I wanted to put in my two cents on this excellent scenario. Dr. Zaius is currently playing the game from the American perspective, and Kushan is currently playing the scenario using the Russians, so I thought that I would basically "watch" the scenario as it was designed by the creator and monitor the various actions by switching back and forth from side to side to watch the battle transpire.
PART 1
Since you already have the excellent replays going on by both Dr. Zaius and Kushan, my AAR will concentrate on the scenario itself. If you are following along with the other two guys, then you should be familiar with most things. I am actually about 1/2 to 1 hour ahead of them, but there are different results.
By letting the scenario play out as designed, you will see that the battle takes a while to get started. The scenario starts at 0800 ZULU time, and the first shots aren't fired until 1000. Both the Russians to the North, and the Americans to the South, essentially line up on the border and cross into North Korean airspace at 1000. In each case, the Russians and Americans send in Air Superiority A/C to beat back the North Koreans. The Americans face the most contested battles and actually suffer a few more losses than do the Russians. The Russians race down the East Coast and eventually defeat all of the A/C at Iwon AB. There is a S-300 Battery which is located West of there, but it fires at such a distance that it never hits any of the Russians because they dart below the mountains before the Gargoyles arrive. The first air segment at Iwon easily goes to the Russians.
The Russians also launch some SSM from a fleet of ships, which are just of of the coast. This effectively knocks out of few of the SAM Batteries (not the S-300), and also takes out many of the radars. It is important to note that the top portion of the country has no ABs, and few weapons. So, after an initial strike on the few that did exist, Russian can simply fly over most of the top half of the country with a problem.
The Americans have a much more difficult time. While the North Koreans have antiquated equipment, they do have a lot of it. The Americans eventually beat back the North Koreans at the NK/SK border, and they manage to drain at Kuum and Wonsan of almost all of their planes. The Americans are also having to fight off planes coming from the heavily defended area in the SW portion of NK. At the end of this segment, the American have lost 9 planes, and the Russians have lost just 5. The Russians and Americans have not come close to one another thus far. It is almost as if they are playing a game of Whack-a-Mole at the carnival. As soon as a NK plane pops up, they whack it.
There has been no search for the nuclear launchers as both the Russians and Americans have just established a foothold into NK. The designated search are in the Sea of Japan, however, is full of activity. In addition to the Russians and the Americans, Japan is searching for the NK sub with nuclear missiles on it. You have never seen so many sonobuoys. The whole area looks completely covered. Russia has located a sub, but it doesn't know that the sub that it found is an American sub. I don't know how the game has the memory to keep up with all of this activity.
Doug
My Take on the Korean Missile Crisis
Moderator: MOD_Command
RE: My Take on the Korean Missile Crisis
PART 2
A second wave of Russian Air Superiority A/C approach the area after the first wave have headed home. This group is headed for the main AB in the center of the country, Changjin-Up. The Russians again hope to gain control of the area. The NKs come out to confront them, and Russian generally has its way with them. Again, the Whack-A-Mole concept comes to mind. Each time a new NK plane takes off, the Russians are right there to take them out. It was almost comical. It was, all the way until it wasn't. Remember the S-300? Well, by now it has had the ability to re-arm. Since it is located very close to Changjin-Up it doesn't have any more terrain issues to deal with. With those issues resolved, it starts blasting away at the Russian planes and manages to kill four of them. Add to that the few that the other NK planes were able to shoot down, and Russia is now up to 11 planes being killed. Russia does launch some missiles that manage to hit some peripheral targets, and they gain some extra points this way.
Meanwhile, the Americans continue to have some difficulties with the numerous NK planes. A few even follow the Americans back into South Korea as the US planes return to their bases Winchester. Again, the action is wild. By the end of this segment, which is just about one hour into the shooting war, North Korea has lost over 200 planes as a result of the Americans and the Russians. The Americans launch lots of Tomahawk missiles at the SAM sites and bases along the coast. And, by the end of this segment, the Russians and Americans have Air Superiority over the entire east coast of North Korea, and over the North Korea/South Korea border. There is still a lot of work to do in the Southwestern portion of the country.
The Americans lost an Orion and a helicopter which were taken out by a runaway NK fighter which for some reason headed East. It was a smart move because the Orion cost the US 50 points.
The search for the sub continues, with even more sonobouys being dropped. How in the world that sub hasn't been located is beyond me?
