New scenario for testing PF#2 Bombeska on Hokkaido

[Gunner98]

Here is the next scenario in the Pacific Fury series:

You are the Deputy Commander of the Soviet High Command of the Far East (GKVDV). You have been given the Job of neutralizing Japanese and American forces on the island of Hokkaido to ensure safe passage of naval and air forces into the Pacific. While your commander is dealing with Moscow you have been given this critical but secondary task. In London they called it 'The Blitz' but in Russia we will call it the 'Bombeska'.

It won’t be easy, especially when many of your assigned forces have separate chains of command and/or have different objectives.

As always I look forward to you comments and critiques.

Enjoy

Edit Ver 1.4 uploaded

[AndrewJ]

Do our comrades in Intelligence have any indications of American carrier activity in our region (other than the one which will shortly be fighting for its life further south)?

[AndrewJ]

Looking at the aircraft based near the Chinese border, I wonder if the ranges may be a problem?


Longest range loadouts for the Fitter-M3s at Birofeld is 450 miles, and most are 410, which means only the northern tip of Hokkaido is in reach.

Longest range loadouts for the Fitter-Ms at Verino is 350 miles, which again means they can only get as far as the north tip of Hokkaido.

MiG-29s at Khabarovsk have at best 220 miles in a ground attack role, which means they are well out of reach of any part of Japan. (Air-to-air they can do a little over 400, letting them fight over the ocean and briefly over northern Hokkaido.)

The Fitters might barely make it to Chitose if they head north to the PVO base at Dolinsk to refuel afterwards, instead of heading home. Alternatively, you could ferry with your weapons over to Dolinsk, wait there an extra 6 hours to refuel, and then make one attack on Chitose and Misawa in the very last couple of hours of the scenario. (Assuming the base has room to hold 60+ extra planes.)


Were there maybe supposed to be recovery bases along the Russian coast? Or is this all part of the puzzle?

[Gunner98]

I was thinking that the triple base complex at: Mongokhto/Sovetskaya Gavan/Maygatka would work as a stopover to refuel and ferry back for reload. Kalinka might also work.

Another option is to reduce the ready times and have them station forward I suppose, but wanted to allow the player to chose the loadouts.

B

[AndrewJ]

I went looking around in Google maps to see what else was out there, and boy, that's one empty piece of terrain. Other than some heavy logging, there's not a lot going on along the coast out there. It's not until you get well south that something else turns up.




There's a big military airbase near the Chinese border at Spassk-Dalny, which could easily hold numerous aircraft. It looks abandoned now. Presumably it was occupied at the time, although I have no idea by who. There's also a pair of little civil strips nearer the coast, and the one at Kavalerovo is just big enough to operate Fitters for refuelling.

Another option, over on Sakhalin Island, is the big Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk civil airport. It was originally built as a military airport at the end of WWII, and currently has a 3,500m runway and tons of tarmac space. Its got no military shelters, and it may have been a bit smaller in '94, but I would guess it would still have been more than enough to host Fitters. It's just south of where you have the bunker for the 752nd AA regiment. The Fitters could visit there without offending those snobs at the PVO in Dolinsk-Sokol.


Looking at strike distances gives something like this:



Going by the stated ranges a player using missions won't be able to make a return-trip Fitter attack on Chitose from any of the northern mainland bases (blue). A player flying manually might be able to make it by flying high as long as possible, never using full thrust, turning off auto-RTB, and recovering to the closest mainland base (Maygatka), although it would be chancy. You'd probably flame out waiting your turn in the landing pattern. If you have to burner away from a fighter or SAM you're screwed.

Su-17M-3s could make it there and back from the southern mainland base at Spassk-Dalny (grey), and Su-17Ms could make it from Spassk-Dalny if they recovered to the little Kavalerovo strip.

Everyone should be able to make it if they recover to the bases on Sakhalin Island (green).


Edit: this planning is interesting stuff. I have now Google-earthed more of the little shops in the Russian far east than I would ever have considered possible before. [:D]

[AndrewJ]

Were there supposed to be any reloads for the MiG-31s? Currently they do not have any.

The other allied fighters (the two bases of MiG-23s) do.

[Gunner98]

Thanks for the analysis Andrew.

