World War III, a scenario for Harpoon Classic Gold, for Westpac, by Fred Galano
After Action Report (AAR) by Brad Leyte
When Fred told us that he was working on a scenario for Westpac that would resemble in some respects his previous scenario, "Med War" (for the EC2003 MEDC battleset), I was keyed up to try it. Med War had been a challenging and action packed scenario, and of course, I expected to see the same in a new Westpac scenario. It would be a immense understatement if I said my expectations were fulfilled. In point of fact, they weren't "fulfilled"; they were "overwhelmed".
Firstly, a word of caution. World War III is not a scenario for the faint of heart, or the "PC processor challenged". You will probably spend most of your time playing at 1:1 time compression, even with a fast PC. That's not to say someone with only a little Harpoon experience, or a slower PC, shouldn't try it. Indeed, they should, if only to show oneself what is in store for those who are trying to build up a little skill in their Harpoon play, or are in need of a good excuse to get a new PC.
Secondly, I have to confess that this AAR is not based on my first crack at WW3. But, to explain further, I can't really count my first try. When I opened up WW3 for the first time, the sheer scale and magnitude of what awaited me was a little overwhelming. I realized immediately that this scenario really would be a "war" in every sense of the word, and that I needed to examine the set-up and set aside a little more time before tackling it in the way I wanted to. I quickly closed the scenario. This was as much to give the scenario the proper attention it was entitled to, as it was to give myself a little more prep time. This might sound a little silly to someone not accustomed to Harpoon, but if you're a veteran wargamer, then you know what I'm talking about. You need to immerse yourself in the scenario to truly enjoy it.
OK, on to the "meat" of this AAR. The second time I opened up this sucker, I was ready. Or so I thought. The realities of war soon taught me otherwise.
I noted that I had three carrier battle groups in the theater. (A lot of anecdotal evidence exists about every American President asking about the location of Navy carriers in times of crisis, and whether true or not, I have found this to carry over into Harpoon. It’s a testament to the strength of carrier airpower, I'm sure). These battle groups were centred on the Stennis, in the South China Sea; the Ronald Reagan, south of Guam; and the Nimitz, just off the southeast coast of Japan. It seemed apparent that the Stennis and the Nimitz would soon be called upon to defend my allies, but that the Reagan would have to make some serious turns to get into the fight.
Immediately my friends in Taiwan and South Korea were subjected to an intense barrage of ballistic missiles. No surprise there, such a bombardment being the longstanding expectation, except for the intensity and for the fact that I had little choice but to endure the worst of it. Air defences in both areas performed valiantly, but inevitably a number of airfields in both the ROC and the ROK were seriously pummeled. I soon realized that whatever remnants of the forces survived the onslaught, they were now condemned to struggle for the rest of the war not only against their aggressors, but also against the damage that had been inflicted against their home bases.
THE KOREAN PENINSULA
Kim Jong-Il (or his successor) was serious this time. A wave of elderly, but determined, aircraft followed his ballistic missiles, flying the short distance across the DMZ and on the attack against their southern brothers. Patriot SAMs and AMRAAM shots dropped Fishbeds, Frogfoots, Fitters, and Fulcrums in droves as they breached the thick ROK air defence envelope.
It quickly became apparent that the North Koreans had expended the strength of their airpower in the first ferocious wave, and when it was over, those enemy aircraft which had survived to return to their home airfields did so only to be confronted by their own rapid destruction as the Allies struck back. All of them were destroyed on the ground in the counter-attack. The exception came in the large number of DPRK helicopters which ventured south and conducted harassing attacks against lead ROK Army units close to the DMZ. Even these, however, fell victim in staggering numbers to friendly SAMs, AAA, and air-to-air missiles.
Harassing attacks from Russian aircraft flying from Far East bases near Vladiovostok weren't much more than a nuisance, the Joint Strike Fighter proving especially effective at getting close and cutting them apart with well placed AMRAAM shots over the eastern coast of the peninsula.
The North Korean KPA 4th, 5th and 46th Infantry Divisions were the bravest of the enemy ground troops, striking nearly 60 miles south toward Seoul before being stopped by US and ROK aircraft, mostly A-10s and F-16s employing Mavericks and cluster bombs.