I wanted to make a point that in comparison to Dr. Zaius' scenario, the Americans and Russians have lost a lot more planes than he did with his. His decision to initially fire all of the American Tomahawks was brilliant. He caught most of the NK planes on the ground. It's so easier to kill them when they are sitting still rather than having to chase them all over the skies.
I believe that Dr. Zaius had stated that he has about 3000 Victory points in his scenario at this point. In my scenario, both the Russians and the Americans have about negative 225. Since you can only gain points by killing objectives, and neither the Russians or Americans have really done very much other than to kill a bunch of planes and SAM sites, neither of these two are even in positive numbers. It's obvious that if you are playing the American side then it is advisable to launch those Tomahawks early.
A second wave of Russian Air Superiority A/C approach the area after the first wave have headed home. This group is headed for the main AB in the center of the country, Changjin-Up. The Russians again hope to gain control of the area. The NKs come out to confront them, and Russian generally has its way with them. Again, the Whack-A-Mole concept comes to mind. Each time a new NK plane takes off, the Russians are right there to take them out. It was almost comical. It was, all the way until it wasn't. Remember the S-300? Well, by now it has had the ability to re-arm. Since it is located very close to Changjin-Up it doesn't have any more terrain issues to deal with. With those issues resolved, it starts blasting away at the Russian planes and manages to kill four of them. Add to that the few that the other NK planes were able to shoot down, and Russia is now up to 11 planes being killed. Russia does launch some missiles that manage to hit some peripheral targets, and they gain some extra points this way.
Meanwhile, the Americans continue to have some difficulties with the numerous NK planes. A few even follow the Americans back into South Korea as the US planes return to their bases Winchester. Again, the action is wild. By the end of this segment, which is just about one hour into the shooting war, North Korea has lost over 200 planes as a result of the Americans and the Russians. The Americans launch lots of Tomahawk missiles at the SAM sites and bases along the coast. And, by the end of this segment, the Russians and Americans have Air Superiority over the entire east coast of North Korea, and over the North Korea/South Korea border. There is still a lot of work to do in the Southwestern portion of the country.
The Americans lost an Orion and a helicopter which were taken out by a runaway NK fighter which for some reason headed East. It was a smart move because the Orion cost the US 50 points.
The search for the sub continues, with even more sonobouys being dropped. How in the world that sub hasn't been located is beyond me?
I wanted to make a point that in comparison to Dr. Zaius' scenario, the Americans and Russians have lost a lot more planes than he did with his. His decision to initially fire all of the American Tomahawks was brilliant. He caught most of the NK planes on the ground. It's so easier to kill them when they are sitting still rather than having to chase them all over the skies.
I believe that Dr. Zaius had stated that he has about 3000 Victory points in his scenario at this point. In my scenario, both the Russians and the Americans have about negative 225. Since you can only gain points by killing objectives, and neither the Russians or Americans have really done very much other than to kill a bunch of planes and SAM sites, neither of these two are even in positive numbers. It's obvious that if you are playing the American side then it is advisable to launch those Tomahawks early.
RE: My Take on the Korean Missile Crisis
PART 3
A new wave of Russian Air Superiority planes are entering the NK air space, as the remnants of last group heads out. More NK planes are launched out of Changjin-up, and they actually chase the Russians. The NK planes catch and destroy three more Russian planes as they had no weapons to fight back with. This second wave of Russian planes really took a beating when you consider that they lost planes to the S-300 and now to these NK planes as they attempt to leave the area. Soon, the new wave of Russian planes come in from the North and they encounter most of the base's planes from Changjin-up in the sky. The Russians systematically eliminate these planes. Some of the NK planes head back to their base. In the end, all but three planes are on the ground, and they will be there for hours as they prepare for the next segment of the battle. The Russians are now in control of all of the sky from the North to the Central portion of the country.
The Americans attempted to send in bombers to try to take out some of the air fields around the NK capitol at Pyongyang, but it proves to be difficult. These air fields have not been touched, and the fighters are at full capacity. Most of the Americans are killed, but not before destroying a great deal more NK planes. The Americans do manage to gain some points by bombing the two naval bases along the east coast. The North Koreans are without any radar units so they are having a difficult time detecting and identifying the American planes.
The sub search continues with nothing new to report.
At 1130 (1-and-1/2 hours into the actual fighting), which is 3 1/2 hours into the scenario, the Russians are at -325 points, and the Americans are at -175. The Americans have lost 24 air craft (the Orion, helicopter, and a plane returning which ran out of fuel running from the NK planes); the Russians have lost 13, but haven't really gained any scenario objective points. The Americans have hit the Kuum and Wonsan ABs, and the two naval bases to offset their plane losses. Still, this is a huge difference than what Dr. Zaius is experiencing. Oh, if I had only launched those Tomahawks like he did......
