles. The TACCO quickly classified them as Sandbox SSMs and Gadfly SAMs. After Siverson took defensive measures and evaded, he requested weapons release and permission to attack the ship. To his dismay, the TACCO refused. Her reply, "That ship is either a Soviet Sovremenny DDG or a Chinese Hangzhou DDG. I am unable to positively classify at this time. Request denied. We are not going to run the risk of starting a war with the Red Chinese." Siverson's wingman, as always covering his leader's six position, quickly piped in with, "If that's a Chinese boat down there, somebody better tell them that they are in the wrong ocean and that getting into a war is the least of their problems! The only Chinese out here are in that restaurant on Drammensveien."
"Yeah, and in the Egg Foo Young noodles in your head, TACCO", Siverson added subconsciously. The F-16s continued to close on the target.
Meanwhile, the MTBs had unleashed a volley of Penguin missiles at the Nanuchkas and Osas. Final score of that round went to the Norwegians who sank all 12 PMs for the loss of 2 MTBs. While bringing the strike-configured flight of P-3s to the Bodo bound group, TACCO ordered the fighters to investigate the helos and send them to meet Karl Marx if they were Soviet. "Blind the *******s," she said.
Eight helos were shot down in short order. For all her shortcomings through strict adherence to orders, TACCO was brilliant. She plotted the suspect group and noticed that the thundering herd was screened only in the west, south, and east. There seemed to be no escorts in the north. She directed all of the fighters and Strike-P-3s to congregate there. On the attack, the F-16s raced in on afterburners while the P-3s cruised in cautiously. Siverson led the way and bore in on his arch-nemesis; Sovremenny/Hangzhou. When he was fired upon once again, the other F-16s were able to visually identify the main body of ships as Soviet and immediately selected amphibious assault ships as targets for their strafing runs. The Orions each selected a Ro/Ro vessel and fired their ASMs. Togther, the F-16s and Orions were able to sink 2 landing ships for an amazing zero friendly casualty rate. However, one LST remained and it was pointed directly at Bodo.
The Norwegian pilots were winchester and frustrated when the TACCO came up with brilliant idea number 2; her annual quota. She heard the reported loss of the Invincible and asked if there were any aircraft in the area with ordnance. The Harrier pilots were heading for Bodo and replied most enthusiastically that they still had full loads for their cannon but that they were _Very_ skeptical of getting close enough to the target and could they provide an escort. The Norwegian pilots reported unanimously that their weapons were totally depleted. What do you want us to do? Be living missile shields and bullet catchers?!! General Lium had been monitoring the situation and came on the radio to say,
"In armor, there is an expression. 'If you run out of fuel, become a pillbox. If you run out of ammunition, become a bunker. If you run out of hope, become a hero.' I cannot order you on this mission, but I can only say that that remaining landing ship might make the difference in the entire campaign if we can stop them butt cold. I am looking for volunteers."
To a man, the pilots of the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron agreed. Some would rather not do so, but they were all fighter pilots and followed the creed, "It is better to die than to look bad". There would be many Heroes in the Norwegian Sea, today.
As the pilots planned their ingress from the north, two MTBs blew up a Kresta II cruiser. The back door exit lay open. The pilots slowly increased speed to full military power. The F-16s went in on afterburner again and were immediately engaged by the escorts. The agility of their aircraft prevented a single loss. However, when the escorts soon began to target the Harriers, the TACCO ordered the Vipers to match the speed of their charges. To this order, Siverson replied, "Why don’t you tell us to bend over and grab our ankles while we are at it!"
The TACCO was non-plussed. She told him that, "You get paid to do it. Not to like it." The living missile shields worked. The Harriers were able to exact a terrible revenge for the loss of their shipmates. The amphibious group arrived at Bodo without the 455th infantry regiment lost at sea. Four Vipers, Lt. Siverson's included, made the ultimate sacrifice. They were each awarded the Order of St. Olaf, Norway's highest decoration for valor.
This scen posted at hh (http://www.harpoonhq.com/harpoon3/scenarios/index.html).
A Harpoon 3 scenario
By Ragnar Emsoy
The Soviets have been conducting intense military exercises for weeks and are now deploying exceptional quantities of military hardware in Eastern Europe.
On the northern front, Finland has allowed unusually large numbers of Soviet troops to enter the country, and Finnish airbases have become crowded with Soviet fighters and attack aircraft. Large mechanized formations are racing west through the Finnish Wedge towards the Norwegian border, taking the shortest of only two overland routes to Norway's main line of defense in Troms, five hundred kilometers from the Soviet homeland. A powerful Red Banner Northern Fleet SAG and two amphibious groups sailed into the Norwegian Sea 36 hours ago. The amphibious groups have now been spotted about seventy nautical miles off the Norwegian coast, heading for the Troms area.