Interestingly, the KPA 48th Infantry Division seemed to lose its nerve from the start of the conflict, moving north instead of south. Most other KPA units, particularly their reserve divisions, held their ground rather than advance headlong into the meat grinder, and without air cover, these were slowly taken apart and pulverized from the air. The AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter proved its worth here, operating in a friendly air superiority environment and able to chip away at the DPRK armor while it was in disarray. American JSTARS and British Sentinel ASTOR assets (once they had been moved to Korea) were invaluable at discerning enemy ground targets and passing targeting information to the strikers.
ROK Army units penetrated as far north as Chik-Tong. A cluster of North Korean artillery brigades dug in less than 20 miles north of Chik-Tong prevented their further advance, but these too were eventually dismantled by friendly airpower. There was no need to advance further, as the DPRK war machine was rapidly falling apart.
The conflict in Korea was a long, slogging and bloody affair. From the ROK point of view, it could be summarized as an initial brutal shock, with moments of terror, followed by battle hardened resolve. This is how I have personally envisioned any war between the DPRK and the ROK in the modern era, and this scenario did not disappoint.
HONG KONG
The initial naval action took place in Hong Kong. Two British Royal Navy warships berthed in port there energized their radars and missile systems in defence of the metropolis as waves of Chinese cruise missiles poured in from the north. Scores of these missiles were dropped by the warships' anti-air warfare systems, and by a few Typhoons that were able to quickly take off and join the fight, but when the launchers were finally empty, Hong Kong had sustained serious damage.
It wasn’t long before the Chinese followed up their initial attack, and at that point I chose to evacuate my remaining Eurofighter Typhoons, Tristar tankers and a pair of Sentinel ASTOR surveillance aircraft (again to the Philippines) and hopefully return to fight another day. The RN warships left port, still alive but with their magazines seriously depleted. Fortunately for the civilian masses jammed into Hong Kong streets, there were no further attacks. The RN warships patrolled offshore without incident for the remainder of the war.
TAIWAN
The People's Liberation Army followed the example shown by the DPRK, and waves of fighters and attack aircraft were soon flying over the Strait of Taiwan. The ROC had obviously been expecting this attack, and had sortied several surface ship groups and a submarine into the Strait to meet their Goliath attacker. It was going to take much, much more than a single smooth stone to slay this giant, however, and scores of Taiwanese ships succumbed to myriad Sunburn, Seersucker and C.801 antiship missiles. The ROC defenders had better success ashore, where their Patriot and Tien Kung SAMs wreaked havoc among PRC aircraft.
It was only with the support of American aircraft operating out of Okinawa that the ROC were able to mount an effective defence of their island and eventually a powerful counter-attack against PRC bases that posed a continuing threat. F-15E Strike Eagles were subsequently instrumental in launching suppressing attacks against Chinese coastal airfields, while B-2 and B-52 bombers conducted strike missions against ballistic missile bases and C3I nodes deep into the Chinese interior.
PHILIPPINES
Evacuating aircraft here from the Stennis, from Hong Kong, and from Guam turned out to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise. I knew, of course, that flying them into the Philippines could only be a temporary measure, as they would have to be moved to a properly equipped airbase before they could rejoin the fleet. It turned out, however, that the airfields at Basa and Benito Ebuen had their own unique problems. They were under attack by ground forces, possibly Chinese and Vietnamese invaders, or perhaps Communist supported rebels. In any event, their Dragonfly and Tiger aircraft were having a very hard time finding targets without coming under fire, and it was only with the assistance of the superior sensors aboard the newly arrived US/UK aircraft, they were able to make out the hostile ground forces, attack them and destroy them. Once the threat had been eliminated, all US/UK aircraft were ferried to Okinawa or Taiwan to join the battles there.
JAPAN
The principal threat to Japan proved to be its old enemy, Russia. At first, the Russians seemed content to support the war effort by distracting Japanese attention from the raging battle in Korea, conducting harassing air attacks against Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) airborne early warning aircraft and occupying the attention of its fighters. This proved to a false sense of security, however, because the probing aerial attacks were soon followed by ingeniouss strike against the airbases at Chitose and Misawa. A SEAD strike by Fencers and Flankers was followed by a cruise missile bombardment, which shattered Misawa and destroyed a huge number of Japanese aircraft on the ground. This loss struck a massive blow against the JASDF's ability to conduct its "self-defence", and its maritime forces suffered hugely as a result.
