Mission 2: Ground Pounders

[HaughtKarl]

I had one hell of a time with this because no matter what I did to stay undetected the Iranians always found me without fail. It turns out there are 2 bottom fixed array's near both of the firing points that nabbed both of my boats if I traveled below the layer. The kicker is that the briefing didn't mention anything about the possibility of the Iranians having a SOSUS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I understand the need to balance mismatched forces to give the AI a fighting chance, but I'm also cool with mismatched scenarios where one side outclasses the other.

[Rory Noonan]

If enough people are having issues with the difficulty I will make some changes to make it easier. Difficulty of this scenario never came up in Beta testing; to be honest my only concern was that it wouldn't be challenging enough. I feel like it's at the right level at the moment.

Bottom fixed arrays are not the exclusive domain of the US SOSUS network; their use goes back as far as World War 1 and they are of varying efficacy.

Spoiler:
You can just cruise in to about one convergence zone from the launch point, then slow down to about 10 kts and stay around the layer. Once on station, launch your missiles and then you can run away at flank if you like.

[Ancalagon451]

Bottom fixed arrays are not the exclusive domain of the US SOSUS network; their use goes back as far as World War 1 and they are of varying efficacy.

Just for the sake of curiosity, do the iranians have some type of bottom fixed array as presentend here? Or is this a fictional one put for scenario equilibrium?

Ancalagon

[Rory Noonan]

Added for balance, but the tech is pretty ubiquitous (if you have a sonobouy whats to stop you altering the power supply and mooring it somewhere?)

[rmwilsonjr]

So... I've run into the same issue (did not discover the underwater array, but how you do that is another question)but if it is just an array, what kills my boats? I show no contacts--especially the Ashland (?)--and the Miami's contacts are accounted for. Does this array have weapons? Both boats are "killed" by an underground explosion at 250+ feet according to the log, but my boat is at max depth 900+ feet. So what's killing it? A mine?

[Rory Noonan]

My money is on depth charges being dropped from helos

[Puciek]

I have to admit that initially, challenge of this scenario was quite daunting to me, I struggled to even get to the launch points on time (and eventually figured out that there must be something well in the deeps that are spotting me, so stuck to inside the layer, and lowered speed from cruise when got close to contacts). Then there was the issue of helis, which came right after ahsenville and was always able to track it down (the under-layer flank approach didn't work because of the underwater surprise) so eventually on return leg set them on -486a alt and full flank, done!

It feels so satisfying to finally conquer it, after oh so many trials and errors . I am a submarine newbie, and those scenarios make a fantastic "tutorial" so far, though with a steep learning curve.

If I can have one suggestion, add a condition to not end the scenario, no matter what score, before the subs reach it back to safety if that's possible.

SIDE: Iran
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LOSSES:
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3x AvGas (75k Liter Tank)
4x Bell 214A Huey Plus
4x C-130H Hercules
22x Su-24MK Fencer D
1x Ammo Shelter
1x AH-1J Sea Cobra
1x CH-47C Chinook


EXPENDITURES:
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18x MIM-23B I-HAWK
19x SA-6a Gainful [3M9]



SIDE: USN
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LOSSES:
-------------------------------


EXPENDITURES:
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12x UGM-109D Tomahawk Blk II TLAM
12x UGM-109C Tomahawk Blk II TLAM
6x UGM-109C Tomahawk Blk II TLAM



SIDE: Civilian
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------


EXPENDITURES:
------------------



SIDE: Nature
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------


EXPENDITURES:
------------------



SIDE: United States
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------


EXPENDITURES:
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[Duck Doc]

ORIGINAL: rmwilsonjr

did not discover the underwater array, but how you do that is another question

So, how do we discover that there is a SOSUS array near the launch areas?

[Rory Noonan]

ORIGINAL: Duck Doc

ORIGINAL: rmwilsonjr

did not discover the underwater array, but how you do that is another question

So, how do we discover that there is a SOSUS array near the launch areas?

It shouldn't be detectable in regular play; it's there to give Iran a fighting chance.

[Duck Doc]

Understood but how did they (those above) discover the existence of the array at all?

Interesting scenario. Learned a bunch. I’ll run it over so I don’t win by dumb luck then on to Chicken Kiev. Loving this campaign!

[Rory Noonan]

ORIGINAL: Duck Doc

Understood but how did they (those above) discover the existence of the array at all?

Interesting scenario. Learned a bunch. I’ll run it over so I don’t win by dumb luck then on to Chicken Kiev. Loving this campaign!

Probably by opening the scenario in editor mode and snooping around [:D]

Glad you're enjoying it!

[Duck Doc]

Got it. Thanks,

[smbrannan]

The information about the underwater arrays sure explains a lot for me... I'm still a submarine rookie so this is a challenging scenario.

Does anyone have advice on targeting the Tomahawks or routing their paths? I try to launch them all at once and to avoid the obvious AA defenses but still almost all of them get destroyed approaching the target. What is the best way to go about this?

[pclaurent]

I give up. After a dozen unsuccesful attempts, it's for me impossible to win even by following your spoiler step by step. Once on the laucnh zone, I launch my missiles. No matter if I start with the Miami or the Asheville, the latter is destroyed a few minutes later by a weapon not shown on the map. And during its escape the Miami is also attacked in deep immersion at a speed of 32 knots. Verdict: disaster... I recognize it is my first mission, but I think that it would be a good idea to make it a bit easier for casual users.

[Ancalagon451]

Try moving within the layer.

I don't know how realistic it is, but it's a tactic that allowed me to survive more times than I can remember.

Ancalagon

[pclaurent]

You mean while traveling TO the launch point? Will try that

[WMundstock]

Hello... on the note below:

Spoiler:
You can just cruise in to about one convergence zone from the launch point, then slow down to about 10 kts and stay around the layer.

How should I measure one convergence zone from the launch point if the location says "no CZ"? Are you assuming a standard distance?

Note: To be honest, I've seen some many scenarios with no CZ present (most of the sub missions dont have it). Is this something that changed over time? Maybe it became realistic after game updates and CZs are not so frequent?

Thank you!

[crestofawave]

Bit of a necro post but it's to do with this mission and new to CMO, I have no problem getting to launch area but continually swamped, by destroyers so unable to either launch from 1 sub, I can get recon as both subs in the area, but also I don't get any buildings show in the airfield, any ideas be cool thank you

[crestofawave]

Ah no worries.done it now, on snoopy now