new scenario for testing NF#43 Red Devils

[Gunner98]

Here is the next scenario in the Northern Fury campaign

OPERATION ODIN’S THRUST is a major joint/combined operation planned to take place over the next 96 hours. You will command the British 5th Airborne Brigade [5th (GB) AB Bde] in a bid to seize Banak Norway as the Left Flank of a Corps sized operation.

Your task in this scenario will be to seize and hold the Banak area, you have a large brigade but deploying it will be complex, and the Soviets will surly strike back hard.

In the zip you'll find the load tables and a ppt with the overall plan. You command one Bde in a Corps level assault. Getting that Bde in place to do the job will be a bit of a trick.

As always, comment and critiques are most welcome.


EDIT Ver 1.2 uploaded

[AndrewJ]

Hmmm. Whatever shall I do this weekend?? [:D]

[AndrewJ]

Are the Scorpions stored as cargo at Mildenhall supposed to be flown in? I think all the C-17s are already assigned for ammo resupply and deliveries by Lua, including some events which deliver Scorpions. Are the Scorpions at Mildenhall a duplicate? Or maybe for later delivery if I have any cargo aircraft which haven't been reassigned?

[Gunner98]

Ah no, they are duplicates. was planning on using them as cargo but changed that to LAPES. Will remove them.

Cheers


B

[AndrewJ]

SITUATION

The drive to liberate Norway is underway! With the Soviets starting to retreat, NATO is launching a series of amphibious and airborne attacks to sever the major lines of communication, and seize important airfields and bases along the length of the country. We've been directed to lead the attack on Banak, the northern-most base in the operation, and the one closest to Soviet-occupied Finland.

Intel's briefed us on the situation, and it's a little ominous.



The area we're going into is mostly occupied by low-readiness units, in this case a motor-rifle regiment equipped with T-55s and BTR-152s. That might sound weak to a heavy ground force, but T-55s are quite capable of beating up on para-dropped light infantry. Apparently there's a battalion-sized force in the vicinity of Banak itself. The other battalions are spread out on either side of us along the highway, at Alta and Karasjok. Alta will be under attack by Royal Marines, which should pin that battalion, and hopefully the one in Karasjok is far enough out that it won't make an appearance. There's also a badly battered missile brigade somewhere to our east (maybe the same ones we hit in NF41?), but I doubt it will get close enough for us to spot it.

Far more worrisome is the 17th Tank Brigade, which is mostly intact, much more dangerous than a battalion of reservists, and is location unknown! "Probably NW Finland or south of Banak" say the intel guys. That means it's pretty much on our doorstep, although we're not certain exactly where. There's also one of those over-strength tank battallions (40 x T-80s, yikes), but that's far away east of us in Kirkenes, and it would probably take a full day to march here by road. It's the 17th that scares me most.


FORCES

I have a variety of C-130-borne paratroopers, mostly British with some Canadians and Dutch, deployed at airfields in the northern UK and Iceland. Like paratroopers everywhere, they're not all that heavily armed. It'll be Milans and Carl Gustavs vs. the enemy armour, plus a few mortar and 105mm batteries. The heaviest support I'll have will come six hours later when I can deploy some SAMs and very light armour (Scorpions and M113s), and that's not a lot to hold off the Soviet armoured horde.

Air support will come from the Vinson and Invincible, but they're also supporting the attack on Alta by the Royal Marines, so we don't have access to their entire air-wing. We've got some F-18s, Harriers, and attack helicopters on call, but the bulk of the Vinson's power (the A-6s) is allocated to other tasks. We'll have to call in favours if we want those on our side. We don't have a lot of fighter cover either, so hopefully the Soviets haven't had time to recover from their heavy losses in the past week.


THE PLAN

Paratrooper boots are expected on the ground by 1800Z, which means my most distant C-130s have to start taking off in about an hour and a half, if they're going to make it in time. It's a roughly four-hour trip each way, and most of them should be able to make it home without refuelling. (The older Canadian C-130s at Reykjavik have a short range, but unfortunately can't refuel, so they will need to stop at Jan Mayen and refuel on the way home.)

