Mediterranean Fury 6 - Hammer to Fall 20/2/94

[fitzpatv]

The Situation
In this one, NATO moves to neutralise Syria’s offensive capability and, if possible, knock her out of the war. Emphasis is on destruction of Syrian political and administrative targets to undermine Hafez al-Assad’s regime. By now, the Eisenhower and Foch Task Groups are on their way to the Atlantic, the former being replaced by the Nimitz, with Ark Royal en route to take-over from the French. Some other forces, like the Iowa and Kearsarge groups and the SSN Superb, have moved to the Aegean, HMS Andromeda has been lost, Illustrious’s former escorts are refitting at Souda and the Jordanian Air Force is out-of-action due to heavy losses. Despite the replenishment of the Nimitz group, some munitions are still in relatively short supply.

All this leaves you with two main task groups and some single ships. Nimitz is off Port Said and can be grouped as desired with any or all of three cruisers, three destroyers, two frigates and a fleet oiler. She has a full-strength air-group, but they won’t be ready for any strikes for the first six hours and the available weapons are better suited to naval targets than the structures you are tasked with eliminating.

Some 150nm WSW of Cyprus, the cruiser Bainbridge is moving W with three destroyers and two frigates. For some bizarre reason, the British frigate Iron Duke is in an exposed position 50nm SE of Akrotiri and asking to be attacked, though she does have the SSNs Memphis and Torbay relatively nearby.

Under AI control, there is a gaggle of one Italian destroyer, three Spanish frigates and four auxiliaries off Port Said, waiting to refurbish Ark Royal. Also out of your hands are the frigate Battleaxe and auxiliary Fort Grange, some 60nm SE of Crete and on their way to Egypt.

Nimitz aside, you have four main air bases. At Cairo, there are three US fighter squadrons with Falcons and Eagles, with plenty of tanker support. These have a good selection of shortish-ranged stand-off weapons which ARE suitable for the specified targets.

On Cyprus, the British have some Tornado, Phantom and Harrier fighters which have somehow survived the battering during previous scenarios, plus some choppers, tankers and Nimrods. This force is basically defensive in nature, with just four Harriers armed with CPU-123 ground-attack missiles.

At Souda Bay on Crete, there are two squadrons of Hornets, which can carry HARMs (in limited supply), backscratchers (AGM-65Fs) or iron bombs. They have Prowler and tanker support, as well as some Orions and Aries.

Finally, at Incirlik, there are two US F-16 squadrons with a mixture of air-to-air and strike loadouts, two Sentries and a pair of Turkish KC-135s. All other Turkish bases are unavailable due to the demands of other fronts.

As for the enemy, they are completely out of surface ships, but still have some diesel subs at large. At Latakia, the Soviets have preserved the core of their Fencer, Flogger K and support force and at least some of their formidable SAM arsenal. The Syrian Air Force has been significantly reduced by attrition in the earlier scenarios and is spread a little thin in relation to the number of targets it has to defend. Still, they retain numerous Fulcrums, Flogger Gs and strike planes and still have a few functional, if elderly SAMs, backed-up with lots of AA and MANPADs. The latter are relatively useless, however, given that most American munitions in this scenario can be delivered from altitude.

Targets are all marked on the map and a briefing early-on classifies them as Critical (100VP), Secondary (50) or Other (25). Some are rather robust and not all of the available munitions can readily take them out. Amongst the lower-priority objectives is a bridge which is adjacent to two No Strike facilities (a dam and irrigation scheme), making it not worth the risk. Most of the objectives are in and around Damascus and only a few at Latakia, where the most capable enemy SAMs lurk.

Approach
- I formed the Nimitz and her cruisers, destroyers and frigates into a Task Group, leaving the oiler behind and sent them N to link-up with Bainbridge and Iron Duke and shorten the range to the targets and the area where they need to be by scenario-end in order to move to the Aegean.

- Given the risk of a submarine attack on the auxiliaries at Port Said, I re-based one of the two Nimrods at Akrotiri to Cairo and had it cover them.