Fighter, attack, and bomber reinforcements have arrived in large numbers on the Kola Peninsula, boosting the already formidable force normally based there. The most fearsome addition is the fifty or so Backfire bombers of the 46th Strategic Air Army. These aircraft will most likely be tasked with supporting the Northern Fleet's operations in the Norwegian Sea, adding awesome striking power to the Naval Aviation's force of sixty Badger bombers. Backfire regiments of the Soviet Strategic Air Armies were regularly forward deployed to bases on the Kola Peninsula during the 1970s and 1980s, and the Soviet have gained valuable experience in operating these formidable bombers in sub-arctic conditions against simulated carrier battle groups and convoys in the Norwegian Sea.
NATO has been closely monitoring the Soviet activities. The Soviets' intentions are still unknown, and Soviet authorities have made no credible explanations regarding the last days' events. Most NATO countries have now issued the order for a full mobilization. http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/1987/firstcontact8dp.th.gif (http://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=firstcontact8dp.gif)
Reports were received from all throughout the Norwegian Sea: many unidentified ships and aircraft were spotted closing in on the Norwegian coast. Fighters had been scrambled, but we needed to conduct a proper surface search. As four Orion P-3s of the 17th Maritime Patrol Squadron prepared to launch from Andoya, most of the unidentified contacts were localized through ESM efforts. Some contacts were easily classified as Kresta cruisers and others as Sovremenny/Hangzhou destroyers. Northern Command ordered us to ascertain the identities and intentions of these contacts.
http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/3144/firstcontacttheatre1qx.th.gif (http://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=firstcontacttheatre1qx.gif)
While waiting for the P-3s to arrive on station, the F-16s aloft were ordered to close on the contacts for a visual search. Lieutenants Sivertson and Matheson soon reported 2 separate groups of fast attack craft. Each consisted of 6 Nanuchka/Osa IIs operating at high speed. Although the pilots had been scanned with radar in a hostile manner, no other action had been taken against them. The regional commander could not conclude that they had been fired upon and, according to the ROE, did not order any retaliatory action.
The Orions began to arrive on station and were able to learn additional information but were unable to classify the contacts from radar alone. The TACCO wanted to conduct a visual search. However, the aircraft commander overruled her and ordered the fighters to conduct a visual search. Major Lundh later reported that he had a suspicious feeling that day. He said, "They were all formed up in pretty columns with what appeared to be a screen of escorts. If the situation soured, the fast movers would stand a much better chance of survival. After all these years of getting of taking crap for flying an aircraft unable to break Mach 1, it is time for the fighter jocks to earn their pay."
http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/6677/firstcontacttromso4tt.th.gif (http://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=firstcontacttromso4tt.gif)
As Lt. Sivertson's flight sped in to investigate the group nearing Andoya, many thing began to happen. Bad things. Radar had been tracking the Lt.'s plane, but now a fire control set had begun radiating and the RWR announced that a SAM had been launched and was tracking the aircraft. The Lt. immediately went to afterburner and began evasive maneuvers while punching out flares and chaff. The nearest Orion detected the launch and was now able to classify the contact definitively as a Soviet DDG Sovremenny. A Flash report was immediately sent up the chain of command to the COMNON HQ and a response was received in less than 90 seconds. However, in war, 90 seconds is a lifetime...
http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/2669/firstcontactbodo6yo.th.gif (http://img483.imageshack.us/my.php?image=firstcontactbodo6yo.gif)
A Royal Navy ASW group was conducting exercises north of Andoya when the AEW helo reported multiple inbound high speed air contacts. The Commodore immediately ordered general quarters and for all ships to radiate and maneuver to unmask batteries. Secondly, he ordered a flash-priority warning to all commands. His chief of staff cut him off and told him that they had just received the warning. Damn. A penny short... All decks were to be cleared of aircraft. The helos launched immediately, but the Harriers had just been recovered from an exercise and were still in the process of fuelling. Commodore Ralston muttered, "Now I know how Nagumo felt at Midway." The escorts began launching SAMs, but there were only a pair of fire control directors on each of the Invincible and DDG Exeter and almost 30 missiles inbound. Anyone could see that 30 of a kind would beat 2 pair any day.
The frigates Phoebe and Argonaut were the first to go down. They preceded the DDG Exeter by mere seconds. The Invincible put up a valiant defense. However, even with assistance from the Exeter, there were still 6 missiles remaining when the SAMs were no longer able to engage. It only takes one to ruin your day. All 6 missiles made today Commodore Ralston's "Mother of All Bad Days". The first missile hit the hangar just above a fueled Harrier that was being wrestled labouriously by a crew into launch position. The next 5 followed in quick succession. The Invincible had fought just 97 seconds of the Third World War.