Recce troops at Banak haven't reported any enemy contacts yet, but I'm not convinced nothing's there. A few MANPADS or AAA could massacre the incoming C-130s, not to mention any medium SAMs which might be lurking in the area. I desperately need reconnaissance, so I'll be launching an immediate limited strike from the carriers. My hope is to provoke the defences and CAP to react and reveal themselves, and then rush back to the carrier to reload in time for the C-130s to arrive.

After that, it's a matter of digging in and holding on as best I can. If a heavy armoured formation arrives, Banak may turn out to be an airbase too far...

[Gunner98]

an airbase too far..

Hmmm... possible title change [:D]

Going for my popcorn! Looking forward to your playthrough.

B

[AndrewJ]

BANAK STRIKES

Before command staff can get much further, a messenger comes hastening in with reports from the SOF recce troops hiding around Banak. They can see at least one mobile SAM unit in the centre of the area, another mobile unit of some sort, and four Hinds and four Su-25s parked in revetments on the airfield. This is definitely worth hitting, and orders are issued to start launching recce and strike aircraft from the carriers.

As my planes approach Banak we start to get ESM indications of a powerful air surveillance radar in northern Finland, so the enemy can definitely see us coming. SOF starts sending flash messages about activity on the airfield, as previously un-spotted MiG-23s start rolling out of the hangar and taxiing to take off. There's half a dozen of them, but fortunately the Sparrows on my three F-14s (two fighters and a TARPS bird) have a longer range than the Apexes on the Floggers, and we manage to engage and destroy them without loss.

The first strikers on-site are a pair of F-18s, equipped with Mavericks and FLIR pods, coming in at high altitude, above the ceiling of medium SAMs, and they report that the area is packed with enemy units. There's trucks, APCs, and infantry all over the place, plenty of heavy AAA (57mm), and what looks like a second SAM site, possibly an SA-6, east of town. The pilots open up with Mavericks, killing the central SA-8, but that causes another hidden SA-8 to open fire on the incoming missiles. The F-18s make a note of that while they stay loitering overhead, using their targeting pods to make a good list of targets, which they radio to the incoming strike.

My original intention had been to only use part of my air assets, reserving some for later, but there is so much to hit here that it is clear I can't delay. Over the course of the next hour and a half I use all my aircraft to attack Banak with a series of strikes, coming in very low through valleys and popping over ridges to hit SAMs and AAA with minimal warning. As they dash away they're pursued by SA-7s, but fortunately none of them manage to hit. The F-18s carry heavy loads and have excellent sensors, but it turns out to be the Harriers which do the bulk of the work, hustling back to their carrier, pulling a quick 15 minute reload, and returning immediately for a second attack. Even some of my attack helicopters get in on the action, operating at the extreme end of their range and cutting into their fuel reserves in order to get good hits on the closest enemy units.



By the end of the strikes reconnaissance assets report that all the aircraft on the flight line are wrecked and in flames, and the AAA and SAM sites seem to have been crippled or eliminated. My initial Harrier strikes coming in from the south also spotted a BM-21 battery lurking about 3 miles south of the airfield, and a howitzer battery in the south end of town. Both of these high-value targets are hit and eliminated, as is a tank platoon in the centre of town, which succumbs to a well-placed cluster bomb.



RECCE

As the last of the strikes continue, my TARPS-equipped F-14 heads south down the E6 highway towards Karasjok, looking for enemy units. None turn up, but an SA-10/12 in northern Finland opens fire, forcing my plane to dive away into the cover of a valley. I had hoped to follow the E-6 all the way along the Finnish border, but that's clearly not going to work, so the F-14 heads up to the coast to check the roads there. An SA-6 opens fire on the plane on the coast near Kunes, and the pilot manages to get a glimpse of a small company(-) mech force of T-72s, BMP-3s, and mobile AAA near the SAM site. Nothing else seems to be there, so the pilot turns and heads back.