The value of Okinawa, in terms of its geographic position between Taiwan and South Korea, was not lost on the Chinese. They launched their own cruise missile strike against the island airfield, but thanks to the strong defences afforded by Patriot PAC-2 SAMs and a healthy number of F-15s, the Chinese attack was repelled.
Fortunately, and somewhat ironically, from a historical point of view, Japan was ultimately rescued by US Navy carrier airpower.
THE WAR AT SEA
The ballistic missile and air attacks against the ROC and ROK were followed in short order by an assault upon the Stennis carrier battle group, with some 50 Kitchen missiles screaming in from the airspace over Vietnam. A quick look at the air wing aboard Stennis, and my heart sank. The bulk of my aircraft were configured for the ferry mission, and were wholly unprepared for this attack. I had serious doubts about the ability of my escorts to absorb those kind of numbers of missiles, and so I immediately began launching planes for evacuation to the Philippines. The battle group was subsequently decimated by the surprise attack, and a later attack by a submarine left only a single Arleigh Burke remaining. I had managed to ferry a handful of Super Hornets to the Philippines, but the lone Hawkeye that had escaped was downed by enemy fighters before it could make the trip. The USS Oklahoma City later extracted a degree of vengeance for the loss of the Stennis when it encountered and sunk the bulk of a Chinese SAG that had been lurking to the north.
A combined Sino-Russian surface action group, centred on a Slava guided missile cruiser, was detected operating in the Yellow Sea. Suppression of the Slava and a Haizhou (Sovremenny) destroyer by HARM equipped F-16s enabled a successful follow-up Harpoon strike by a group of ROK Ulsan frigates to the northeast. The latter surface group thankfully were never detected. A smaller, but better equipped SAG comprising KDX-1, KDX-2 and Ulsan frigates, operating south of the enemy Slava group, weren't as lucky. A Sango submarine was later detected and sunk in the Yellow Sea.
A second group was discovered in the Sea of Japan, this time a Russian PHIBGRU heading southwest toward the Korean Peninsula. Again, HARM equipped F-16s conducted suppressing strikes against the enemy group's radars, particularly a Slava. Follow-up strikes with Mavericks were able to eliminate the amphibious threat. A lesser DPRK naval group comprising missile boats was able to be dispatched by A-10s.
The Kearsarge PHIBGRU was moving quickly (perhaps too quickly) north from Okinawa toward Korea when it was ambushed by a pair of Russian submarines. A Perry frigate was lost to a torpedo before both subs, an Akula I and a Victor III, were sunk by helicopter dropped lightweight torpedoes. A short while later, a small People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) SAG was detected operating a little further north, and was dispatched quickly by Harpoon equipped P-3 Orions flying out of Okinawa.
I was ever grateful that a Taiwanese Hai Lung (ex Zwaardvis) diesel-electric submarine had been able to take up an advantageous position in the Strait. Its torpedoes were instrumental in sinking many of the Chinese amphibious ships that were streaming across the Strait toward their objectives, and with them, unfortunately, thousands of young Chinese soldiers. Most remaining PLAN warships in the Strait were destroyed by repeated attacks with rockets and Mavericks from Taiwanese aircraft. The toll on Taiwanese Navy assets was also cruel, and by the time the naval battle was over, only a single Kang Ting (modified Lafayette design) frigate remained afloat, cruising stealthily amongst the oil, fire and wreckage that littered the confined waters of the Strait. This vessel and S-2T Turbo Trackers were later jointly responsible for sinking two Chinese submarines, a Han and a Kilo. (I swear the Han was detected with a Geiger counter rather than sonar. ).