A couple issues, all the bases, especially the ones south towards Vladivostok are jam packed full off the stuff that was being thrown at you in PF1. Many of the others are home to those AC you will meet in PF3. Also any move forward of these AC would cause Japanese and American alarm.

I think Yuzhno-Sak is the option of choice. I think we could put the Mig-29s there and the two Regts of Su-17 onto Mongokhto, or possibly one Regt to each. The 143rd Bomber Div is busy in the Pacific and can divert to another base further north on the way home (if there are enough left to be a problem...)

Or I guess both Su-17 Regts to Yuzhno and the Migs to Sokol to share with the PVO Mig-31s would be the simplest. There are another 20 MiG-31s there but there should be space.

So we could ferry the Fitters and Fulcrums in any time after war-start loaded and have munitions waiting for them. They are daylight only anyway so it might mean an hours difference

Thoughts?

[Gunner98]

ere there supposed to be any reloads for the MiG-31s? Currently they do not have any.

Yes but AA-9s only. Must have missed that

[AndrewJ]

I agree that Yuzhno-Sak seems to be the best. Perhaps something like the following?

1) MiG-29s to base at Yuzhno-Sak itself, perhaps moving forward to occupy the base as part of the player's opening objectives? That minimizes warning to the Japanese.
2) Both regiments of Fitters to start in Mongokhto, again to remain somewhat discrete, with the player having the option to send the shorter-ranged 300th forward if they need to. Or they can use it as a refuelling stop on the way home from hitting Chitose if they prefer.

Since Yuzhno-Sak has no shelters (at least these days - maybe there were before?) they might not want to permanently base too many planes there due to risk of strikes.



Another airfield which might be very interesting is Yuzhno-Kurilsk Mendeleyevo Airport, on the most southern of the Kuril Islands. It would be handy as a small divert airfield for damaged or desperate MiG-23s, although too small to hold more than a handful of them. But where it could really shine is as a helipad. You would not believe how tempting it is to try and use those saboteurs to coup-de-main the ELINT stations, but the one here is just out of range from Iturup. A stopover here could open up a lot of possibilities! Although the risk from fighters is enormous...

[Gunner98]

A good point. The Spetz at at Iturup were a bit of an afterthought and I didn't check the range - out by 16 miles. I'm not sure if a coup-de-main is the best option, might be, but with the lack of penetrating ordinance in the Soviet inventory you may need those explosives.

So yes, Yuzhno-Kurilsk will be added, just need to think about how to use it. Pre-positioning is an overt and risky move, perhaps just a return refueling spot after flying in an An-12 or something. Will chew on that one.

Thanks again.

[AndrewJ]

Yes, the Hips could stay where they are based now, and just pop in for gas on the way out or on the way home.

[Gunner98]

OK working on an update, should have it out tonight

[Gunner98]

OK here is an update. Solved the range problem with the base adjustments suggested as well as giving the player a few more assets to protect.

B

[AndrewJ]

ORIGINAL: Gunner98

ere there supposed to be any reloads for the MiG-31s? Currently they do not have any.

Yes but AA-9s only. Must have missed that

How many sets of reloads were you considering per plane?

[Gunner98]

Crap, forgot to fix that.

I think three reloads per AC will work, there are some that start out with short range AA-11 but I think we keep all the reloads to AA-9. PVO will not be happy getting into dogfight range.

[Schr75]

Hi Gunner

The following point actions have either the wrong side or no side at all, so they don´t add any scoring to side USSR:
+25, +3 and -1.

Søren

[Gunner98]

Thanks - will sort out.

[AndrewJ]

SITUATION

At long last, the Soviet Union will no longer tolerate the endless provocations and aggression of the West. In half an hour we strike! Our specific mission here in the east is to hit the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, including ELINT stations around the island and the important airport of Chitose, as well as taking control of the La Perouse strait around the north end of the island.

There are a lot of assets in the area, but unfortunately, they’re not all for us, and there are plenty of signs we’re moving hastily, before everything is ready. Fighter strength is adequate, but not outstanding. We’ve got a pack of MiG-23s in the Kuriles, another of Su-27s on the mainland (but only half are ready), plus another of MiG-29s (none ready, waiting to ferry Sakhalin Island). That’s not actually a huge amount to begin with.

