Chains of War 1 - Blue Dawn 1/5/2018

[fitzpatv]

An assertive South Korea mounts a pre-emptive strike on the North to put a stop to repeated incidents near the Southern-held islands of Yeonpyong and Baengnyong. You can only play the Southern side.

Objectives are to destroy 15 specified targets (3 ammo dumps, 2 KN-01 SSM batteries, 6 130mm artillery batteries and 4 coastal radars), all of which score 100VP), then ambush Northern forces as they react.

To do this, you have a strong force of aircraft, including plenty of F-16s and F-15s with AMRAAMs and stand-off ground/surface attack missiles, AEW and maritime patrol planes. A destroyer and 4 frigates stand ready with cruise missiles, screened by 6 fast patrol craft and 4 diesel subs.

On land, the island garrisons have 155mm artillery which can reach some of the targets, as can Spike SSMs, which do limited damage but can still knock-out radars and damage SAMs and artillery. The South has an effective SAM net of its own.

North Korea has an outmoded air force, with a core of MiG-29s, some Floggers and a remainder of obsolete Fishbeds, Frescos and Farmers. SAM protection for the targets is limited to a single Guideline site and some MANPADs, though there are modern Pongae batteries shielding Pyongyang, as well as more Guidelines and Goas. Their Navy is lightweight, with just a couple of Soju PCFGs carrying Improved Styxes and some pretty basic ASW patrol craft. Their KN-01s pose a danger to the lighter Southern ships, which have almost no air (or ASW) defence and the 130mm guns onshore can do damage to the Southern garrisons on the islands.

This is a very easy scenario, suitable for a novice player who wants to practice handling a reasonably large force. In truth, the South only needs a fraction of what it has available and the game is likely to finish in about two of the allotted nine hours.

1/5/18 08:00L : The only real threat was that the screen of PCFGs and PGMs might be battered by KN-01s and/or aircraft, so I scrambled all 8 F-16s from Kunsan AB and got them into position before mounting any attacks. The North won’t pre-empt you. While this was happening, Eagles from Daegu were en route with AGM-84s and HARMs and a Wedgetail and Orion were aloft providing AEW.

When I was ready, I launched a wave of Hyunmoo and Hae Sung SSMs from the ships to supplement the AGM-84s, while the garrisons blazed away with Spikes and 155mm gunfire.

It was all very one-sided. The Northern Navy sortied and lost a Sariwon corvette, two Sojus and two smaller patrol craft to the Hae Sungs for 100VP each. Enemy shore batteries managed to take-out one 155mm element and two buildings on Yeonpyong, costing me 300VP, before being overwhelmed. Seven radars, one of the ammo bunkers and 8 AA elements were destroyed, while the Guideline site was disabled by HARMs. Only half-hearted interference was attempted by the North’s air force and this cost them 4 Floggers, 2 Fishbeds and 2 Frescos without overly tiring the Southern CAP. One coastal radar got extremely lucky and survived the first strike, as did the other two ammo bunkers, albeit battered, partly because 3 Hyunmoos in a row malfunctioned. The Pongae sites got a sniff of a pair of Eagles and tried some long-ranged shots, but we were able to accelerate and dive out of the way. The Fulcrums stayed back to screen Pyongyang.

09:00L : Four more Eagles launched with Taurus missiles and duly destroyed the remaining targets, taking us over the 1,700VP Major Victory threshold. Not quite sure where 100 of my points came from.

10:00L : As we shelled various AA batteries and fired missiles at distant radars, the North launched 4 diesel subs from their Cho Do and Pipa Got naval bases. Interestingly, these weren’t initially detailed on Browse Scenario Platforms (a campaign feature to beware of), but they totally lacked ASW capability and our four subs eagerly closed in on them. Two more KN-01 batteries emerged from hidden tunnels i.e. spawned, while a number of Floggers, Fishbeds and Farmers took to the air.

Four Farmers were quickly downed by CAP, the KN-01s were engaged with artillery and Taurus missiles and the destruction of one of these batteries took the score to 1,900 and triggered the end of the scenario as a South Korean Major Victory.

South Korea lost a 155mm artillery element and two buildings, while the North lost a corvette, 2 PCFGs, 2 patrol boats, 12 fighters, 10 SSM, 36 artillery, 11 AA and 3 SAM elements, 10 radars and 3 ammo bunkers.

The upshot of all this was that South Korea demonstrated its ability to see-off the North’s conventional forces without US help and this encouraged those in Washington who wanted to withdraw from the region and focus on the war against terrorism. In turn, this encouraged China to make a bid for control of a wide sweep of Pacific and SE Asian territory which could secure resources and provide a buffer against attack.

[BDukes]

Nice one!

M

[bladesinger79]

Keep a very close eye on China. Could get ugly