Scenario for Play test: Version 3.0 Hormuz 2020

[serjames]

Hmm, I wouldn't withdraw it... If the damage concept was just "repaired" I still think it's a very playable scenario

It was awesome fun for a rainy weekend that's for sure.

Anyway whatever you decide, keep em coming ! Love testing new missions.

SJ

[BeirutDude]

So took up the challenge. Fixing the ships wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I just had to...

1. Copy the vessel, thus clearing out the damage
2. Assign its "Home Port"
3. Assign its aircraft
4. Load the helicopter magazines
5. Ready the aircraft
6. and finally fix the triggers of units specific to a vessel. Luckily I used class more than specific ships. Took about three hours, not bad.

Other changes...

1. Added to Royal Navy Minesweepers and brought all mines sweeper closer to the Straits.
2. Fixed Iranian subs so they are not in mixed missions with surface vessels and do not have radars active in doctrine.
3. brought all Allied/GCC combatants out of their ports and positioned so they don't have to fight the channels. Haven't decided what to do about Bandar Abbas yet, but will post Version two later tonight.

[BeirutDude]

Edit: Version 3.0 is below

Version 2.0

Above changes plus I had to move Bandar Abbas Naval Base's location to one of the islands. I did place a Single Unit Port in the actual location of Bandar AbbasNS.

[blkholsun]

BeirutDude, this may be too big a question to answer easily and I know these scenarios take a great deal of time and research so I don't want to trivialize it with a novice question, but do you have any tips on where you find data on the OOBs involved? For example, you mention that the real-world GCC/Allied forces are overwhelming, but where did you find that info outlined? I've searched the forum as well as I could for pointers and I looked in the "Useful Materials" sub-forum, but I can't find good modern-day info on the Middle East.

[BeirutDude]

That’s a great question! So I usually start with a google search on the country/unit/base I’m working on. Wikipedia for general info on permanent tennant commands. For example a UAE Squadron at their main airbase. I usually check the notes for cross referenced. I may look at a Destroyer Squadron’s website and/or Facebook page. Jane’s at our local university as I’m too cheap to buy a copy. I usually try to cross reference several sources to see who is there or has recently been there. Then in the end, it’s an open source game and I did my best but a lot of times you have to use an inference and it is the best you can do. I try to make sure Destroyer Squadrons (DESRONS) are consistent with actual make up So to me having a Russian ship in the Pacific which is actually stationed in the Baltic wouldn’t cut it. USN is a bit more flexible for Indian Ocean/Gulf as they draw from both fleets. Hope that makes sense?

[blkholsun]

ORIGINAL: BeirutDude

That’s a great question! So I usually start with a google search on the country/unit/base I’m working on. Wikipedia for general info on permanent tennant commands. For example a UAE Squadron at their main airbase. I usually check the notes for cross referenced. I may look at a Destroyer Squadron’s website and/or Facebook page. Jane’s at our local university as I’m too cheap to buy a copy. I usually try to cross reference several sources to see who is there or has recently been there. Then in the end, it’s an open source game and I did my best but a lot of times you have to use an inference and it is the best you can do. I try to make sure Destroyer Squadrons (DESRONS) are consistent with actual make up So to me having a Russian ship in the Pacific which is actually stationed in the Baltic wouldn’t cut it. USN is a bit more flexible for Indian Ocean/Gulf as they draw from both fleets. Hope that makes sense?

Absolutely, thank you very much

[Gunner98]

Giving this a run. Looking good, one observation so far:

F 76 Jamaran [Moudge Class] starts on land just west of the relocated Bandhar Abbas.

B

[Gunner98]

Ran into a problem loading a save but enjoying the scenario.

I like the way it starts slowly and certain units go hostile while others don't. Had a DDG-51 running at 20knts to catch an LST when an AOE came in close to cannon range and when hostile - caused about 2% damage before she started sinking but it was hair raising for a few moments - just getting that under control when a formerly 'unfriendly' SSK fired a torp at a GCC FFL from about 1nm! That did not go so well...