Doug
A new wave of Russian Air Superiority planes are entering the NK air space, as the remnants of last group heads out. More NK planes are launched out of Changjin-up, and they actually chase the Russians. The NK planes catch and destroy three more Russian planes as they had no weapons to fight back with. This second wave of Russian planes really took a beating when you consider that they lost planes to the S-300 and now to these NK planes as they attempt to leave the area. Soon, the new wave of Russian planes come in from the North and they encounter most of the base's planes from Changjin-up in the sky. The Russians systematically eliminate these planes. Some of the NK planes head back to their base. In the end, all but three planes are on the ground, and they will be there for hours as they prepare for the next segment of the battle. The Russians are now in control of all of the sky from the North to the Central portion of the country.
The Americans attempted to send in bombers to try to take out some of the air fields around the NK capitol at Pyongyang, but it proves to be difficult. These air fields have not been touched, and the fighters are at full capacity. Most of the Americans are killed, but not before destroying a great deal more NK planes. The Americans do manage to gain some points by bombing the two naval bases along the east coast. The North Koreans are without any radar units so they are having a difficult time detecting and identifying the American planes.
The sub search continues with nothing new to report.
At 1130 (1-and-1/2 hours into the actual fighting), which is 3 1/2 hours into the scenario, the Russians are at -325 points, and the Americans are at -175. The Americans have lost 24 air craft (the Orion, helicopter, and a plane returning which ran out of fuel running from the NK planes); the Russians have lost 13, but haven't really gained any scenario objective points. The Americans have hit the Kuum and Wonsan ABs, and the two naval bases to offset their plane losses. Still, this is a huge difference than what Dr. Zaius is experiencing. Oh, if I had only launched those Tomahawks like he did......
Doug
RE: My Take on the Korean Missile Crisis
Part 4
(Note: The US losses are representative of South Korea units, as well. So, not all of the US losses are actually USA units.)
The Russians have very little to do early in this segment. They finish off a few NK stragglers flying around in the central part of the country, and then they are roaming free. The bombers begin hitting the Chungjinsi nuclear storage site in the Northern end of the country. They have not reached a level where it is destroyed, but with no NK defense units around to stop them, the Russians should be able to finish it off whenever they want. Behind those bombers appears to be the entire Russian Air Force. They are now flying, unabated, toward the SW portion of North Korea.
The US has forced the NK units back to the area around Pyongyang. This is very nasty duty now for the US forces. It appears that all of the bases around the capitol were holding the AF in reserve. So, now that they are being threatened, they are beginning to challenge the US units in serious numbers. Almost all are being killed at an alarming rate, and those that don't die head back to their bases. Still, more and more are taking off. It also appears that a US strike package is heading that way. But, before they get there, some US units take out the sub bases without incident on the east coast. This yields some major points. Additionally, with the NK air units chasing the US/SK units around over the land, no one notices that a B-2 has come up from the West and is now approaching the Defense Center at Pyongyang. The plane isn't observed until it is 8 miles away. It manages to drop to GBU-57 penetraters (MOABs)on the complex completely destroying it. Unfortunately, a SA-3 manages to get off a shot and it brings down the B-2. So, the US gains big points, and then loses big points at the same time.
A NK sub and ship are randomly sunk, and I haven't researched who is responsible. Something strange is going on.
The NK sub has still not been found, nor have the nuclear missiles. There has not been any message about them being prepared for launch.
(Note: In real life, I could easily see how the NK Leader would decide to go ahead and order the launch. His military has been decimated, and there is probably nothing more to do than to take everyone with him as he goes down. This scenario is very realistic.)
The US/SK side has lost 36 A/C including the B-2. Russia has lost 15 A/C, while NK has lost over 270 A/C, in addition to several high value targets.
Just as I was about to end this portion, with both the US and Russian strikers coming into the area to attack the last NK strong-hold, I suddenly received a message that indicates that Russia is now considered Hostile. Well, Russia has been Hostile toward NK for about two hours now, so the only side left to be hostile with is the US. I switched over to the US side, and all of the Russian units are now RED, indicating a hostile status. I then switched over to the Russian side and looked at the US units and I see that they are still considered to be neutral. I'm not sure if this is a glitch, or if it is something that has been programmed into the game that I wasn't aware of. I stopped the game at this point, but I kind of want to play it out to see what "surprises" are in store for me.
