New Scenario for Testing - IOF #5 Hormuz Hoedown

[Gunner98]

Iraq is still under a No-Fly Zone enforced by the Coalition aircraft you are fighting with. The Iraqi air force is essentially grounded due to poor maintenance and many other problems.

If the enforcers chose to violate the No-Fly zone, that would be up to them [;)]

Ack on the SCUDs, haven't used them as they are ground attack only. They might appear in a future scenario focused on another issue[X(]

Cheers

[Badlandz]

Thanks, I wasn’t thinking about the no fly zone.

I was thinking the use of scuds as an anti airfield weapon.

Thanks

[AndrewJ]

A bit more time, a bit more AAR...


DAY 1 CONTINUED

As the day continues, my air-forces conduct a variety of fighter sweeps to engage isolated aircraft (ESM recon, jammers, weak CAP, etc) in the enemy rear, and the targets are mostly gone by noon. A single-plane CAP is set up over the tankers in the Indian Ocean, and recce Mirages scout the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf, looking at the lesser airports and facilities there. The Bushehr defences are alert, and a pair of medium range SAMs take a shot at the Mirage, forcing it to turn away before it can get a good look at the area. My ESM also starts picking up ground-based surface search radars near the straits, presumably from the SSM coastal defence units which are supposed to be in the area, but my attempt to sneak one of my little drones in for a look ends when it’s shot down by a Mig-23.

Mid-morning my Mirages start making a major fighter sweep to engage planes near Hormuz, flying along the Gulf from the west, and they become embroiled in a massive fight with Mig-23s. The planes are nearly at parity. I have a slight missile range advantage, but not a great one, and my pilot skill is low, so it’s a struggle, and once again I find myself pouring in more and more aircraft to rescue the situation, including sending in my Sparrow-firing F-16s.

As all this is happening, my ESM planes loitering at high altitude up near Kuwait start picking up more airborne surface search radars where we saw the bombers before. Is it an actual incoming raid this time? The F-15s launch out of Kuwait (going around the Omidiyeh CAP this time), the F-16s with Sparrows are pulled away from the Hormuz fight before they can get there (sorry Mirages!), and a precious pair of F-16s with AMRAAM are also launched as backup to guard a tanker, in the event of emergencies. Fortunately, the skies are clear en-route to the bombers (which turn out to be Blinders this time), and my fighters batter them out of the sky with Sparrows and Sidewinders before returning home.

Back at Hormuz, the main wave of Migs has subsided, and some of my Mirages are pursuing the retreating stragglers back towards Bandar Abbas. Up to this point the SA-5 has taken one or two ineffective long-range potshots, but now one of the SA-10s opens fire, and the Mirages turn to flee, diving to the deck and hurtling across Qeshm Island (the long one on the NW side of the straits) in an attempt to dodge the shots. This works, but prompts two previously hidden SA-6s on the island to open fire. Fortunately, they do this at the edge of their envelope, and the Mirages manage to escape.

These new SAM threats may be a problem when it comes time to deal with the boat swarm and mineclearing in the straits, and fortunately I can get at them since they’re just beyond extreme SA-10 range. The F-16CGs and Jaguars are sent to deal with them, with a combination of high altitude HARMs and Mavericks, and then cluster bombs to finish them off. When this round of strikes are done we’ve managed to destroy 2 and damage 1 SA-6, and destroy one and damage one SA-8 at the east end of the island. This is encouraging progress, but tackling the more modern defences (SA-10/11/15) is going to be much tougher.

While this is happening the Exocet carrying helicopters try and make their way into the fray, since the skies over the straits are empty at the moment. Unfortunately, that doesn’t last long, and the helicopters keep retiring and returning as they try and avoid the numerous enemy reinforcements which keep dashing into the area. My F-16CG strikers are put to work with their defensive AMRAAMs, and more F-16CGs with precious AMRAAM loads are launched to afterburner in and provide support. Many of the enemy F-4s take single missile hits, and promptly turn about and return home in the safety of their SAM umbrella, where I can’t follow. No doubt they’ll be back after a day or two of repairs. The helicopters finally find a gap in the air cover, and manage to sink the destroyer and a few of the small warships in the straits (plus one Boghammer by accident), but the big cargo ships (presumably with arty on deck like before) and the swarm of small craft remain un-molested for the moment.

This leaves me with the greater part of my land-based aircraft down for reloading at the moment, and with even fewer AMRAAMs than before, so hopefully the Iranians and Soviets don’t try anything for the next few hours until we have a chance to recover. If they do, I may have to put a lot of trust in my SAMs.