[BeirutDude]

They teleport so for some reason it teleported over land, not sure why, will look into it. Thanks for looking at the scenario!

[BeirutDude]

Glad you're enjoying it. Not sure what the save issue could be. I've been deployed this week so haven't had a chance to play test it since last weekend. Will play it this weekend (as I only have to work 8 hour days this weekend [:D] ) and see if I can reproduce it.

[AndrewJ]

SITUATION

Trouble's brewing in the Gulf. Israel's at war with Iranian-backed elements in Syria, and while Iran itself is maintaining an ominous silence in the region, nobody believes that will last for long. The river of commerce flowing through the Straits of Hormuz is a vulnerable target, within easy reach of Iranian action. There are hundreds of civilian ships passing through the narrow waterway, and they form a tempting and very vulnerable target. Somehow, we're expected to keep it safe.

I'm not too concerned about control of the air. I have a good number of land-based aircraft, including a sizable contingent of F-22s, some F-35s, plenty of F-15Es and F-16s, plus assorted other aircraft (including some B-52s). However, I'm much weaker at sea. There are no carrier groups here, or task groups of Aegis ships bristling with long-ranged SAMs. Instead, I have a scattering of minesweepers and assorted small corvettes, patrol craft, and missile boats, plus a couple of isolated Burkes and a Perry.

Iranian forces are keeping a low profile for the moment, and I'm not certain exactly what they'll bring to the fight. I don't expect to see many major surface units, but boat swarms could be a real problem, as could their submarines. In such confined quarters, with so many targets to choose from, they could hardly miss. Their air force probably won't be able to do much over my territory, but they could easily launch stand-off attacks at shipping while still over their own territory, so that's not much of a comfort. Worse, they don't even need to send aircraft to attack my bases. They've recently demonstrated a very credible SRBM force, when they attacked American bases in Iraq, and there's every reason to believe they can do it again here. Hopefully my Patriots are up to the task of shooting them down. Speaking of SAMs, the older Iranian SAMs shouldn't be a problem, but any of the later mobile systems could be a real menace, particularly in the narrow waters of the straits where they could cover their other operations.

So those are my major concerns; boat swarms, subs, SRBMs, SAMs, and mines mines mines.


PLAN

First and foremost, I need a better look at what's in Iranian ports and along their shores, so drones and E-8s are ordered to commence reconnaissance activities immediately.

Minesweeping forces are ordered to start heading for the straits. Since they are essentially defenceless, and quite vulnerable to low-tech air attack, they are ordered to only sweep in close proximity to escorting warships. My small number of Gulf-state corvettes, are tasked with this minesweeper escort role. Hopefully their SAMs can at least take a small toll of any attackers. My other three major combatants (the 2 Burkes and the Perry) are also ordered to the straits to provide area SAM cover. This will put them in uncomfortably close proximity to the enemy, but there doesn't seem to be an alternative at the moment.

My two best sonar ships, an LCS and one of the Gulf-State corvettes, are ordered to hasten mid-Gulf, and then head east, blasting away on their active VDS sonars. This will leave them exposed for the moment, but I think it is my best chance to hunt for prowling SSKs. They'll try and rejoin my other warships by mid-morning.

Strike aircraft are ordered to begin loading a variety of ordnance. F-16s load Mavericks, to tackle small-boat targets, while half the F-15Es and all the strike Mirages are fitted with a variety of 2,000 lb JDAMs (50/50 penetrator and conventional), and glide bombs. Unfortunately, I have no ARMs, which is going to be a problem, so the remaining F-15Es and the F-35s are fitted with a mix of WCMDs (guided cluster bombs) and SDBs to tackle the SAMs. Hopefully the SDBs will suck up most of the missiles ("SDB - the decoy you can't ignore") and let the cluster bombs through to do the rest.