Doug
(Note: The US losses are representative of South Korea units, as well. So, not all of the US losses are actually USA units.)
The Russians have very little to do early in this segment. They finish off a few NK stragglers flying around in the central part of the country, and then they are roaming free. The bombers begin hitting the Chungjinsi nuclear storage site in the Northern end of the country. They have not reached a level where it is destroyed, but with no NK defense units around to stop them, the Russians should be able to finish it off whenever they want. Behind those bombers appears to be the entire Russian Air Force. They are now flying, unabated, toward the SW portion of North Korea.
The US has forced the NK units back to the area around Pyongyang. This is very nasty duty now for the US forces. It appears that all of the bases around the capitol were holding the AF in reserve. So, now that they are being threatened, they are beginning to challenge the US units in serious numbers. Almost all are being killed at an alarming rate, and those that don't die head back to their bases. Still, more and more are taking off. It also appears that a US strike package is heading that way. But, before they get there, some US units take out the sub bases without incident on the east coast. This yields some major points. Additionally, with the NK air units chasing the US/SK units around over the land, no one notices that a B-2 has come up from the West and is now approaching the Defense Center at Pyongyang. The plane isn't observed until it is 8 miles away. It manages to drop to GBU-57 penetraters (MOABs)on the complex completely destroying it. Unfortunately, a SA-3 manages to get off a shot and it brings down the B-2. So, the US gains big points, and then loses big points at the same time.
A NK sub and ship are randomly sunk, and I haven't researched who is responsible. Something strange is going on.
The NK sub has still not been found, nor have the nuclear missiles. There has not been any message about them being prepared for launch.
(Note: In real life, I could easily see how the NK Leader would decide to go ahead and order the launch. His military has been decimated, and there is probably nothing more to do than to take everyone with him as he goes down. This scenario is very realistic.)
The US/SK side has lost 36 A/C including the B-2. Russia has lost 15 A/C, while NK has lost over 270 A/C, in addition to several high value targets.
Just as I was about to end this portion, with both the US and Russian strikers coming into the area to attack the last NK strong-hold, I suddenly received a message that indicates that Russia is now considered Hostile. Well, Russia has been Hostile toward NK for about two hours now, so the only side left to be hostile with is the US. I switched over to the US side, and all of the Russian units are now RED, indicating a hostile status. I then switched over to the Russian side and looked at the US units and I see that they are still considered to be neutral. I'm not sure if this is a glitch, or if it is something that has been programmed into the game that I wasn't aware of. I stopped the game at this point, but I kind of want to play it out to see what "surprises" are in store for me.
Doug
RE: My Take on the Korean Missile Crisis
Doug
The hostility between US & Russia is not supposed to happen. It does happen in the AI vs AI mode from time to time as the swarm of missiles in close proximity to each other will cause the AI to consider the other side hostile.
This can happen when a player is focusing specifically on one side but generally does not as s/he is managing the attacks more closely.
In editor mode you could reset the postures and continue.
Nice summary by the way. Thanks
B
The hostility between US & Russia is not supposed to happen. It does happen in the AI vs AI mode from time to time as the swarm of missiles in close proximity to each other will cause the AI to consider the other side hostile.
This can happen when a player is focusing specifically on one side but generally does not as s/he is managing the attacks more closely.
In editor mode you could reset the postures and continue.
Nice summary by the way. Thanks
B
Check out our novel, Northern Fury: H-Hour!: http://northernfury.us/
And our blog: http://northernfury.us/blog/post2/
Twitter: @NorthernFury94 or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/northernfury/
And our blog: http://northernfury.us/blog/post2/
Twitter: @NorthernFury94 or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/northernfury/
RE: My Take on the Korean Missile Crisis
Thanks, Gunner
I'll move on from here.
Regarding the pursuit that Kushan experienced, I have been paying close attention to that. The parameters are set to specifically not allow that. I watched a NK plane venture into SK and then turn around and head home. I checked the parameters, and he was right at his limit, so it worked perfect. I don't know what could have happened to Kushan. It's big, however, because a serious number of NK planes were destroyed very quickly. As I am learning, you may have superiority with equipment, but they certainly have the numbers.
Great game. You guys deserve a GOLD STAR!!!!
Doug
I'll move on from here.