Perhaps the biggest blow against my forces during the entire conflict came when I lost Guam. Though the Reagan battle group was moving northwest at speed, and I had a Hawkeye operating far away from the group and north of the island, it wasn't enough. Only minutes before impact, a huge wave of cruise missiles were detected streaming in at wavetop altitude, headed for Andersen AFB. It was obviously a clever attempt by the Chinese and/or Russians to destroy the powerful array of American aircraft stationed there, including intercontinental bombers, before they could join the fight. Again, the US was forced into evacuation mode. I managed to save almost the entire contingent at Andersen before the facility was utterly obliterated. All of the evacuated aircraft were flown either to the Philippines or Okinawa, depending on their ferry range.
The Nimitz carrier battle group, which at the start of the fight had been operating off the coast of Tokyo, was responsible for coming to the aid of Japan. Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) groups that had been operating off the western coast of Hokkaido and near the La Perouse Strait, had been subjected to intense attacks by Tu-22M Backfires, and were largely overwhelmed and destroyed. Moving north along the eastern coast, the Nimitz finally met up with the Kuznetsov battle group southeast of Hokkaido. ITALD and TALD decoys launched from Super Hornets served to soak up enemy SAMs while others launched HARMs to blind enemy defensive radars. Follow-up strikes with Harpoon, SLAM and Maverick weapons stripped the Kuznetsov of her defending escort vessels, and the final killing blow was delivered by torpedoes from the Improved Los Angeles class attack submarine USS Springfield.
The final stages of WW3 were fought in the North Pacific, with naval aviation from the carrier Nimitz suppressing and eventually destroying the Russian base at Burevestnik in the Kuril archipelago, and taking a commanding position in the area. Thereafter, US military sealift groups, as well as merchant cargo and supertanker groups, were able to make a safe transit into Japanese territorial waters without incident. A supertanker was lost to submarine attack off the coast near Tokyo, but with the exception of the environmental disaster (not to belittle the scope of such a thing), it was a small price to pay for victory.
CONCLUSION
The scenario "World War III" by Fred Galano truly is a war. Its a challenging scenario, not only in the sense of the objectives given to you, but also in the sense of the management skills you will be expected to bring to bear. Would the third World War have been (or will it be) played out this way ? I hope we never have to find out, but testing the theory is a heckuva lot of fun. Thanks, Fred, for taking the time to create the opportunity.
After Action Report (AAR) by Brad Leyte
When Fred told us that he was working on a scenario for Westpac that would resemble in some respects his previous scenario, "Med War" (for the EC2003 MEDC battleset), I was keyed up to try it. Med War had been a challenging and action packed scenario, and of course, I expected to see the same in a new Westpac scenario. It would be a immense understatement if I said my expectations were fulfilled. In point of fact, they weren't "fulfilled"; they were "overwhelmed".
Firstly, a word of caution. World War III is not a scenario for the faint of heart, or the "PC processor challenged". You will probably spend most of your time playing at 1:1 time compression, even with a fast PC. That's not to say someone with only a little Harpoon experience, or a slower PC, shouldn't try it. Indeed, they should, if only to show oneself what is in store for those who are trying to build up a little skill in their Harpoon play, or are in need of a good excuse to get a new PC.
Secondly, I have to confess that this AAR is not based on my first crack at WW3. But, to explain further, I can't really count my first try. When I opened up WW3 for the first time, the sheer scale and magnitude of what awaited me was a little overwhelming. I realized immediately that this scenario really would be a "war" in every sense of the word, and that I needed to examine the set-up and set aside a little more time before tackling it in the way I wanted to. I quickly closed the scenario. This was as much to give the scenario the proper attention it was entitled to, as it was to give myself a little more prep time. This might sound a little silly to someone not accustomed to Harpoon, but if you're a veteran wargamer, then you know what I'm talking about. You need to immerse yourself in the scenario to truly enjoy it.
OK, on to the "meat" of this AAR. The second time I opened up this sucker, I was ready. Or so I thought. The realities of war soon taught me otherwise.
I noted that I had three carrier battle groups in the theater. (A lot of anecdotal evidence exists about every American President asking about the location of Navy carriers in times of crisis, and whether true or not, I have found this to carry over into Harpoon. It’s a testament to the strength of carrier airpower, I'm sure). These battle groups were centred on the Stennis, in the South China Sea; the Ronald Reagan, south of Guam; and the Nimitz, just off the southeast coast of Japan. It seemed apparent that the Stennis and the Nimitz would soon be called upon to defend my allies, but that the Reagan would have to make some serious turns to get into the fight.