The situation is calm at sea. My replenishment group (with the nuclear cruiser now in attendance) is now among the tankers loitering in the Indian Ocean, and P-3s have begun to hunt along the route the tankers will take. I expect to start moving up the tankers after dusk, once I’ve had a bit more search time in the area. The Sara is near the tanker destination area, and will continue to patrol slowly there, looking for subs which may be lurking to ambush the arriving ships. I don’t think the ASW group in the Gulf (TG Elliot) is covering enough area, so I’ve split it in two, with a Spruance, short range AA, and long range AA ship in each group. The air threat is hopefully reduced enough that the weaker groups won’t be at risk. They’ll slowly patrol up the Gulf of Oman in parallel, banging away on active sonar, and hoping that my recce report of no SSMs on the Iranian shore here is actually correct. The SSN continues to patrol cautiously, not wanting to get too far into the straits for fear of mines.

No further reports from India and Pakistan so far. Fingers crossed for restraint. Hopefully I’m not asked to intervene.

[Gunner98]

Thanks

I may need to regenerate some bad guys [;)] You guys are cleaning them out pretty quick.


B

[tjhkkr]

ORIGINAL: Gunner98

Thanks
I may need to regenerate some bad guys [;)] You guys are cleaning them out pretty quick.
B

May a few subs to give them something else to chew on.

[AndrewJ]

A little more AAR..

AFTERNOON 1 & NIGHT 2

As the afternoon draws on I start looking at the Bandar Abbas and Straits of Hormuz, with an eye to a strike after dark. There are a large number of high-grade SAMs concentrated in the area, which I will have to deal with. ESM contacts have revealed four SA-10 sites, which are my primary concern, and numerous shorter range SAMs, and there are presumably another set of mobile SAMs lying hidden, similar to the SA-6s on Qeshm Island. Although the ESM contacts give me the general area of the SAM batteries, I don’t have precise targetable locations, and I need them.

A direct overflight of the SAM sites with my Mirages or other pod-carrying fighters would be suicidal, but I do have the U-2, with an 80-mile camera on it. Since the SA-10s only have a 40-mile range, I may be able to get a good look at them. However, the U-2 is a very vulnerable target, if left alone. Therefore, it is preceded by a flight of 6 Mirages, which tackle the Mig and Phantom CAP which has reformed. Once those are down the U-2 advances, escorted by an EA-6 flying underneath to jam the SA-5 radar, and a pair of F-14s a few miles out on each side to handle any sudden surprises. The U-2 flies over the straits until it’s just out of range of the known SA-10 batteries, getting superb pictures of the Boghammers below. Unfortunately, it gets nothing on the well camouflaged SAMs. I’m not about to send the U-2 into the SAM envelope, so it makes a quick scout of the Gulf of Oman, and then goes home. The whole operation is a bust.

Meanwhile my SSN, patrolling E of the straits, picks up another very quiet slow-moving target at close range, creeping along at 1 knot at the standard 40 m shallow depth. Another SSK, proclaims the captain! My sub ducks under the layer, fires a torp, and then brings it up through the layer as it approaches the target. Which is gone… Baffled (and a little alarmed) the sub rises up above the layer to listen again. Still no contact. Worried they made a dreadful mistake, and the reported contact position was wrong, the captain orders an active sonar search. Still nothing! It takes several more minutes (as the torp runs out of fuel) before contact is finally re-established, and the embarrassed captain records the school of fish in his log.

Evening falls, and the tankers are ordered to begin moving closer to the Gulf of Oman. My SSN puts a few long-range Harpoon shots into the last of the Iranian destroyers, under cover of darkness. My strike aircraft are finishing swapping loadouts to emphasize HARMs, SLAMs, ALARMs, and other standoff munitions. Slow moving ECM planes and tankers start lifting off to move to supporting positions. It’s time for the Bandar Abbas strike to begin.

My primary objective for this strike is to destroy the SA-10s. My secondary objective is to damage or destroy other SAMs. To enable this Bandar Abbas will also be struck, mostly as a means to force the defences to react, but I do not expect to completely disable it on this first round of attacks. TLAMs will come through the mountains from the NW. HARM and ALARM strikes will come from all directions around the target. I want the enemy to spend lots of missiles trying to shoot down the fast-moving ARMs. This will hopefully allow SLAMs, with their optical sensor and man in the loop, to come over the mountains just behind the TLAMs, and find and destroy the SA-10s. If those go down, shorter range weapons (Walleyes, Mavericks, LGBs) will close in to attempt to deal with the remaining defences.