Time to press play and see what happens!

[AndrewJ]

Here's a quick question.

When I find mines, would it be realistic to use the editor to put a no-nav zone around them on the Civilian side, as if issuing a Notice to Mariners? Or would that be outside the scope of the scenario?

Would ship captains receive this sort of warning in a timely fashion, and would they trust it if they did?


Edit: follow-up question - I've found mines, but they're apparently not active yet, so they're just sitting on the bottom inertly, completely unsweepable. My ships are equipped with 'Generic Mine Disposal Divers', so presumably these would be able to plant a charge to destroy the mines, even (especially!) before the mines activate. Is there any way to do this in Command?

[morphin]

Hm. I thought that mine sweeping as a bug in new version because i'm unable to seep mines. But maybe you are right and the mines are not active. Is it possible to check if mines are active in the editor?

[AndrewJ]

ORIGINAL: morphin

Hm. I thought that mine sweeping as a bug in new version because i'm unable to seep mines. But maybe you are right and the mines are not active. Is it possible to check if mines are active in the editor?

If you switch to the side that the mines belong to, you can see an small countdown beside the mines which tells how long until they activate. But then you would see all the enemy units and mines.

[Gunner98]

One thought is that the minecraft you have are mine hunters not mine sweepers. They're designed to carry ROVs to do the dirty work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minehunter

You can load them as boats (go the submarine menu) I think the US ones are the PAP 104/105/106 and the Brit ones are the Sea Fox

[serjames]

They will sweep, but you need to turn the kit on - it's not activated automatically in the minesweeping mission. Which I think is a bug. Can't comment on whther they will sweep non-activated mines.

Just check the light blue sweep arc is active behind them and it should work

Nice work btw BD - I think this IS a keeper - you should submit it once the other guys have finished testing

[morphin]

No it will not sweep non active mines.....

[AndrewJ]

For the mines, yes my sweeps are on, it's simply that the mines aren't active yet. They're just inert lumps on the bottom for the moment. Which is completely legitimate.

The sweepers aren't equipped with their ROVs as the scenario is written, so I haven't tried using any. I suspect that even if they were present, Command won't let me destroy inactive mines. I've never had any luck getting ROVs or divers to actually destroy mines using placed charges, and I'm not sure if it's even simulated yet.

[BeirutDude]

Here's a quick question.

When I find mines, would it be realistic to use the editor to put a no-nav zone around them on the Civilian side, as if issuing a Notice to Mariners? Or would that be outside the scope of the scenario?

Sure, wish you could do that in the game for a neutral and your side. That would be a great suggestion for the developers

Would ship captains receive this sort of warning in a timely fashion, and would they trust it if they did?

I suspect it would depend upon the source. If from USN/RN/France probably but if from a dubious source then maybe not.

Edit: follow-up question - I've found mines, but they're apparently not active yet, so they're just sitting on the bottom inertly, completely unsweepable. My ships are equipped with 'Generic Mine Disposal Divers', so presumably these would be able to plant a charge to destroy the mines, even (especially!) before the mines activate. Is there any way to do this in Command?

Yes I set the mines so they won't be active for 12 hours. Think about it from Iran's point of view. You want to have the night to lay mines to maximize the number of mines in the Straits and to have them active immediately is counterproductive as your more apt to be discovered and attacked. Now as to being unable to sweep them I agree this is also something for the developers to consider.

[BeirutDude]

They will sweep, but you need to turn the kit on - it's not activated automatically in the minesweeping mission. Which I think is a bug. Can't comment on whther they will sweep non-activated mines.

Just check the light blue sweep arc is active behind them and it should work

Nice work btw BD - I think this IS a keeper - you should submit it once the other guys have finished testing

Thank you and thanks to all for looking at the sweeping issues. Sorry I'm just getting back to this but was deployed doing 14 and 15 hours days!