So far there's no sign of the 17th Tank Brigade, but that doesn't mean its not out there. If it's tucked into a valley somewhere, bivouacked under its nets, then I could quite probably have missed it. We'll have to do another recce run as soon as the assets become available.


C-130s UP

As the recce bird is heading home, the C-130s are taking off and heading north on their long journey to the form-up point off the North Cape. Command staff are still debating the situation at the target. Yes, the SAMs and AAA seem to be down, but it's still a hot LZ, with numerous APC and infantry units spread around. Can we handle this with the paratroopers alone, or should the commander swallow his pride and ask for the A-6s to pound the area before the landing? Or do we need to hold the A-6s to deal with the expected Soviet counter-attack? Discussion is heated, and time is short.

Where is the 17th hiding??

[Gunner98]

Where is the 17th hiding

Where indeed!

Nice graphics btw.

B

[AndrewJ]

Had you intended us to be able to bring in the LAPES aircraft before the runways are declared open?
The Ghurkas will have to wait, but I could get the LAPES in sooner.

[Gunner98]

Intent is to delay the LAPES until after the runway is open. The Engrs checking out the runway are doing their thing and don't want to be dodging LAPES Pallets along the way. I will consider it however as theoretically the LAPES could use the taxiway.

Perhaps a Special Action which will allow the LAPES to come in but delay runway opening by a couple hours. The big advantage is the ammo for the Helo's & Harriers so that could help a lot. Scratching my head on if they would have actually LAPES'd ammo or just drop it. But its the ground crews etc as well --- disconnect there which I need to think on

[RSMC]

Following Andrew's strategy, I have the reinforcements airborne with the runway open. Andrew - trust the artillery & mortars you are dropping, tjey kick butt - I think you want the A-6s for the 17th when you find it.


Minor points to mention - the 5.56 MG squads are not air droppable, nor are the Gurka 120mm mortars. 1 poor bugger is stranded at Kirkwall - 129 troops and 2 x 64 airlift capacity (Lt. Niedermeyer?). Have to watch the UK C-130s on the way back to Brize Norton, they want to go looking for tankers. S-3s trying to fill up a flight of C-130s doesn't work so well.

As always Gunner - excellent work.

[Gunner98]

Yes, noted the 5.56MG and put in a request (post 6683 here)

Good point on the 120mm though, hadn't thought of them. Might Lua them in somehow.

I did notice Lt Niedermeyer [:D] as well, actually took away the 3rd Hurc - Nlds only had 3. But I suppose the player could chop & change a bit and send a Brit Hurc to pick him up - there is plenty of room for the Ghurkas.

Regarding the tankers - I stripped away a bunch so if there are not enough I can add some back in - but I think there are. But you're right a Hurc will drain an S-3 PDQ

Cheers

[AndrewJ]

The attack on Banak continues...

THE LANDING

As the C-130s drone northwards over the cold waters of the Norwegian Sea, command staff are still debating whether or not to call in additional air support. Rather than use the A-6s, they decide to send in the last available attack helicopter, and a pair of F-18s which had been reloading for a HARM/Cluster bomb role since the start of the mission. These arrive shortly before the C-130s, and manage to engage and disrupt the enemy troops closest to the landing zones, giving us an extra measure of clearance between the landing troops and their foe. The Lynx then hurries directly home to the carrier, while the F-18s continue on to fire some HARMs at the SA-6 on the coast near Kunes.

The landing itself starts in the dusk around 1800Z, and is divided into two LZs, a large one at the north end of Banak airfield itself, and one in the fields about three miles east of Banak, near the hamlet of Nyby. (There's not actually a lot of open ground for a landing around Banak. Most of the 'flat' ground is actually scrubby forest or rocks, perfectly suited for disabling half the paratroopers with lacerations and broken bones, or is already occupied by Soviet troops.) First in are the para regiments, 1 Para taking the airfield LZ, and 2 Para taking the Nyby LZ. They manage to land without being shot at, and begin working their way towards the remaining Soviet troops, which are mostly concentrated in Lakselv, south of the airport. Milans do a great job of taking out BTR-50s, and with mortar support the paras clear out the rest of the Soviet infantry. There are multiple truck and logistical units south of Lakselv, and even a pair of large 120mm mortar units which hadn't been recognized before. Fortunately, those don't seem to be firing in all the confusion, and the area is cleared.