Immediately my friends in Taiwan and South Korea were subjected to an intense barrage of ballistic missiles. No surprise there, such a bombardment being the longstanding expectation, except for the intensity and for the fact that I had little choice but to endure the worst of it. Air defences in both areas performed valiantly, but inevitably a number of airfields in both the ROC and the ROK were seriously pummeled. I soon realized that whatever remnants of the forces survived the onslaught, they were now condemned to struggle for the rest of the war not only against their aggressors, but also against the damage that had been inflicted against their home bases.
THE KOREAN PENINSULA
Kim Jong-Il (or his successor) was serious this time. A wave of elderly, but determined, aircraft followed his ballistic missiles, flying the short distance across the DMZ and on the attack against their southern brothers. Patriot SAMs and AMRAAM shots dropped Fishbeds, Frogfoots, Fitters, and Fulcrums in droves as they breached the thick ROK air defence envelope.
It quickly became apparent that the North Koreans had expended the strength of their airpower in the first ferocious wave, and when it was over, those enemy aircraft which had survived to return to their home airfields did so only to be confronted by their own rapid destruction as the Allies struck back. All of them were destroyed on the ground in the counter-attack. The exception came in the large number of DPRK helicopters which ventured south and conducted harassing attacks against lead ROK Army units close to the DMZ. Even these, however, fell victim in staggering numbers to friendly SAMs, AAA, and air-to-air missiles.
Harassing attacks from Russian aircraft flying from Far East bases near Vladiovostok weren't much more than a nuisance, the Joint Strike Fighter proving especially effective at getting close and cutting them apart with well placed AMRAAM shots over the eastern coast of the peninsula.
The North Korean KPA 4th, 5th and 46th Infantry Divisions were the bravest of the enemy ground troops, striking nearly 60 miles south toward Seoul before being stopped by US and ROK aircraft, mostly A-10s and F-16s employing Mavericks and cluster bombs.
Interestingly, the KPA 48th Infantry Division seemed to lose its nerve from the start of the conflict, moving north instead of south. Most other KPA units, particularly their reserve divisions, held their ground rather than advance headlong into the meat grinder, and without air cover, these were slowly taken apart and pulverized from the air. The AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter proved its worth here, operating in a friendly air superiority environment and able to chip away at the DPRK armor while it was in disarray. American JSTARS and British Sentinel ASTOR assets (once they had been moved to Korea) were invaluable at discerning enemy ground targets and passing targeting information to the strikers.
ROK Army units penetrated as far north as Chik-Tong. A cluster of North Korean artillery brigades dug in less than 20 miles north of Chik-Tong prevented their further advance, but these too were eventually dismantled by friendly airpower. There was no need to advance further, as the DPRK war machine was rapidly falling apart.
The conflict in Korea was a long, slogging and bloody affair. From the ROK point of view, it could be summarized as an initial brutal shock, with moments of terror, followed by battle hardened resolve. This is how I have personally envisioned any war between the DPRK and the ROK in the modern era, and this scenario did not disappoint.
HONG KONG
The initial naval action took place in Hong Kong. Two British Royal Navy warships berthed in port there energized their radars and missile systems in defence of the metropolis as waves of Chinese cruise missiles poured in from the north. Scores of these missiles were dropped by the warships' anti-air warfare systems, and by a few Typhoons that were able to quickly take off and join the fight, but when the launchers were finally empty, Hong Kong had sustained serious damage.
It wasn’t long before the Chinese followed up their initial attack, and at that point I chose to evacuate my remaining Eurofighter Typhoons, Tristar tankers and a pair of Sentinel ASTOR surveillance aircraft (again to the Philippines) and hopefully return to fight another day. The RN warships left port, still alive but with their magazines seriously depleted. Fortunately for the civilian masses jammed into Hong Kong streets, there were no further attacks. The RN warships patrolled offshore without incident for the remainder of the war.