Attack plane strength isn't all in place either. We’ve got a base at Mongokhto stuffed to bursting with 64 Fitters, but they won’t actually be ready until dawn. We’ve also got two sets of Su-24s, some older Cs and newer Ds, but the better ones aren’t actually ours, and they’re only on loan for one strike. Annoyingly, they’re our only good PGM carriers. We’ve also got the usual brace of AEW and Elint birds, plus a few jammers.

Our helicopter strength is actually quite interesting, with plenty of different ASW, maritime patrol, and even some minesweeping helicopters near the straits. On top of that we’ve got some jammers, and some transport and attack Hips, complete with teams of SOF and demolitions experts to ride in them.

Our final assets are a series of small craft (minesweepers, ASW patrol boats, and lesser frigates) in the straits, plus some SAMs and even some long-ranged shore-based Sepal anti-shipping missiles guarding our islands.

For opposition, we can expect heavy fighter activity from Japanese F-15s operating out of Chitose, and American F-16s further south in Misawa. We’ve got two Japanese Nike sites plotted at the south end of Hokkaido, but the bases are sure to be heavily defended, and I expect more SAMs in that area. Most of the Japanese navy is probably further south, but we have warnings that a few of their ships may be operating in our area, and their submarines may try to control the straits (possibly with mines, though that might be counterproductive if they want to use the straits themselves. We have no indications of heavy American naval activity in our region. Hopefully that will remain true, at least for the moment.


THE PLAN

Our first order is to abandon the straits! All boats are directed to head for the south tip of Sakhalin Island at flank speed, and shelter there under the protection of the nearby SA-10 battery. No aircraft are to conduct ASW operations in the straits until further notice. I am not certain what the situation there will be, and I suspect that forces operating there (especially helicopters) will be at great risk from enemy aircraft. My forces will stay out of the straits until my MiG-29s have flown in to Yuzhno-Sakalinsk airport, and have set up combat air patrols over the area. They should be ready to resume patrols in about four hours from now.

The second order is to send out the usual array of scouts, AEW, ESM, etc. In addition to aircraft operating over Sakhalin Island and the mainland coast, I am also going to send my MiG-25 probing towards Chitose, as well as sending one of my AEW planes east towards the Kuriles, and then sweeping south-west along the chain towards Iturup. I am concerned about Americans potentially operating in that area, and want to take a look. (A few of their destroyers hiding out there with TLAMs could make a mess of my eastern airfields.)

The third set of orders concerns the Japanese radar and electronic intelligence installations along the north side of Hokkaido. My armed Hip helicopters are directed to make commando raids on the installations at Wakkanai, Nemuro, and Abashin. The two eastern raids will have to refuel at the little airfield on Kunashir Island before returning home.

The final set of orders involves a lot of discussion among the staff. What is the best way to attack Chitose? It’s sure to be heavily defended, although we’re not yet sure how, but the single Nike in the area can’t be all of it. Cracking the base will be tough, and the current general-purpose loadouts on our Su-24s probably aren’t up to the task. An immediate SEAD strike is ordered (under heavy fighter guard) using the 8 Fencers which are currently loaded with ARMs. While they are conducting this initial reconnaissance in force, the remaining Su-24s will re-arm. Our older Su-24s will load every ARM they can, plus heavy conventional bombs, while the newer Su-24Ms will concentrate on heavyweight penetrating PGMs and some standoff ordnance. They should be ready in time for a concentrated dawn strike, supported by our Fitters, which will be ready at the same time. The Su-24Ms will be recalled for other duties at that time.

For the moment, we do not plan to ask for extra support from high command. The possibility of some loaned MiG-31s is extremely tempting, but the amount of political favours they want in return is extortionate. If something goes wrong in the first hour (such as F-14s showing up) we will still have some time to start begging.