Regarding the pursuit that Kushan experienced, I have been paying close attention to that. The parameters are set to specifically not allow that. I watched a NK plane venture into SK and then turn around and head home. I checked the parameters, and he was right at his limit, so it worked perfect. I don't know what could have happened to Kushan. It's big, however, because a serious number of NK planes were destroyed very quickly. As I am learning, you may have superiority with equipment, but they certainly have the numbers.
Great game. You guys deserve a GOLD STAR!!!!
Doug
RE: My Take on the Korean Missile Crisis
Part 5
(Note: The issue of the US posture change with Russia was probably just an anomaly caused by a US plane accidentally being hit by a Russian AAM. It simply corrected the postures and I was back in business.)
The Russians continued their attack from the North and East, as the US/and SK A/C attacked from the South. The North Koreans launched EVERYTHING that they have in defense. As luck would have it, almost all of those planes headed toward the US/SK planes as they arrived in the area first. Once again, the US took the brunt of the attack, while the Russians got off easy. Many of the US/SK planes were destroyed. The one thing that has been devastating to them is the on-board 30 mm Gun GSH-30-1 which sometimes has a 50% kill rate. I don't know if it should be that high, maybe that can be checked, but it has accounted for approximately 50% of all of the US/SK/Russian kills. I guess the moral to the story is to not get too close. The US/SK have now lost just over 50 planes, while the Russians have now lost 27. One of the US losses was a F-35. This was weird because the plane was flying at 50K feet, and the attacking NK plane was at 1200 feet. That's almost a 49K difference. In any case, I lost a F-35 to go along with the B-2 earlier. That really made me mad.
The Russians destroyed the Yongbyon Research Center, and the Yongbyon Production Center. The US did manage to hit the Yongbyon Research Center Entrance, but the guns from the NK planes destroyed the GBUs before they could actually hit the target. The 8.7% damage was caused by the GBUs being too close to the target when they were destroyed. (I love that feature of the game.) In any case, those guns are way too powerful.
Both the Russians and US/SK forces have now departed the area. The North Koreans will have to land soon, and when they do there are no other NK A/C to go back up for several hours. In fact, you can now count the remaining NK A/C in the game. You have to wonder what the NK Leader feels after almost all of his A/C have been destroyed. I have been drawn a thought of Hitler being trapped in his bunker and knowing that the end is near. If he had had the bomb, wouldn't he have used it? I keep thinking that at any moment the notice will appear indicating that the North Koreans are discussing the release of their nukes.
On the topic of the nukes, the NK sub still has not been found, nor have the ground launchers. So, if the order is ever given, the Russians and US forces will have some work to do. Just to give you a reference as far as time is concerned, I have played 4 hours and 11 minutes of game time. Without actually checking (because I like surprises, too), I am beginning to think that the NK Leader has not authorized the strike because both the Russians and US are hovering around -500 points, which translates to a Disaster score. This is a far cry from Dr. Zaius and Kushan. I believe that it proves that the AI is truly a very good opponent, and it makes the game player actually do some planning to win.
One other thing that I noticed was that the US forces were hitting some of their targets with HARMs around Pyongyang. You would have figured that that would have been better coordinated. I'm still mad about the B-2. What has also been fun to watch is the NK forces trying to track the F-22. As I said, the only way that they could hit it was if it was right in front of them, and they had those super guns.
I'm not sure what will happen next. I don't know if the US or Russia can gain enough points to get into positive numbers by destroying the nuke targets, or if they will even get the chance. I'll have to play it by ear.
Doug
(Note: The issue of the US posture change with Russia was probably just an anomaly caused by a US plane accidentally being hit by a Russian AAM. It simply corrected the postures and I was back in business.)
The Russians continued their attack from the North and East, as the US/and SK A/C attacked from the South. The North Koreans launched EVERYTHING that they have in defense. As luck would have it, almost all of those planes headed toward the US/SK planes as they arrived in the area first. Once again, the US took the brunt of the attack, while the Russians got off easy. Many of the US/SK planes were destroyed. The one thing that has been devastating to them is the on-board 30 mm Gun GSH-30-1 which sometimes has a 50% kill rate. I don't know if it should be that high, maybe that can be checked, but it has accounted for approximately 50% of all of the US/SK/Russian kills. I guess the moral to the story is to not get too close. The US/SK have now lost just over 50 planes, while the Russians have now lost 27. One of the US losses was a F-35. This was weird because the plane was flying at 50K feet, and the attacking NK plane was at 1200 feet. That's almost a 49K difference. In any case, I lost a F-35 to go along with the B-2 earlier. That really made me mad.