The strike goes mostly as planned, although there is some struggling to get aircraft in the right place at the right time, particularly the heavily laden F-18s with SLAMs, which have to tank en-route, and then fly around to the opposite side of the target from the carrier to make their through-mountain approach. The heavy fighter escort proves unnecessary (only one pair of Migs comes up, before the attack is fully in place), which is a relief. When the SAMs open fire the ARMs reply, coming in like the spokes of a wagon wheel. The lesser SAMs are targeted with roughly one each, medium SAMs get two or three, and the SA-10s get the bulk of the barrage, but for a while it looks like the Iranian defences are going to stop them all. Only four HARMs survive to reach their targets, killing an SA-8 and hitting two of the SA-10s, and then the ALARMs (fired in bulk) manage to slightly damage another SA-10.

The first of the 45 TLAMs (the VLS Spruance’s entire stock) arrive moments later. The initial 15 are directed at hangars and weather shelters, and most of them are shot down by the remaining defences, so they do minimal damage. However, the remainder are assigned 15 each to the two runways, and they get through mostly intact, pummeling the runways into rubble. In the meantime, the majority of the SLAMs have reached their targets, completely destroying two of the SA-10s, and rendering the other two combat ineffective. Unfortunately, I don’t bring in my second wave of strike aircraft quickly enough, and by the time my A-6s and F-15Es arrive the SA-11s have begun firing again. Most of my Walleyes are shot down (despite intense jamming), and I can’t get close enough to use LGBs effectively, so only one of the SA-11s and a couple of lesser SAMs are destroyed.

The flight home is mostly uneventful, except that the damaged SA-6 on Qeshm Island turns out to have repaired itself (something to bear in mind in longer scenarios), and it takes a potshot at a passing F-16. Fortunately, it misses, and there are some Mavericks nearby to deal with it.


So the strike achieved its primary (SA-10s) and tertiary (airfield damage) objectives, but did not fully accomplish its secondary objective (lesser SAMs). It came very close, and I think even being 2 minutes sooner with the Walleyes would have made all the difference. I should have been right on the heels of the TLAMs. As it stands now, I will have to re-attack, and the medium and short ranged SAMs will be completely reloaded and ready for me again. I can’t simply ignore the airfield, since the SSM batteries are sheltering under the SAMs there, and they must be destroyed. This time I won’t have a 45 missile TLAM strike to ‘prime the pump’, and I’ve used up many of my ARMs, so I’ll probably have to take it in stages. We shall see!

[TheOriginalOverlord]

NSA Bahrain has no magazines?

[magi]

at game start.... im not certain why so many surface units are radar active.... that makes them a target... that should be a player call.... i believe....

[AndrewJ]

It's explained in the side briefing that since the isolated units have no effective radar cover from other sources, they are providing their own.

I've done the same myself a few times in similar circumstances (especially at night), after getting jumped by anti-shipping missiles that appear out of nowhere, much too close for my area defences to make any contribution.

[AndrewJ]

Next stages…

DAY 2

The remainder of the night is quieter, with most of my aircraft flying back to base to re-arm. Many of my lesser aircraft (the Mirages and F-5s) are switched over to bomb loadouts, in preparation for tackling the boat swarm in the straits when daylight comes. A few isolated Iranian CAP aircraft are engaged, and a few TLAMs are used to strike isolated surveillance radars.

When morning comes the CVBG is on station near the tanker assembly area, where it will continue to patrol. The replenishment groups continue to advance towards the Gulf, and the two ASW groups continue their slow sweep further into the Gulf of Oman, where they find and eliminate another SSK. (This one’s a solid active sonar contact – nothing fishy about it.) The minesweeper group and associated patrol boats are ordered to advance towards the straits (although not to enter them yet). The Indian Ocean tankers continue to close in, but I’m getting more nervous about their defencelessness. The initial briefing mentioned the possibility of SSGNs out there, so I decide to increase the tanker CAP to a pair of F-14s, in the hope of limiting the damage from a pop-up Charlie or the like. (The Iranian fighter situation is calming, so I have more fighters to spare.)

Bandar Abbas receives two strikes during the day, the first, from the mainland, dealing with some of the peripheral SAMs, and the second, from the carrier, finishing off the remaining SAMs immediately around the airfield itself. With the SA-10s gone, and the positions of the other SAMs already established, the strikes proceed without too much difficulty. Once the SAMs are gone the exposed planes are bombed, local docks are destroyed, and the coastal defence SSMs are hunted down and killed. These ones were radiating, and thus were reasonably easy to find. Hopefully there aren’t any more hidden ones elsewhere. Escorts of the homeward-bound strikers returning to Kuwait take the time to engage more of the CAP at Omidiyeh, which seems to be the only place the Iranians are still flying at the moment.