TAIWAN
The People's Liberation Army followed the example shown by the DPRK, and waves of fighters and attack aircraft were soon flying over the Strait of Taiwan. The ROC had obviously been expecting this attack, and had sortied several surface ship groups and a submarine into the Strait to meet their Goliath attacker. It was going to take much, much more than a single smooth stone to slay this giant, however, and scores of Taiwanese ships succumbed to myriad Sunburn, Seersucker and C.801 antiship missiles. The ROC defenders had better success ashore, where their Patriot and Tien Kung SAMs wreaked havoc among PRC aircraft.
It was only with the support of American aircraft operating out of Okinawa that the ROC were able to mount an effective defence of their island and eventually a powerful counter-attack against PRC bases that posed a continuing threat. F-15E Strike Eagles were subsequently instrumental in launching suppressing attacks against Chinese coastal airfields, while B-2 and B-52 bombers conducted strike missions against ballistic missile bases and C3I nodes deep into the Chinese interior.
PHILIPPINES
Evacuating aircraft here from the Stennis, from Hong Kong, and from Guam turned out to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise. I knew, of course, that flying them into the Philippines could only be a temporary measure, as they would have to be moved to a properly equipped airbase before they could rejoin the fleet. It turned out, however, that the airfields at Basa and Benito Ebuen had their own unique problems. They were under attack by ground forces, possibly Chinese and Vietnamese invaders, or perhaps Communist supported rebels. In any event, their Dragonfly and Tiger aircraft were having a very hard time finding targets without coming under fire, and it was only with the assistance of the superior sensors aboard the newly arrived US/UK aircraft, they were able to make out the hostile ground forces, attack them and destroy them. Once the threat had been eliminated, all US/UK aircraft were ferried to Okinawa or Taiwan to join the battles there.
JAPAN
The principal threat to Japan proved to be its old enemy, Russia. At first, the Russians seemed content to support the war effort by distracting Japanese attention from the raging battle in Korea, conducting harassing air attacks against Japanese Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) airborne early warning aircraft and occupying the attention of its fighters. This proved to a false sense of security, however, because the probing aerial attacks were soon followed by ingeniouss strike against the airbases at Chitose and Misawa. A SEAD strike by Fencers and Flankers was followed by a cruise missile bombardment, which shattered Misawa and destroyed a huge number of Japanese aircraft on the ground. This loss struck a massive blow against the JASDF's ability to conduct its "self-defence", and its maritime forces suffered hugely as a result.
The value of Okinawa, in terms of its geographic position between Taiwan and South Korea, was not lost on the Chinese. They launched their own cruise missile strike against the island airfield, but thanks to the strong defences afforded by Patriot PAC-2 SAMs and a healthy number of F-15s, the Chinese attack was repelled.
Fortunately, and somewhat ironically, from a historical point of view, Japan was ultimately rescued by US Navy carrier airpower.
THE WAR AT SEA
The ballistic missile and air attacks against the ROC and ROK were followed in short order by an assault upon the Stennis carrier battle group, with some 50 Kitchen missiles screaming in from the airspace over Vietnam. A quick look at the air wing aboard Stennis, and my heart sank. The bulk of my aircraft were configured for the ferry mission, and were wholly unprepared for this attack. I had serious doubts about the ability of my escorts to absorb those kind of numbers of missiles, and so I immediately began launching planes for evacuation to the Philippines. The battle group was subsequently decimated by the surprise attack, and a later attack by a submarine left only a single Arleigh Burke remaining. I had managed to ferry a handful of Super Hornets to the Philippines, but the lone Hawkeye that had escaped was downed by enemy fighters before it could make the trip. The USS Oklahoma City later extracted a degree of vengeance for the loss of the Stennis when it encountered and sunk the bulk of a Chinese SAG that had been lurking to the north.
A combined Sino-Russian surface action group, centred on a Slava guided missile cruiser, was detected operating in the Yellow Sea. Suppression of the Slava and a Haizhou (Sovremenny) destroyer by HARM equipped F-16s enabled a successful follow-up Harpoon strike by a group of ROK Ulsan frigates to the northeast. The latter surface group thankfully were never detected. A smaller, but better equipped SAG comprising KDX-1, KDX-2 and Ulsan frigates, operating south of the enemy Slava group, weren't as lucky. A Sango submarine was later detected and sunk in the Yellow Sea.