As Banak is being secured, additional troops, artillery batteries, and headquarters units are dropped onto the airbase. There are several large truck parks and HQs in the area, and demolition teams start working their way among them, picking out any items of intelligence interest, and using charges of C-4 to wreck the remainder. Scout cars are sent out, south along the E6 highway, and north-east along coastal road Fv98. Blowpipe gunners hurry to spread out along the high ground surrounding the region, Milan teams take up positions overlooking both main roads, and most of the infantry takes up blocking positions south of Lakselv and near Nyby. The artillery looks for positions between the two, trying to make use of the gullies in the high ground to the south to get a little cover. Meanwhile, HQ, logistic units, and the last of the infantry mill about in a confused mess in the middle. Other than the scout cars, we're not going too far afield, and hopefully that won't come back to bite us.


RECCE

As the Banak landing tries to sort itself out, the carrier sends out another F-14 on a TARPS reconnaissance flight, heading up the coast road at 1945Z. It confirms the SA-6 etc. are still at Kunes, and then heads down along the Karasjohka river valley on the Finnish border, over to Karasjok, and back up the E-6 to Banak. The SA-10 in Finland takes a few shots, but the pilot manages to elude them all by flying low in the river valley, and returns with the news that he's seen nothing on any of the roads leading to Banak. So far, the 17th Tank Brigade remains frustratingly elusive.


PROBING

With no sign of the 17th, staff decide they might as well attack the small mechanized formation up on the coast near Kunes, and some Harriers and F-18s are despatched to strike it. The aircraft are just passing Banak when our southern scout car reports a mixed company of BTR-50s and T-55s coming up the E-6 towards Banak. Two of the Harriers are diverted south, and a combination of cluster bombs, artillery, and a single Milan shot manage to wreck the force before it can get into town. Given the old equipment, this probe would have been part of the same 251st MRR which was occupying the Banak region, not the 17th.

With that complete, the planes resume their attack on Kunes, with F-18s coming in low over the hill to hit the SA-6 with Mk82s, while the Harriers use the rest of their cluster bombs on the mechanized units. Good night-vision equipment means the attacks come and go before the enemy can react, and the planes report numerous secondary explosions and fires behind them as they return to base. This gives us a bit more security from this direction.


SCUD!

At 2045Z, in the midst of the 251st’s probe, the nervous quiet at Banak is suddenly broken by thunderous explosions and sonic booms, as a series of six tremendous explosions rip through the airfield. Incoming Scuds! The impact points seem to be spread out from Lakselv southwards. Some buildings get flattened, and several infantry and truck units get incinerated in the blasts. Officers hurry to get stunned troops out of the area, hoping to disperse them and get them away from potentially targeted airfield infrastructure. Three more barrages happen in the next hour or so, and there's nothing my forces can do to prevent it. As the attacks continue, it looks more and more like the Scuds are being targeted at troop concentrations, rather than the airfield itself. That means we’re being watched. One enterprising sergeant finds a body in shredded Spetznaz uniform near the edge of a Scud crater, proving there was at least one observer in among us, who is now hoist on his own petard. There are almost certainly more spotters in the area, though we haven’t been able to find them yet. By the time the attacks are done, we've lost about two plane-loads worth of infantry. Fortunately, despite one very close call, none of our artillery has been hit.

At 2100Z we get an intel report from HQ, indicating the other landings in this operation seem to be going well, which is reassuring news. Hopefully they’re not getting Scudded too.


OPENING BANAK

The first signs of progress at Banak come shortly after the landing, when the engineers report that they've opened some of the helipads. Gazelles and Lynxes begin gradually flying in from the Invincible once they’ve had time to ready and refuel. Unfortunately, many of the Lynxes have already used their missiles, so they're arriving empty, and they won't be able to start loading up until more missiles can be flown in.

