Herman Hum
13 Jan 06, 22:54
Here's another great AAR by Brad Leyte (a.k.a. CV32). It is re-printed here with permission from the author.
AAR: Crete Convoy – [Spoiler Alert]
A Harpoon Classic scenario
by Mark Gellis
It is 1990 and the world is at war. America and its allies are gradually preparing to liberate Iran from the Soviet Union, which invaded that country earlier this year. Several allies of the Soviet Union have declared their support for the Soviet invasion.
Blue Orders:
Convoy AAS (Flag Robison) should proceed to the waters off the southern shore of Crete in preparation for a rendevous with other vessels. Once at the rendevous point, you will receive additional orders. Libya has declared its support of the Soviet invasion of Iran. It is possible that Libyan aircraft, surface vessels, or submarines will attempt to attack your convoy. Soviet submarines may also be in your area.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6964/creteconvoy6fb.th.gif (http://img208.imageshack.us/my.php?image=creteconvoy6fb.gif)
So, I had to get a convoy through possibly hostile waters. Well, lotsa experience doing that, so her goes ...
I had very little fixed wing air support, so that meant I would need to use my two helicopters sparingly and carefully. I moved into the Strait of Sicily at a decent cruise speed of 16 kt without energizing any radars or launching any helos. No sense in letting an enemy know my position too early ...
It wasn't long, however, before I figured it was getting a little too dangerous to be cruising along blind. In fact, a neutral oil tanker had reported on open channels about being overflown by a military aircraft moving at high speed. Libyan, no doubt.
My Seasprite spotted a Osa II missile boat south of Sicily, again undoubtedly Libyan, and moved closer to investigate. Once its identity had been confirmed, the helo pivoted to make the return trip to the Knox class frigate Jesse Brown. The Osa II turned to follow. :(
Once the Osa II was getting to dangerous missile range, the skipper of the Jesse Brown made the call that it was hostile, and launched a pair of Harpoons to negate the threat. One missile connected, and the Osa II disintegrated.
Perhaps having had time to report the incident, the Osa II's friends showed up soon thereafter. Six L-39 Albatros light attack aircraft swept in from the south. All were downed by Standards from the Charles Adams destroyer Robison, but the Libyans had pressed the attack hard enough to shoot a few rockets and drop a few iron bombs near the Jesse Brown, inflicting minor damage.
Next, a pair of MiG-25s arrived, and although I had moved an orbiting Seasprite to the far side of my formation, it wasn't enough to protect him from the fast movers. I traded the Seasprite for a Foxbat, a trade I wasn't particularly happy with.
Two more L-39s arrived on the scene, but these were both shot down before getting close enough to make their own attacks. Brave pilots, dumb tactics.
My convoy was now moving through the somewhat confined waters south of Sicily, and I made a decision to avoid the Malta Channel, which would be a great spot for a submarine to hang out, and navigate instead south of the island of Malta. It would take me closer to the Libyan coast, but at least I had a better chance of seeing the planes and ships coming. A submarine might be a different story.
An Assad missile craft was soon detected patrolling in the Gulf of Sidra, not far from Qaddafi's old Line of Death. But it was still pretty far away.
At this point I decided to launch some Greek fixed wing air support to show the flag and try and protect the convoy. The Libyans weren't impressed. MiG-25 Foxbats ate three of my elderly Phantoms alive.
Hmm, maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Oh well, too late now. Press onward.
A Combattante IIG missile boat was spotted and promptly sunk by a pair of Harpoons from the Robison. Almost immediately thereafter, however, four incoming Vampires (later id'ed as Otomats) were detected moving in, low on the horizon. Two of the attacking missiles were shot down by Robison's Standards, and luckily, the other two missed their run on Jesse Brown. Phew.
Another Combattante IIG, perhaps the perpetrator, was spotted and sunk with another pair of Harpoons from Robison at about 20 nm.
Another four Otomats arrived. Hmmm, over the horizon targeting. Was there a helo out there ? Or were the orbiting Foxbats calling targets. The crew of the Jesse Brown would never know. Two Otomats were splashed by Standards, but this time, one hit Brown and exploded, and the ship quickly came apart.
A pair of Assads soon appeared on the horizon. Why didn't somebody thinking of arming the Seasprite with a decent air-to-surface missile ? :(
One Assad was sunk by a pair of Harpoons, and the other by 127mm gunfire, both angrily launched by the vengeful crew of the Robison.
Things seemed to quiet down after that. The convoy pressed onward. And the skipper of the Robison took some comfort in the fact that satellite recon had spotted a Libyan submarine on the surface in the Malta Channel. Was it better to have lost only a few friends rather than many ? He would have to think about that one.
My convoy arrived in safe waters off southwestern Crete but not quickly enough. The game clock had run down and the battle was declared a draw. Oh well, I still had fun, and ya can't win em all.