A second group was discovered in the Sea of Japan, this time a Russian PHIBGRU heading southwest toward the Korean Peninsula. Again, HARM equipped F-16s conducted suppressing strikes against the enemy group's radars, particularly a Slava. Follow-up strikes with Mavericks were able to eliminate the amphibious threat. A lesser DPRK naval group comprising missile boats was able to be dispatched by A-10s.
The Kearsarge PHIBGRU was moving quickly (perhaps too quickly) north from Okinawa toward Korea when it was ambushed by a pair of Russian submarines. A Perry frigate was lost to a torpedo before both subs, an Akula I and a Victor III, were sunk by helicopter dropped lightweight torpedoes. A short while later, a small People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) SAG was detected operating a little further north, and was dispatched quickly by Harpoon equipped P-3 Orions flying out of Okinawa.
I was ever grateful that a Taiwanese Hai Lung (ex Zwaardvis) diesel-electric submarine had been able to take up an advantageous position in the Strait. Its torpedoes were instrumental in sinking many of the Chinese amphibious ships that were streaming across the Strait toward their objectives, and with them, unfortunately, thousands of young Chinese soldiers. Most remaining PLAN warships in the Strait were destroyed by repeated attacks with rockets and Mavericks from Taiwanese aircraft. The toll on Taiwanese Navy assets was also cruel, and by the time the naval battle was over, only a single Kang Ting (modified Lafayette design) frigate remained afloat, cruising stealthily amongst the oil, fire and wreckage that littered the confined waters of the Strait. This vessel and S-2T Turbo Trackers were later jointly responsible for sinking two Chinese submarines, a Han and a Kilo. (I swear the Han was detected with a Geiger counter rather than sonar. ).
Perhaps the biggest blow against my forces during the entire conflict came when I lost Guam. Though the Reagan battle group was moving northwest at speed, and I had a Hawkeye operating far away from the group and north of the island, it wasn't enough. Only minutes before impact, a huge wave of cruise missiles were detected streaming in at wavetop altitude, headed for Andersen AFB. It was obviously a clever attempt by the Chinese and/or Russians to destroy the powerful array of American aircraft stationed there, including intercontinental bombers, before they could join the fight. Again, the US was forced into evacuation mode. I managed to save almost the entire contingent at Andersen before the facility was utterly obliterated. All of the evacuated aircraft were flown either to the Philippines or Okinawa, depending on their ferry range.
The Nimitz carrier battle group, which at the start of the fight had been operating off the coast of Tokyo, was responsible for coming to the aid of Japan. Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) groups that had been operating off the western coast of Hokkaido and near the La Perouse Strait, had been subjected to intense attacks by Tu-22M Backfires, and were largely overwhelmed and destroyed. Moving north along the eastern coast, the Nimitz finally met up with the Kuznetsov battle group southeast of Hokkaido. ITALD and TALD decoys launched from Super Hornets served to soak up enemy SAMs while others launched HARMs to blind enemy defensive radars. Follow-up strikes with Harpoon, SLAM and Maverick weapons stripped the Kuznetsov of her defending escort vessels, and the final killing blow was delivered by torpedoes from the Improved Los Angeles class attack submarine USS Springfield.
The final stages of WW3 were fought in the North Pacific, with naval aviation from the carrier Nimitz suppressing and eventually destroying the Russian base at Burevestnik in the Kuril archipelago, and taking a commanding position in the area. Thereafter, US military sealift groups, as well as merchant cargo and supertanker groups, were able to make a safe transit into Japanese territorial waters without incident. A supertanker was lost to submarine attack off the coast near Tokyo, but with the exception of the environmental disaster (not to belittle the scope of such a thing), it was a small price to pay for victory.
CONCLUSION
The scenario "World War III" by Fred Galano truly is a war. Its a challenging scenario, not only in the sense of the objectives given to you, but also in the sense of the management skills you will be expected to bring to bear. Would the third World War have been (or will it be) played out this way ? I hope we never have to find out, but testing the theory is a heckuva lot of fun. Thanks, Fred, for taking the time to create the opportunity.