While the helicopters make their landing, C-130s from Reykjavik and C-17s and KC-135 tankers from Mildenhall, are flying in, ready to make LAPES drops of light armoured vehicles and ammunition. The C-17s have to refuel off the Norwegian coast, but that proceeds without incident, and when the engineers announce the runways are open at 0040Z, the aircraft are already approaching northern Norway, poised to begin dropping reinforcements and supplies. Ground crew immediately hurry out to grab TOW missiles for the helicopters, but it will still be several hours before the last of them are ready.

The opening of the runway also triggers the launch of Harriers from the northern Scottish airbases, ferrying up to operate out of Banak. They could have started sooner, anticipating the opening of the runways, but I had no intention of leaving them stranded at the end of their fuel range if something went wrong, and the runway was delayed.


THE 17th ARRIVES

Just as the Harriers arrive at Banak (0240Z), a signals officer rushes in with an urgent message. Higher level intel is reporting large enemy forces approaching Banak from the south! My own ESM intel is reporting multiple new SA-6 radars down towards Karasjok, at the bottom of the E6. This is great timing - for the enemy! My reloading helicopters are not ready yet, the new Harriers are only just landing, the planes which took out the northern mechanized force aren't ready either, and it's night, so most of my quick turnaround isn't operational.

Although I haven't spotted the ground forces yet, the timing and direction is plausible, and I have no reason to doubt this is the real thing. Both carriers are ordered to launch their remaining ready Harriers and F-18s, and the pre-planned F-18 SEAD group is ordered into the air as well. A pair of Gazelles, and my last few TOW-armed Lynxes are scrambled at Banak. I'm still holding the A-6s in reserve for now.

Do we have enough? Time will tell.

[Gunner98]

Do we have enough? Time will tell.

Good question!

Did you think of parking the Harriers from Scotland on the Vince to get their first loadout? Makes for a crowded deck but its only for a few hours.

B

[AndrewJ]

Yes, but I'm never truly certain how many planes a carrier can really hold, especially the small ones, so I tend not to do it. It would be a shame to get there and find there was no room at the inn.

[AndrewJ]

A little more time to play, therefore...

ADVANCE OF THE 17th

The helicopters head south along the E6 highway, staying low and hunting for enemy vehicles, but they don't find anything, at least in the first 20 miles or so. To the aircraft overhead, the situation is much different. There are multiple SAM and surveillance radars in the area, at least two SAMs radiating while moving along the road (a neat trick for SA-6s), and three more plus surveillance radars in Karasjok. The SEAD planes move in, and manage to damage and degrade the SA-6s with volleys of HARMs and Mavericks, before being chased away at low level by SA-10s fired from Finland.

The pilots can now clearly see two columns of vehicles on their FLIR, apparently one tank battalion to the west of the highway, and one mechanized battalion to the east, plus a few support units in between. Harriers and F-18s fly in low to work over the tank battalion with cluster bombs, before the F-18s switch to strafing the IFVs. With the cover of darkness, they can come in low and slow and use their night-vision to make repeated attacks on the lightly armoured BMPs, and soon the infantry are badly damaged and in disarray. As the airplanes turn and head for home the three Lynxes move in, and begin stealthily picking off the stragglers with TOW missiles.

The helicopters still have a few missiles left when the attack is complete, so they go sneaking in on Karasjok, where the F-18s had spotted numerous unidentified units during their SEAD attacks. They manage to get a few of the outlying radars by staying low in the river valleys, but a few long-ranged shots by alert MANPADS gunners convince them that this is a bad idea, and the last of them slinks away as it starts growing light in the east.