- An Orion from Souda was sent post-haste to escort Fort Grange. Another, which starts SW of Cyprus, was told to wait in reserve at altitude.

- Broadly-speaking, I assigned the Cairo air group to Damascus and the Incirlik one to the Northern targets, with Nimitz in reserve and Souda providing SEAD support, while the Brits at Cyprus were put on a defensive footing. I decided to leave Latakia for now, as the ratio of difficulty to reward was unfavourable.

The Action
20/2/94 – 06:00Z (08:00L): As so often in the Fury series, the AI/Bart hates to leave you free to attack it and exercises its right to a vote early-on. Several Fencers launched from Latakia, but couldn’t find Iron Duke and RTB’d before Tornadoes could intercept them. Four Flogger Hs made a run for the frigate from the E, followed by what may have been a quartet of Fitters. The latter turned back, but the Flogger strike planes outpaced the Harriers sent to deal with them and homed-in on Iron Duke. It shouldn’t have been a major problem, but the British ship’s Sea Wolf battery made some lousy shooting and needed ten rounds to down them all. As it happened, the Floggers were carrying Kerry ASCMs and took advantage of their good fortune to score three hits, leaving the Duke 60% damaged, with fires and flooding. Happily, her speed was not too badly reduced and she was able to make for port in Limassol at about 13-14 knots.

- Meanwhile, two F-16s from Incirlik destroyed the isolated Qore Qozaq bridge near Manbij, NE of Aleppo using GBU-12s, scoring 25VP. There was no opposition.

- Iron Duke then detected a Kilo approaching at Flank from the S. Without functioning ASW weapons and with her chopper grounded due to the fires, she could only flee and hope the reserve Orion got there in time. It did and sank the sub for a heartening 100VP.

- Intel arrived on the targets, residual enemy air/SAM strength and relevant NATO operational procedures.

07:00Z: Predictably, a Tango showed-up near Fort Grange. The escorting Orion made heavy weather of sinking it, needing three torpedoes to do the job.

- Two F-16s attacked targets at Raqqah (of ISIS infamy) with GBU-24s, which malfunctioned all over the place and did no apparent damage. Two Fishbeds gave chase from nearby Tabqah air base and paid for their temerity, the Falcons carrying AMRAAMs and Sidewinders. Air losses (for both sides) score no VP.

- Four F-15s from Cairo went to test the Damascus defences. They got involved in a tricky dogfight, with matters not helped by the AI somehow reversing all of my Doctrinal changes for the Cairo-based planes (only), restoring all the pathological default values. Two Flogger Gs and a Foxbat were downed for one loss. Anomalously, the Syrians could gain an advantage by violating the No Fly Zone in Israeli airspace with impunity, whereas we could not (I assumed). A second Foxbat insanely chased us most of the way to Egypt on Afterburner before falling to a SAM from the Nimitz escort cruisers.

- Two more F-16s struck at Raqqah with GBU-24s and suffered the same misfortune as their predecessors. A MiG-21 pursued and we needed three shots to destroy it.

08:00Z: Two HARM F-16s from Souda degraded two Goa sites at Damascus. As many of the Syrian SAMs start damaged and switched-off, it is hard to judge which ones are functional, though active emissions are generally a good clue.

- An F-16 with heavy GBU-10s destroyed the City Government Building and Police HQ at Raqqah for 50VP each, taking the score to +325 and a Minor Defeat. Another followed-up on the two bridges at Raqqah and the previous problems recurred – I had to put it down to sheer bad luck. Another Incirlik F-16, limited to Sidewinders, disposed of a MiG-21 which had flown across from Tabqah, perhaps intending to cut-off retreating strike planes and not realising that I was steering them around to the N and W instead of taking the direct route home (there were too many Fulcrums over Aleppo, for a start).

- Four F-15s went after the Damascus CAP and, with the Doctrine problems sorted-out, knocked-down five Flogger Gs without loss.

- Two more F-16s tickled the Old Raqqah Bridge with AGM-65Gs, but failed to bring it down.