The Russians destroyed the Yongbyon Research Center, and the Yongbyon Production Center. The US did manage to hit the Yongbyon Research Center Entrance, but the guns from the NK planes destroyed the GBUs before they could actually hit the target. The 8.7% damage was caused by the GBUs being too close to the target when they were destroyed. (I love that feature of the game.) In any case, those guns are way too powerful.
Both the Russians and US/SK forces have now departed the area. The North Koreans will have to land soon, and when they do there are no other NK A/C to go back up for several hours. In fact, you can now count the remaining NK A/C in the game. You have to wonder what the NK Leader feels after almost all of his A/C have been destroyed. I have been drawn a thought of Hitler being trapped in his bunker and knowing that the end is near. If he had had the bomb, wouldn't he have used it? I keep thinking that at any moment the notice will appear indicating that the North Koreans are discussing the release of their nukes.
On the topic of the nukes, the NK sub still has not been found, nor have the ground launchers. So, if the order is ever given, the Russians and US forces will have some work to do. Just to give you a reference as far as time is concerned, I have played 4 hours and 11 minutes of game time. Without actually checking (because I like surprises, too), I am beginning to think that the NK Leader has not authorized the strike because both the Russians and US are hovering around -500 points, which translates to a Disaster score. This is a far cry from Dr. Zaius and Kushan. I believe that it proves that the AI is truly a very good opponent, and it makes the game player actually do some planning to win.
One other thing that I noticed was that the US forces were hitting some of their targets with HARMs around Pyongyang. You would have figured that that would have been better coordinated. I'm still mad about the B-2. What has also been fun to watch is the NK forces trying to track the F-22. As I said, the only way that they could hit it was if it was right in front of them, and they had those super guns.
I'm not sure what will happen next. I don't know if the US or Russia can gain enough points to get into positive numbers by destroying the nuke targets, or if they will even get the chance. I'll have to play it by ear.
Doug
RE: My Take on the Korean Missile Crisis
Part 6
(Note: Before I get into the 6th, and final report on this, I wanted to say that it really bothered me that the B-2 had been shot down. I started looking into the situation a little further. The only SAM unit in the area was a SA-3, which has a ceiling of 40K (or so). The B-2 can fly much higher, and the GBU that it was carrying could be dropped as high as 65K, so the B-2 realistically should not have been in harms way with a little assistance. By watching Dr. Zaius and Kushan, I have observed how important it is to vector in the planes and weapons to avoid major defense areas. This was just one example of where a little human involvement would have prevented the loss. The same was true with the Orion that was lost. There was no designated CAP around the Carrier Group, so the attack went unnoticed. This is a huge scenario. Of ten, the sub search went unobserved as all of the action was occurring over North Kprea.)
The last report ended at approximately 12:15 ZULU time. It is actually nightfall in North Korea. Almost every North Korean A/C has been defeated, or is back in their bases re-fueling and re-arming. That should take hours. The Russians and US now have the skies of North Korea to themselves. I then started thinking about the Briefing notes. I wasn't sure if the attack could take place 4-6 hours after the scenario started, after the attack started, or after a message was sent. I didn't want to "go behind the scenes" so I figured that I had better start looking for the sub and the ground launchers. I quickly noticed that the US had launched their U-2 Spy Plane, and the Russians had also launched two A/C for that same purpose. It looked like they were all about the same distance so it was going to be a race.
About 15 minutes later, a P-8A Poseidon suddenly announced that it had located a SSB sub,and a few seconds later it identified it as the Simpo. Wow! That was quick. The Poseidon was then maneuvering to attack it. At the same time some F-22s were attacking a nuclear facility far to the west in North Korea, and some F-35s were attacking another nuclear complex around Pyongyang. I suddenly wished that I had a separate window that I bring up to watch all of the action, and still have it large enough to see. When you back away from the sub attack you see nothing but a sea (pardon the pun) of dots. They are, of course, sonobouys and trying to see the attacks to the west and then see the sub at the same time meant that it was like trying to see a needle in a haystack. It was difficult. In any case, all of the ASM attacks went off without a glitch, and three more nuclear facilities were destroyed in North Korea, giving the US side some serious points.
Finding the Simpo also awarded points to the US side, and then destroying it added some more. There were three Japanese Orions around, but the Poseidon got credit for the kill. Now, the only thing that remained was the nuclear missile launchers.