MOVEMENT & RECCE

One thing that's been a welcome surprise so far, is the relative absence of Pact air-power. Other than the six Floggers which took off from Banak, the Soviets haven't made an attempt to attack or interfere. F-14s were loitering over Banak during the bombardment of the 17th TB, in case planes came in from Kirkenes, but their patrols have been uneventful. They got to watch as the second flight of SEAD planes came in from the Vinson and killed the Finnish Big Bird radar with long-ranged HARM shots, but that is all.

By 0350Z the next wave of C-130s is lifting off from Mildenhall, carrying the Ghurkas north to Banak. It's a long flight, and tankers are notified in case headwinds make them need to refuel and/or land in Scotland on the way home.

In the morning light, two Gazelles are sent scouting. One heads down the E-6, looking over the ruins of the 17th, but staying well away from the little SAMS in Karasjok. Nothing seems to be moving there, so it heads back and starts scanning the hills around Banak for spotters, but with no luck. The other heads up the coastal highway, past the wrecks of the little armoured force at Kunes, and presses on to the east. It's most of the way to Kirkenes when it gets fired on by an SA-10, and ducks down into the valley to dodge the shot. There's no sign of anything on the road here either, so it turns and heads back home.


WARNING ORDER

At 0800Z we get another situation update. Apparently, things are not going quite as well with the other landings in the south, where the Russians are hanging on and applying pressure, so the reserves are being committed there. No reinforcements for us!

As part of the Russian move, they are apparently releasing that over-strength tank battalion from Kirkenes. Did our helicopter recce miss it somehow, or has it not left base yet? Another recce flight is ordered up to have a look. The battalion is a powerful force, but I'm not too concerned (yet). Unless it comes with heavy air cover and other support, I think we should be able to deal with it using our fully re-armed aircraft.

[AndrewJ]

ENDGAME

The rest of the day passes uneventfully. My Gazelles cruise up and down the roads and valleys, looking for any sign of the independent tank battalion, but nothing is moving. The Ghurkas arrive, one plane at a time to dismount hastily, and are all off-loaded shortly after noon.

In the early afternoon we get another sitrep from HQ; fighting is still heavy in the south, but there is no further mention of the battalion. A TARPS run after dusk doesn't pick up anything on IR either, and the troops settle into their trenches for a good night's sleep.

[AndrewJ]

Hmm. Looks like Banak AAW and Banak Strike both have actions to activate them, but there's no associated event which causes them to happen. This meant none of the aircraft at Kirkenes were able to fly.

[Gunner98]

Bugger, must have forgot those triggers.

I was concerned that the 17th might be too much and didn't include the tank Bn except in the sitreps but I see now that I should. I may want to shorten the scenario by about 12 hrs as well.

Thanks for the great write-up as usual Andrew.

B

[AndrewJ]

Thanks again for another interesting scenario.

I agree that moving up the reaction times to trim scenario length would be helpful, and the independent tank battalion definitely deserves its chance to shine. (That might give something for the late-arriving Ghurkas to face. Otherwise they're a lot of management with no effect on the final outcome.)


Banak Operations

I manually activated the WP strikes on Banak to see what would happen. The strike aircraft come in from the east, and attack the geographically closest targets that are identified as hostile. This means they usually overfly a number of contacts that are only yellow unknowns, hit a few known paratrooper units, and then start bombing the essentially indestructible airbase facilities (access points, runway, parking spots, etc.). These targets will soak up all the remaining attacks, and thus the WP planes are unable to attack the remainder of the NATO troops which are further away.

You can avoid these issues of attacks getting "stuck" on Banak airfield facilities by changing how the capture works. If Banak doesn’t switch to NATO, but instead switches to a new side (e.g. 'Banak Liberated') which is Neutral to the WP and Friendly to NATO, then the Pact will ignore it for targeting purposes, and NATO can still use it as an allied base. The Banak Liberated side could be set to blind, to prevent any accidental information sharing. This lets the WP concentrate on the NATO troops only. (The same changes would have to be done for the replacement runway and helipad, I think.)