Thanks, Mark. B)
SZO file archives (http://www.strategyzoneonline.com/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=697) - Home of the Harpoon3 PlayersDB
http://img271.echo.cx/img271/7972/badger0ma.th.jpgFilesOfScenShare (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/FilesOfScenShare/)
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AAR: Crete Convoy – [Spoiler Alert]
A Harpoon Classic scenario
by Mark Gellis
It is 1990 and the world is at war. America and its allies are gradually preparing to liberate Iran from the Soviet Union, which invaded that country earlier this year. Several allies of the Soviet Union have declared their support for the Soviet invasion.
Blue Orders:
Convoy AAS (Flag Robison) should proceed to the waters off the southern shore of Crete in preparation for a rendevous with other vessels. Once at the rendevous point, you will receive additional orders. Libya has declared its support of the Soviet invasion of Iran. It is possible that Libyan aircraft, surface vessels, or submarines will attempt to attack your convoy. Soviet submarines may also be in your area.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6964/creteconvoy6fb.th.gif (http://img208.imageshack.us/my.php?image=creteconvoy6fb.gif)
So, I had to get a convoy through possibly hostile waters. Well, lotsa experience doing that, so her goes ...
I had very little fixed wing air support, so that meant I would need to use my two helicopters sparingly and carefully. I moved into the Strait of Sicily at a decent cruise speed of 16 kt without energizing any radars or launching any helos. No sense in letting an enemy know my position too early ...
It wasn't long, however, before I figured it was getting a little too dangerous to be cruising along blind. In fact, a neutral oil tanker had reported on open channels about being overflown by a military aircraft moving at high speed. Libyan, no doubt.
My Seasprite spotted a Osa II missile boat south of Sicily, again undoubtedly Libyan, and moved closer to investigate. Once its identity had been confirmed, the helo pivoted to make the return trip to the Knox class frigate Jesse Brown. The Osa II turned to follow. :(
Once the Osa II was getting to dangerous missile range, the skipper of the Jesse Brown made the call that it was hostile, and launched a pair of Harpoons to negate the threat. One missile connected, and the Osa II disintegrated.
Perhaps having had time to report the incident, the Osa II's friends showed up soon thereafter. Six L-39 Albatros light attack aircraft swept in from the south. All were downed by Standards from the Charles Adams destroyer Robison, but the Libyans had pressed the attack hard enough to shoot a few rockets and drop a few iron bombs near the Jesse Brown, inflicting minor damage.
Next, a pair of MiG-25s arrived, and although I had moved an orbiting Seasprite to the far side of my formation, it wasn't enough to protect him from the fast movers. I traded the Seasprite for a Foxbat, a trade I wasn't particularly happy with.
Two more L-39s arrived on the scene, but these were both shot down before getting close enough to make their own attacks. Brave pilots, dumb tactics.
My convoy was now moving through the somewhat confined waters south of Sicily, and I made a decision to avoid the Malta Channel, which would be a great spot for a submarine to hang out, and navigate instead south of the island of Malta. It would take me closer to the Libyan coast, but at least I had a better chance of seeing the planes and ships coming. A submarine might be a different story.
An Assad missile craft was soon detected patrolling in the Gulf of Sidra, not far from Qaddafi's old Line of Death. But it was still pretty far away.
At this point I decided to launch some Greek fixed wing air support to show the flag and try and protect the convoy. The Libyans weren't impressed. MiG-25 Foxbats ate three of my elderly Phantoms alive.
Hmm, maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Oh well, too late now. Press onward.
A Combattante IIG missile boat was spotted and promptly sunk by a pair of Harpoons from the Robison. Almost immediately thereafter, however, four incoming Vampires (later id'ed as Otomats) were detected moving in, low on the horizon. Two of the attacking missiles were shot down by Robison's Standards, and luckily, the other two missed their run on Jesse Brown. Phew.
Another Combattante IIG, perhaps the perpetrator, was spotted and sunk with another pair of Harpoons from Robison at about 20 nm.
Another four Otomats arrived. Hmmm, over the horizon targeting. Was there a helo out there ? Or were the orbiting Foxbats calling targets. The crew of the Jesse Brown would never know. Two Otomats were splashed by Standards, but this time, one hit Brown and exploded, and the ship quickly came apart.
A pair of Assads soon appeared on the horizon. Why didn't somebody thinking of arming the Seasprite with a decent air-to-surface missile ? :(
One Assad was sunk by a pair of Harpoons, and the other by 127mm gunfire, both angrily launched by the vengeful crew of the Robison.
Things seemed to quiet down after that. The convoy pressed onward. And the skipper of the Robison took some comfort in the fact that satellite recon had spotted a Libyan submarine on the surface in the Malta Channel. Was it better to have lost only a few friends rather than many ? He would have to think about that one.
My convoy arrived in safe waters off southwestern Crete but not quickly enough. The game clock had run down and the battle was declared a draw. Oh well, I still had fun, and ya can't win em all.
Thanks, Mark. B)
SZO file archives (http://www.strategyzoneonline.com/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=697) - 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.jpgHarpGamer.com (http://www.harpgamer.com) - Home of the HCDB.