I noticed that the two Russian planes were about the same distance away from the No Dong search area as was the U-2. It looked like it was going to be a race. All three arrived about the same time, but the Russians just flew around in the dark. I switched back and forth from each side, and the Russian wasn't seeing anything at all. The U-2 immediately found one of the launcher sites, and that initiated the No Dong strike by F-22s. But, those guys were coming from far away. About half way to the site, the F-22s decided to stop for refueling. But, there was a problem. The other F-22s that had been on their strike mission were there, and so were the F-35s. All of the tankers were soon to be drained. Obviously, when planning this mission, there were not enough tankers assigned to the location to accommodate all of the planes. I didn't want to send everyone home and try again after refueling, and since I didn't set it up to begin with, I game-edited the fuel for the F-22s and sent them on their way to the No Dong facilities. The U-2 found all of the sites (this too, takes some human involvement) and the F-22s came in an knocked them out without a problem. The Russians never saw anything. Perhaps it was because it was dark.
In the end, the US side actually had a positive total. Their recent attacks, and locating the No Dongs and the Simpo, and then killing all of them was enough to put them over the top. As I said before, the plane loss really hurt their point total, and had a few precautions have been made, then there wouldn't have been nearly as many plane losses. Since many of the plane losses were by gun fire, it would obviously be beneficial to stay a distance away from the enemy. Those 300 mm gsh-30-1 guns were unbelievable. They had a 40-50 percent kill rate, while the best that the 23 mm guns had was a 15. It kind of makes me wonder if they are coded correctly.
If you play the scenario from the US side, I would highly recommend:
1. Attacking the bases early, like Dr. Zaius and Tailhook did. It's much easier to keep the planes on the ground than it is to shoot them one-by-one from the sky.
2. Secondly, I would recommend that you really work at monitoring/planning your ingress/egress from the attack zone. As I discovered the AI is good, but it could have been a little bit better in that situation. As good as it is, the human brain is better for those decisions. I'm sure that the AI figured that the SA-3 that downed the B-2 had been destroyed so it didn't need to be at 65K. But, it did.
3. lastly, the tanker issue is very important. Make sure that you have all of the necessary tankers that you need. I allowed the game to play the way it was set up and there wasn't enough tankers. Perhaps they were using fuel at a faster rate than they should, but you really need to monitor it. If I would have sent the F-22s back to the base because of fuel, I would have had to try to find some more assets from the USS Ronald Reagan. That could have taken too long. It's a shame to think that a portion of the world could have been blown up because of the lack of a tanker.
If you play the game from the Russian side, then do what Kushan did in his video and attack early. It really seems to throw off the AI when you do this. It seems as if the AI is expecting the attack to come around 1000 ZULU time, so as the other three successful military guys have shown, catch them early and you don't have to fight them off one-by-one.
The US AI side defeated the Russian AI side. My goal was to see how good the AI really is, and I am here to say that this game is a great.
Well, that's about it. I hope that you enjoyed this, and found it to be informative.
Doug
(Note: Before I get into the 6th, and final report on this, I wanted to say that it really bothered me that the B-2 had been shot down. I started looking into the situation a little further. The only SAM unit in the area was a SA-3, which has a ceiling of 40K (or so). The B-2 can fly much higher, and the GBU that it was carrying could be dropped as high as 65K, so the B-2 realistically should not have been in harms way with a little assistance. By watching Dr. Zaius and Kushan, I have observed how important it is to vector in the planes and weapons to avoid major defense areas. This was just one example of where a little human involvement would have prevented the loss. The same was true with the Orion that was lost. There was no designated CAP around the Carrier Group, so the attack went unnoticed. This is a huge scenario. Of ten, the sub search went unobserved as all of the action was occurring over North Kprea.)
The last report ended at approximately 12:15 ZULU time. It is actually nightfall in North Korea. Almost every North Korean A/C has been defeated, or is back in their bases re-fueling and re-arming. That should take hours. The Russians and US now have the skies of North Korea to themselves. I then started thinking about the Briefing notes. I wasn't sure if the attack could take place 4-6 hours after the scenario started, after the attack started, or after a message was sent. I didn't want to "go behind the scenes" so I figured that I had better start looking for the sub and the ground launchers. I quickly noticed that the US had launched their U-2 Spy Plane, and the Russians had also launched two A/C for that same purpose. It looked like they were all about the same distance so it was going to be a race.