09:00Z: Two more Fishbeds tried to interdict the way E from Incirlik, so a Sidewinder F-16 dealt with them. If the enemy had used Fulcrums or even Floggers, it might have been a good ploy on their part.

- With the Damascus CAP temporarily absent due to losses and readying, four Strike Eagles used heavy munitions to destroy the Presidential Palace, Political Security Directorate and Military Archive for 100VP each. The Ministry of Defence was ringed with MANPADs, but still took damage. Supporting HARM F-16s silenced two Gainfuls and a radar. It seemed that Syria had no heavier SAMs at the capital and no Fulcrums either. The score was now +625 and Average.

- Two F-16s from Incirlik refuelled from a pre-positioned tanker near Diyarbakir in SE Turkey, then raided the Easternmost targets at Deir ez-Zor in the Syrian Desert. They destroyed the City Government Building and damaged the Police HQ with GBU-10s, while suffering a double-malfunction trying to finish the latter off along with the bridge. Two Fishbeds took-off from the nearby air base and, with great difficulty, I persuaded the Falcons to turn and down them instead of insisting on going RTB. Two more MiG-21s then gave chase and were destroyed in turn.

10:00Z: Despite being 69.1% damaged, Iron Duke brought her fires and flooding under control and made port at Limassol, flying-off her helicopter, which had miraculously survived, to Akrotiri. She now had to hope that the harbour wouldn’t be struck, but she was safe from subs, at least.

- A second quartet of Eagles took-out the Ministries of Justice, Communications and Information at Damascus.

- Two F-16s finished-off the Old Raqqah Bridge and damaged the New Bridge with GBU-12s. At +1,000, the score was still Average.

- A third wave of Eagles with lots of GBU-12s overcame buddy illumination issues (‘all channels in use’), circling and waiting as needed to conduct a highly-successful strike on the capital. They dismantled the Parliament Buildings, Ministry of Finance, Special Forces Command, Military Police Barracks and a TV Tower and Mast over a buried comms bunker. Additionally, the Ministry of Defence was consumed in flames from the earlier attacks. At +1,575, it was now a Minor Victory. Some Syrian fighters scrambled too late to intervene, though two Fishbeds with death wishes pursued from the NE, giving the trailing F-15 some employment for its AMRAAMs.

- The Police HQ at Deir-ez-Zor also succumbed to fires.

11:00Z: Two HARM F-16s from Incirlik began the offensive against Aleppo by hitting two Goas, a Guideline and a radar.

12:00Z: The Syrians had belatedly reinforced their CAP over Damascus, adding some readied Fulcrums to the Flogger Gs. Four F-15s went to thin them out and, in a demanding dogfight against superior numbers, downed a Fulcrum and Flogger for one Eagle damaged by 100mm ground fire while diving on Auto Engage after another Flogger, which escaped. It is certainly much harder to win such fights against the AI now that it has learned how to defend effectively. Leaving it to missions won’t cut it.

- Ten Soviet Fencers made an unescorted sweep towards Cyprus and the British Harriers and Tornadoes had a party, downing the lot without loss. That kind of fight can be left to a mission.

- With the game’s talent for simultaneity, HMS Torbay detected a Kilo offshore from Latakia, fired first and tore it apart with a Spearfish to remove the submarine threat. It was now a Major Victory at +1,725.

13:00Z: The three undamaged F-15s from the Damascus dogfight refuelled from tankers and, reluctant to waste scant munitions, returned to the fray. It didn’t go well, as they had a hard time against the Fulcrums and were lucky to get clear with two more airframes damaged by Archers.

- Four F-16s from Incirlik engaged a similarly-strong CAP of Fulcrums and Floggers at Aleppo and downed two of each without loss. Being armed with AMRAAMs and being able to shoot and scoot helped greatly.

14:00Z: The F-16s still had missiles and fuel, so stayed on-station as two more with GBU-24s barrelled-in to destroy the Aleppo Political Security Branch and damage the Palace with none of the earlier issues with their weapon type. Another Fulcrum was knocked-down by the escorts.