COMNON Lt. General Lium ordered NATO units to engage all Soviet forces with priority given to landing ships. He thought that he put it simply by saying, "If it flies the Soviet Red Star, It Dies." Little did the General suspect of the confusion that the specificity of his orders would create.
Lt. Siverson was approaching the group off Bodo when his radar detected the launch of several missiles. The TACCO quickly classified them as Sandbox SSMs and Gadfly SAMs. After Siverson took defensive measures and evaded, he requested weapons release and permission to attack the ship. To his dismay, the TACCO refused. Her reply, "That ship is either a Soviet Sovremenny DDG or a Chinese Hangzhou DDG. I am unable to positively classify at this time. Request denied. We are not going to run the risk of starting a war with the Red Chinese." Siverson's wingman, as always covering his leader's six position, quickly piped in with, "If that's a Chinese boat down there, somebody better tell them that they are in the wrong ocean and that getting into a war is the least of their problems! The only Chinese out here are in that restaurant on Drammensveien."
"Yeah, and in the Egg Foo Young noodles in your head, TACCO", Siverson added subconsciously. The F-16s continued to close on the target.
Meanwhile, the MTBs had unleashed a volley of Penguin missiles at the Nanuchkas and Osas. Final score of that round went to the Norwegians who sank all 12 PMs for the loss of 2 MTBs. While bringing the strike-configured flight of P-3s to the Bodo bound group, TACCO ordered the fighters to investigate the helos and send them to meet Karl Marx if they were Soviet. "Blind the *******s," she said.
Eight helos were shot down in short order. For all her shortcomings through strict adherence to orders, TACCO was brilliant. She plotted the suspect group and noticed that the thundering herd was screened only in the west, south, and east. There seemed to be no escorts in the north. She directed all of the fighters and Strike-P-3s to congregate there. On the attack, the F-16s raced in on afterburners while the P-3s cruised in cautiously. Siverson led the way and bore in on his arch-nemesis; Sovremenny/Hangzhou. When he was fired upon once again, the other F-16s were able to visually identify the main body of ships as Soviet and immediately selected amphibious assault ships as targets for their strafing runs. The Orions each selected a Ro/Ro vessel and fired their ASMs. Togther, the F-16s and Orions were able to sink 2 landing ships for an amazing zero friendly casualty rate. However, one LST remained and it was pointed directly at Bodo.
The Norwegian pilots were winchester and frustrated when the TACCO came up with brilliant idea number 2; her annual quota. She heard the reported loss of the Invincible and asked if there were any aircraft in the area with ordnance. The Harrier pilots were heading for Bodo and replied most enthusiastically that they still had full loads for their cannon but that they were _Very_ skeptical of getting close enough to the target and could they provide an escort. The Norwegian pilots reported unanimously that their weapons were totally depleted. What do you want us to do? Be living missile shields and bullet catchers?!! General Lium had been monitoring the situation and came on the radio to say,
"In armor, there is an expression. 'If you run out of fuel, become a pillbox. If you run out of ammunition, become a bunker. If you run out of hope, become a hero.' I cannot order you on this mission, but I can only say that that remaining landing ship might make the difference in the entire campaign if we can stop them butt cold. I am looking for volunteers."
To a man, the pilots of the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron agreed. Some would rather not do so, but they were all fighter pilots and followed the creed, "It is better to die than to look bad". There would be many Heroes in the Norwegian Sea, today.
As the pilots planned their ingress from the north, two MTBs blew up a Kresta II cruiser. The back door exit lay open. The pilots slowly increased speed to full military power. The F-16s went in on afterburner again and were immediately engaged by the escorts. The agility of their aircraft prevented a single loss. However, when the escorts soon began to target the Harriers, the TACCO ordered the Vipers to match the speed of their charges. To this order, Siverson replied, "Why don’t you tell us to bend over and grab our ankles while we are at it!"
The TACCO was non-plussed. She told him that, "You get paid to do it. Not to like it." The living missile shields worked. The Harriers were able to exact a terrible revenge for the loss of their shipmates. The amphibious group arrived at Bodo without the 455th infantry regiment lost at sea. Four Vipers, Lt. Siverson's included, made the ultimate sacrifice. They were each awarded the Order of St. Olaf, Norway's highest decoration for valor.
This scen posted at hh (http://www.harpoonhq.com/harpoon3/scenarios/index.html).