About 15 minutes later, a P-8A Poseidon suddenly announced that it had located a SSB sub,and a few seconds later it identified it as the Simpo. Wow! That was quick. The Poseidon was then maneuvering to attack it. At the same time some F-22s were attacking a nuclear facility far to the west in North Korea, and some F-35s were attacking another nuclear complex around Pyongyang. I suddenly wished that I had a separate window that I bring up to watch all of the action, and still have it large enough to see. When you back away from the sub attack you see nothing but a sea (pardon the pun) of dots. They are, of course, sonobouys and trying to see the attacks to the west and then see the sub at the same time meant that it was like trying to see a needle in a haystack. It was difficult. In any case, all of the ASM attacks went off without a glitch, and three more nuclear facilities were destroyed in North Korea, giving the US side some serious points.
Finding the Simpo also awarded points to the US side, and then destroying it added some more. There were three Japanese Orions around, but the Poseidon got credit for the kill. Now, the only thing that remained was the nuclear missile launchers.
I noticed that the two Russian planes were about the same distance away from the No Dong search area as was the U-2. It looked like it was going to be a race. All three arrived about the same time, but the Russians just flew around in the dark. I switched back and forth from each side, and the Russian wasn't seeing anything at all. The U-2 immediately found one of the launcher sites, and that initiated the No Dong strike by F-22s. But, those guys were coming from far away. About half way to the site, the F-22s decided to stop for refueling. But, there was a problem. The other F-22s that had been on their strike mission were there, and so were the F-35s. All of the tankers were soon to be drained. Obviously, when planning this mission, there were not enough tankers assigned to the location to accommodate all of the planes. I didn't want to send everyone home and try again after refueling, and since I didn't set it up to begin with, I game-edited the fuel for the F-22s and sent them on their way to the No Dong facilities. The U-2 found all of the sites (this too, takes some human involvement) and the F-22s came in an knocked them out without a problem. The Russians never saw anything. Perhaps it was because it was dark.
In the end, the US side actually had a positive total. Their recent attacks, and locating the No Dongs and the Simpo, and then killing all of them was enough to put them over the top. As I said before, the plane loss really hurt their point total, and had a few precautions have been made, then there wouldn't have been nearly as many plane losses. Since many of the plane losses were by gun fire, it would obviously be beneficial to stay a distance away from the enemy. Those 300 mm gsh-30-1 guns were unbelievable. They had a 40-50 percent kill rate, while the best that the 23 mm guns had was a 15. It kind of makes me wonder if they are coded correctly.
If you play the scenario from the US side, I would highly recommend:
1. Attacking the bases early, like Dr. Zaius and Tailhook did. It's much easier to keep the planes on the ground than it is to shoot them one-by-one from the sky.
2. Secondly, I would recommend that you really work at monitoring/planning your ingress/egress from the attack zone. As I discovered the AI is good, but it could have been a little bit better in that situation. As good as it is, the human brain is better for those decisions. I'm sure that the AI figured that the SA-3 that downed the B-2 had been destroyed so it didn't need to be at 65K. But, it did.
3. lastly, the tanker issue is very important. Make sure that you have all of the necessary tankers that you need. I allowed the game to play the way it was set up and there wasn't enough tankers. Perhaps they were using fuel at a faster rate than they should, but you really need to monitor it. If I would have sent the F-22s back to the base because of fuel, I would have had to try to find some more assets from the USS Ronald Reagan. That could have taken too long. It's a shame to think that a portion of the world could have been blown up because of the lack of a tanker.
If you play the game from the Russian side, then do what Kushan did in his video and attack early. It really seems to throw off the AI when you do this. It seems as if the AI is expecting the attack to come around 1000 ZULU time, so as the other three successful military guys have shown, catch them early and you don't have to fight them off one-by-one.
The US AI side defeated the Russian AI side. My goal was to see how good the AI really is, and I am here to say that this game is a great.
Well, that's about it. I hope that you enjoyed this, and found it to be informative.
Doug
RE: My Take on the Korean Missile Crisis
An enjoyable read and great summary, thanks for sharing.
B
Check out our novel, Northern Fury: H-Hour!: http://northernfury.us/
And our blog: http://northernfury.us/blog/post2/
Twitter: @NorthernFury94 or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/northernfury/
And our blog: http://northernfury.us/blog/post2/
Twitter: @NorthernFury94 or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/northernfury/
RE: My Take on the Korean Missile Crisis
Thanks for the kind words. It was lots of fun.
Doug
Doug