INITIAL RECONAISSANCE OPERATIONS

As our reconnaissance and surveillance assets spread out, we begin to get a picture of the initial Japanese operations. There are F-15s over mid and northern Hokkaido, and F-16s in the south, plus occasional signs of MPA radars and an E-2 over the waters south of the island. My MiG-25 approaches at high altitude, getting good reads on the pair of Nike batteries near Chitose and Setana, as well as two additional radars (type unknown) operating on either side of Chitose. The Japanese navy also makes an appearance, in the form of a lone ASW destroyer operating just west of northern Hokkaido, but he’s all alone, and not a threat in his current position. There are a number of other ships in the La Perouse strait, and its approaches. A few get visually ID-ed as fishermen, the others seem to be acting like commercial vessels, and none seem to be of immediate concern.


OPENING ATTACKS

At 1:00 AM local time the order to commence hostilities is distributed to all stations. All but two of our Su-27s are in the air, headed for Chitose and northern Hokkaido, with the SEAD Su-24s securely guarded in the middle of the pack. On the other side of the theatre, nearly half my MiG-23s from Iturup are underway along the eastern side of the island.

Fighting breaks out in the north first, with a pair of F-15s succumbing to discrete AA-10-B shots, and then moves south. The Sukhois do quite well against the F-15s, but are hard pressed to get an advantage over the F-16s, whose AMRAAMs are a continual thorn in my side. It takes a lot of weaving and dodging and wasted missiles to get to them, and a number of them take their shots and get away again, covered by the Japanese SAMs as they retreat. My MiG-23s also make some attempts to tackle the F-16s, but the results aren’t so great. Despite a numerical advantage of three or four to one on my part, the F-16s still manage to hold their own in the casualty exchange. Every time I think I’m free and clear another AMRAAM seeker clicks on out of nowhere, and I’m forced to flee again. Still, numerical superiority does have its advantages, and a few of my fighters manage to break free of the scrum and murder a pair of MPA, one on each coast.

The heavy fighting guards my Fencers effectively, and they close to within launch range without being engaged. The first launch of AS-9s targets the Nike battery at Chitose, and the two radars adjacent to it. As these hurtle in, more SAM radars start turning on, prompting the Su-24Ms to open fire with their more modern AS-17s. Multiple hits are achieved, and as the Fencers head home they assess that they have hit the Nike site hard, killed the two (surveillance?) radars, and bruised a pair of HAWK sites. The problem is that three more HAWK sites lit up during the attack, and the two HAWKs which are wounded probably still retain their optical guidance systems. Those will work just fine during the dawn raid we have planned. Clearly, it’s not going to be an easy time in the morning.

(Plus, that other Nike further south is still being a pest, and hampering my freedom of maneuver on the SW side of Chitose to a surprising degree. Unfortunately, I don’t really have assets to spare for him at this time.)





INVADE JAPAN!

As the aerial fighting rages above, my helicopters are conducting a much more discrete war below. Slipping in at wavetop height, the Hips deliver highly trained commando teams at the ELINT stations. They can’t break into the bunkers in the time they have, but they quickly pack their explosives around the sensitive antennae, and fall back before the series of blasts turn the precision structures into heaps of scrap metal. They hasten to their helicopters, before nearby troops can react effectively, and hurry back out to sea towards the safety of their own bases.

Some of the helicopters also take the time to shred nearby radar installations with barrages of rocket fire, and a pair of Su-24Ms with conventional bombs sweep low across Hokkaido, killing the radar north of Sapporo, and the one on the south-east point of Hokkaido near Erimo. By the time the commandos and the Fencers are done Japan has lost all its land-based radar and ELINT stations on the main portion of the island. It will be several days before the troops in the ELINT bunkers can repair their antennae, while the radars are permanently destroyed.





RETIRE

The last shot, as the planes retire, is a single Sepal missile fired from Sakhalin Island, which comes cruising along and smashes into the lone Japanese destroyer, sinking it in moments.

All my fighters and Fencers are retiring now, low on fuel and munitions, and pretending they’re not being driven away by fresh F-16s. I don’t have a lot left at this point. I have just under half a regiment of MiG-23s in the Kuriles, and two (2) whole Su-27s left up north to guard the mainland. That’s all.

I’m hoping the Japanese won’t be able to mount a credible offensive soon. It’s going to be two and a half hours before my MiG-29s start becoming available on Sakhalin, so things could get mighty lonely if the Japanese manage to move fast.

[Gunner98]

A productive first strike! Looking forward to daylight

[BDukes]

Must play this weekend. This one looks really fun.

Mike