- Two more F-16s returned to Raqqah with lighter munitions and sent the New Bridge toppling into the Euphrates. At +1,850, a check was made for unrest in Syria, but failed to fire.

- Another pair of GBU-24 F-16s destroyed the Palace and City Hall at Aleppo, taking it to +2,050 and a Triumph – but Syria fought on.

15:00Z: Two Falcons with GBU-10s wrecked the Aleppo Military Security Force HQ and damaged the Police HQ, leaving it on fire. At +2,100, a Syrian Unrest Trigger fired, but with no immediate result, so the fighting continued.

- We switched attention to Latakia, where the Soviet Grumbles were still alive and well, downing a Tornado I incautiously sent to provoke them and parrying the answering volley of HARMs. A raft of TLAMs from the Nimitz TG also failed to get through, so more were sent to overcome the SAMs’ canny habit of firing, then promptly switching-off.

16:00Z: Hornets hit and wrecked most of the extensive Latakia Grumble site with a HARM and the second TLAM wave took-out the city’s Internal Security HQ. However, a second Grumble and supporting Grizzlies and Gauntlets continued to resist with copious volumes of missiles.

- The Aleppo Police HQ burned-down, taking the score to +2,200. When would Syria throw-in the towel?.

- More HARM strikes took-out a Gauntlet and a radar.

- Destroyer Deyo in the Bainbridge TG loosed a volley of Tomahawks, which caught the three Critical Homs targets unprepared and netted another 300VP.

- 17:00Z: Bizarre things started happening!. A regiment of Fitters took-off, four heading for Nimitz but the others aimlessly circling Northward. What was going on?. The smaller group were definitely hostile and used their speed to get close enough to loose Kyle ARMs at the task force. SAMs parried the threat and Hornets relentlessly chased the Sukhois down and splashed them.

The other Fitters appeared to head away over Turkey and were not seen again. Possibly they defected, but it was never explained.

A large force of MiG-21s then gathered and circled anti-clockwise in the direction (in the interim, at least) of Cyprus. This put them in my Kill Zone E of the island. When some went to Afterburner and went towards my scrambled Harriers, Phantoms and Tornadoes, reinforced by some F-16s with Sidewinders from Incirlik, I concluded that, if they were trying to defect, they were going the wrong way about it. A massacre ensued and the few surviving Fishbeds fled back to Syria, They really do define ‘cannon fodder’ in this era.

18:00Z: Further strikes by HARM F-16s from Souda and a pair of AGM-84 Hornets from Nimitz (which was a bit under-used in this scenario) took-out the damaged Grumble, a radar and the Municipal Government Building in Latakia.

- This took the score over +2,500 and triggered a coup in Damascus. Hafez al-Assad was rumoured to be dead or injured and all operations against Syria were suspended, pending overtures for a ceasefire from the new regime.

So, a Triumph, with a final score of +2,600, in about 25% of the allotted time.

NATO lost two fighters, with a frigate and three more fighters damaged.

Syria and the Pact lost 3 diesel subs, 36 fighters, 18 attack planes and 78 ground elements, the latter including 31 of 43 targets and 2,300 of a possible 2,925VP for such.

By Fury standards at least, this is a fairly easy scenario, though it does have its moments. Nice to get a respite from the prevailing high difficulty once in a while. It is mostly bug-free.

Next time, Nimitz heads to the Aegean to deal with the Bosphorus and Bulgarian situations.

[Gunner98]

Thanks Vince

I'll check those defection events, I think that radio messages should have accompanied them. I cannot remember why the Iron Duke was up there, I think it had just escorted an ammo ship into Cyprus to support the air group there. Will check.

I also cannot remember what impact the unrest trigger creates. I don't think it was very much, except for feedback to the player. A country takes a while to collapse.

I think I was also trying to show the differences between the generations of GBU. The 1x series are hard to use, the 2x series are easy to use but fail often, and the 3x series are the suite spot.

I gave plenty of time, as one option is to use only the Cairo group to do the heavy hitting with the better weapons, but reload etc. would take at least one more day.

The next one has some interesting bits with the Iowa

B