Incident in the Gulf of Finland, 2024 - new beta for testing

[Mgellis]

A new beta for testing...

Finland has reason to believe the Russians are going to sabotage a telecom cable running between Helsinki and Tallinn. They take measures to stop them and to take the technical vessel responsible into custody. How will Russia react?

As always, please let me know what you think. Feedback on playability, technical accuracy, whether the orders/briefings/messages are clear, whether all the Events operate properly, and anything else you can think of...please let me know if there are any issues that need to be fixed, or any other aspects that could be improved, etc.

Thanks in advance!

Version 2 uploaded 10:55 PM CST October 4, 2024

Pansio 3.JPG (254.13 KiB) Viewed 454 times

[HalfLifeExpert]

Sweet! I will give it a look after work today!

[HalfLifeExpert]

I've just fired it up, but right away I noticed that the Finnish surface group present in your screenshot is not in the scenario at all?

[Mgellis]

Sorry...the image was from a very early version of the scenario. I eventually took out the two missile boats because it made it too easy for Finland to win.

I'll update the image. That should avoid any confusion.

I've just fired it up, but right away I noticed that the Finnish surface group present in your screenshot is not in the scenario at all?

[AKar]

Looks like a fun one, thank you Sir!

Just a few initial observations before proper play-through:

- Helsinki-Malmi Airport should be named Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, EFHK (Malmi, EFHF, has been recently closed and is/was located more south).

- Much more appropriate helicopter for such a mission from the Border Guard would be Super Puma (#6694). Not sure why the database entry is named as it is (1998-2015), but these are very much in service as of today, and upgraded to fairly recent standards.

- Finland only operates seven F/A-18Ds in total, primarily as trainers. Of the eight ready Hornets in Kuopio Rissala AFB, most or all should be C-variants instead.

All the best!

[HalfLifeExpert]

I've completed a proper playthrough and won, with a outcome of Triumph, score 450

Aside from the above post's critiques, which I agree with, these are the things I noticed.

1) Add a reference point or a small rectangle of them to mark the approximate area of where sabotage of the cable can be expected.

2) A pair of Su-27s operating out of Kaliningrad apparently ran out of fuel and crashed before the incident actually happened, so I got an extra, but unwarranted, 60 points. Perhaps have a look at their patrol mission?

3) I would consider replacing or supporting the Finnish minesweeper with something that has some more punch to it, like one of Finland's Rauma class missile boats, since the Russian corvette has the ability to shoot down the available JSOWs, and I was unable to take it out. To even things out, perhaps you could write into the story, a weather event or malfunction could disable a few of the boats SSMs?

4) The event of the captured ship reaching Helsinki seemed delayed in triggering, since it was some time after I got it in-port before it triggered and ended the scenario.

[Mgellis]

Thanks for the feedback.

I reduced the number of F-18s to 6 and changed them to -C models.

Fixed the airport name and replaced AW119s and Do 228 with a couple of Super Pumas, as recommended. Finnish Border Guard web site confirms the Super Pumas are still in service.

Played around with various zones for missions, no navigation zones, etc. and I think I fixed the issues with aircraft running out of fuel. If it continues, it may be a weird issue with the game itself and I'll report it to the developers.

Added 72 Porvoo to the scenario, but assumed she was damaged in a collision with a fishing boat. Some of her missile launchers have been disabled (one is being repaired but another is out of action), some hull damage, and minor flooding. She's also far enough from the Gulf of Finland that it will be a bit of a race to get her there in time to help out when the shooting starts.

I'll keep working on it and will probably post Version 2 in a couple of days.

[Mgellis]

Just uploaded Version 2. Looking forward to hearing what people think about it. Anything else that needs to be done with this one or is it ready for the Community Scenario Pack?

Thanks in advance.

[HalfLifeExpert]

Just uploaded Version 2. Looking forward to hearing what people think about it. Anything else that needs to be done with this one or is it ready for the Community Scenario Pack?

Thanks in advance.

I completed a playthrough of Version 2. I think it works considerably better now.

I honestly can't think of anything else to add or change at this point

[schweggy]

Here's a screenshot of my endgame. Once I had control of the Sokolov I assigned it a new homebase (Helsinki) and put the OPV Turva on a course to return to same base.
No other combat... although one of the Super Puma's was shot down.

End Game

Screenshot 2024-10-08 103631.png (3.45 MiB) Viewed 240 times