When Banak flips the Soviet aircraft there can still continue to launch, land, and reload. So, if the NATO player has not destroyed all the aircraft in advance (they probably have), they can have the peculiar situation of being attacked repeatedly from their own airbase. I don’t think there’s any way to attack your own base to stop it, unless you use the editor. Is there a way to delete landed planes by Lua, and select new bases for any in flight, maybe 10-15 minutes after the initial landing? Somewhat of an edge case, but strange when it happens.


Air Operations

It may be worth making the WP weapons free. Other than the hidden Spetznaz, the WP is unlikely to have many spotters left around Banak by the time the fighting starts, so most NATO contacts will be yellows, and thus get ignored, or circled endlessly once all the reds are gone.

Had you wanted WP aircraft to be able to strafe? At the moment strafing is turned off, but it might be particularly appropriate for the Frogfoots and Hinds, which are only going to be launching because they’re surrounded and about to be overrun, so desperate measures may be warranted. Strafing can be quite nasty against soft targets.

At the moment all the WP aircraft are set to expend their complete weapons load on one target. This is great for survivability, but can result in overkill against a single target. If you wanted to make the WP aircraft spread out their attacks more you could set WRA to expend fewer munitions per target (e.g. 1 cluster bomb, a set of 8 light bombs, rockets, etc.). This would engage many more targets, acting like prolonged CAS, at the cost of staying in the air defences longer. Probably okay while they’re only facing Blowpipes, more problematic once the Rapiers arrive. It can also lead to funny looking bomb behaviour, when multiple salvos can go in different directions simultaneously.

With the airdrop scheduled to happen just before dusk, an immediate WP airstrike would presumably arrive in the dark. However, it looks like most of those planes have no effective night vision. CMO will let them bomb in total darkness, but maybe, for storyline purposes, they would not be available until the following morning?


Ground Forces

I also found that the WP ground troops at Banak, or the group up at Kunes, don't shoot the NATO forces. If you turn them to Engage Opportunity = Yes then they will shoot. However, when I did this the artillery started bombarding airfield facilities instead of concentrating on the NATO troops. If you have the Banak facilities on their own side, as mentioned above, then this is no longer an issue.

Units on the Banak React mission (both the QRF and the 17th) will not shoot at units outside the small square of their patrol zone on the airfield itself. There are almost certainly going to be NATO ground units in their path (the player has been instructed to spread out 10-15 miles from Banak), so the force will be defenceless against anything guarding the road. Engage Opportunity = Yes solves this one as well. I think they need to be Weapons Free as well, otherwise they tend to stop and stare at yellows, without advancing or engaging them.

I had sort of expected more low-level air defence for the 17th - maybe some ZSU-23-4s or SA-9/13s. Since these units can’t currently fire on the move (nor can the BTR-ZDs), or stop to shoot when an aircraft is in range, they would have to be pre-deployed. Possibly they would have some sort of route security taking up positions in advance, such as some air defence/MANPADS units and scout cars discretely adopting guard positions along the E-6 highway before the player gets the intel warning? That way they would have a semi-secure corridor to advance along. (This might also give something for the player's reconnaissance assets to find. At the moment there's not a lot that proactive reconnaissance can do.)

Currently, the 17th is guarded by a pair of SA-6s, which are illuminating while moving. I'm not sure if the SA-6 radars are actually able to do that?

One reason I was able to destroy the 17th entirely with air-power was that I made extensive use of strafing to destroy the BMPs and other light targets. At the moment, CMO allows 20mm bursts to easily kill light armour, so each F-18 can reliably destroy over a platoon of the enemy. In reality, I suspect success rates would be much lower. Players using missions without strafing will see many more units get through.

There are two Soviet units underwater SE of Banak (AT Pl 2/251st MRR, 54 MRD, AGL Pl 2/251st MRR, 54 MRD) Although the map shows it to be land, the actual elevation in that area is below sea level (-5m). Although the units can spot and be spotted, they cannot shoot or be shot.

Incidentally, what was the role of the small mech group up by Kunes?


Allies

I'll confess I did make some changes to the allied forces.

The main change was in how the tankers work. I did not need the entire tanker push that the special action currently gives. The only situation where they were needed was for the C-17s, and I needed the tankers further up the coast than the pre-set orbit off Scotland. So, I switched sides, manually activated the KC-135s, and flew them up the coast alongside the C-17s. None of the other planes needed tanking, though I was ready to use the VC-10s for the C-130s coming back from the Ghurkas delivery, in case my estimate was wrong. In the end I did not need them.

I didn't use the fighter push (although if the Banak attack had happened I probably would have), but I did change the missions to single-plane racetracks, rather than flights on random paths, in order to reduce fuel usage. I also eliminated the prosecution zones, intending to take manual control for any actual fighting.

I used the SEAD push when the 17th came in, but not the initial Banak landing. Like the fighter missions, I left the patrol zone in the same spot, but manually directed the F-18s to bring the fighters S of Banak when it came time to make the actual attacks.


Missions/Events/Actions

There doesn't seem to be any activation for the mission Tanker South. The 'Push Tankers' special action assigns six tankers to the mission, but the mission itself is not activated.

The Push SEAD mission is set to the 1/3rd rule, while the other Push missions are set to send all their planes at once. I'm not sure if this is intentional, to provide prolonged coverage? It seemed to work well in my case.

The Veh BLP Captured and Veh Park Dmgd triggers are both damage threshold triggers. Were the triggers supposed to be a Unit Enters Area trigger? It seemed a little odd that I was required to destroy the targets, when I had an entire brigade on the ground which could capture them and leave them intact in my control. In the end, it was a rare chance to use my saboteurs, rather than wasting heavy ordnance.

The delivery of the M113s, Scorpions, and Rapiers has them teleport in a kilometer or more away from the runway for the armour, or up in the hills for the Rapiers, and it took a bit of hunting around to find them. My initial thought was that they would be on or along-side the runway, where they had dropped.

The ‘Sitrep 31 Apr 2100’ event actually happens 31 Mar 2100. The title is in error, the setting is correct.

The ‘Banak Timer 12 hrs – Points’ trigger is set for a duration of 5 days, so the Retain Banak event will not fire.

The ‘Banak Timer 3 hrs – Scud’ trigger is set for 2 hours, rather than 3.

The “Time 1 Apr 1800 – 30 Sqn” trigger actually happens at 2000. This matches the briefing, so it is probably the title that is wrong, not the time setting.

The ‘+250’ action only gives +100.

The special action ‘Assign 2x A-6F loaded AGM-65F Mavericks’ has an incorrect score setting text of 'Activation of 4x A6F with Mk82'.

The special action ‘Assign 2x A-6F loaded CBU-59’ has an incorrect score setting text of 'Activation of 4x A6F with Mk82'.


Misc typos, etc.

Scenario description - "the Soviets will surly strike back hard." (surely)
The scenario description also mentions that "Points are allotted or deducted for losses, and for detecting various submarines", but submarine detection is not possible in this scenario.

Side briefing - "251s Motor Rifle Regt (MRR) deployed" (251st)
Side briefing - "Battalion ara of BANAK" (area)
Side briefing - "Battalion area KARASJOK near Finish Boarder" (border)
Side briefing - "and the Hurcs doing the combat unloading" (Hercs)
Side briefing - "These will be captured when enough damgae is done to them." (damage)
Side briefing - "supported by 7 Para RA" (should RA be RHA?)
Side briefing - “1800Z 1 Apr: 57 ALS at RAF Mildenhall” (17 ALS)

Units - the 436 Squadron C-130s at Ryk are called 'Elaphants' (Elephants)

Event action, Lua - Parking area captured - "we will sweep it for intelegence." (intelligence)
Event action, Lua - A6 Timer 2 inactive – “Sir, Four A-6F VA-65 #5 & 6 are now…” (two)
Event action, Lua - A6 Timer 3 inactive – “Sir, Four A-6F VA-65 #7 & 8 are now…” (two)

The Special Action 'Assign 2 x A-6F loaded CBU-59' has '[CLONE]' at the start of its description.