The boat-swarm in the Straits of Hormuz is anchored around some large freighters loaded with artillery and MANPADS, and these get engaged with Exocets (courtesy of the big Puma helicopters) and some LGBs. The attacks are never enough to sink the big ships outright, but they have poor damage control, and they usually burn out and flood within a few hours of being hit. The attack on the boat swarm itself is done old-school, with lots and lots of iron bombs. The Mirages tote ‘airshow loads’ that would be much too heavy for long-range strikes, but a dozen bombs per plane starts to add up rapidly. The surviving drone from the Tripoli loiters overhead to act as a FAC, and by mid-afternoon the straits have been cleared.

Once opposition there is cleared the minesweeping helicopters enter the area and begin their hunt, soon finding a dense field of mines on the E side of the straits, which they begin to sweep.


NIGHT 3

The Indo-Pakistan conflict goes hot after dark, but we’re well out of the area by now, and so far there are no calls for us to intervene. Hopefully they’ll just clash indecisively, because if one of them starts winning then the nuclear issue could be a very nasty problem.

My minesweepers arrive at the straits, and begin slowly sweeping the eastern minefield, in an organised line-abreast pattern along the length of the field. The objective of this formation is more to find the mines (with overlapping sonar fields) than to sweep them. My helicopters swoop in to provide rapid sweeping, without having to put the ships at risk. As dawn approaches the sweepers are doubling back along the outer edges of the field, looking for outliers, but I think it’s mostly clear. My helicopters have also found a second field further in, just past the center of the straits, running in a north-south direction. I’m wondering if there’s a third field even further west, but so far I haven’t found anything yet.

Extensive tanker support is used to allow a carrier strike on the airfields at Bushehr, and then Shiraz. Bushehr is reasonably well defended, with SA-11s and an SA-6 (plus the SA-5, which seems to be out of ammo), and it’s wall-to-wall light flack down around the reactor. A combination of HARM, Walleye, and my few remaining SLAMs break down the SAM defences, and then LGBs shut the runways. Shiraz is not as well defended (just some flack), so the runways quickly fall victim to LGBs, and the F-15Es and Tornadoes do a good job on the large number of Su-24s parked in the open.

I also need to conduct ASW operations inside the Persian Gulf, to protect my exiting tankers, who will have to start moving soon. My two warships in the Gulf are not great ASW platforms, which means the search will have to fall to MPA. The Iranian Abu Musa island airfield has some flack defences which might interfere with a low-flying sub hunter, so I begin engaging those with Mavericks, intending to clear the island before beginning patrols. In the meantime, the two warships start slowly zig-zagging along the tankers’ expected path of travel. They won’t do much, but it might help a bit.

As dawn approaches, my replenishment group has reached the carrier, and UNREP operations will begin shortly, and the first of the incoming tankers has reached its formup area. The two ASW groups have swept the majority of the Gulf of Oman, and are nearly at the Straits, and another Spruance is proceeding into the center of the Gulf from the mouth. I’ve had a few worrisome submerged contacts which show up briefly on long-range VLAD sonobuoys, and then never get found again, so another look couldn’t hurt.


PLANS

Since the tankers are nearing the Gulf of Oman I’d like to tell them to proceed, but that would tell the ones in the Persian Gulf to begin moving too. Since they’re much closer to the straits they’d get there reasonably quickly. If there’s a third (western) minefield, then they might hit it before I can clear it. So, we’ll have to hold, probably for half a day, until I can confirm the minefield situation. I expect to clear the eastern field by mid-morning, and the second (central?) field will probably be safe by dusk, or shortly afterwards, at which point I can give the “go”. That should leave me two days for transit, part of which I can use to clear a third field (if present) before the tankers reach it. (I wish I knew exactly what route the tankers would take, so I could proof specific lanes, but these civilian tankers could go anywhere.)

One thing that’s making me nervous is the possibility of some sort of pop-up SSM attack on the transiting tankers when they are near the straits. I can give them a decent CAP without too much difficulty, but I think I’d like a good area-defence AA ship in there too. Ideally that would mean a Tico, but I’m really reluctant to leave the carrier without my only one. A combination of my nuclear cruiser and the Belknap may make a reasonable substitute, so they will head for the straits to cover the tankers passing through.

[Gunner98]

Thanks Andrew

I look forward to your next report. Possibly have too much time for this one I think.

B

[AndrewJ]

Here's the next bit.



DAY 3 through DAY 4

The next couple of days proceed with little opposition from the enemy.

The minesweeping helicopters go on a series of recce runs where I think the third minefield might be, but they find nothing. By noon on Day 3 it becomes apparent that there are only two minefields. The first one has been completely swept, and the second one is well underway. Therefore, the command is given to declare the straits open, and the tankers begin getting underway.

My two warships in the Persian Gulf form up in the center of their tankers to provide SAM cover, and a P-3 is sent to work the area in front of them. One of my ASW groups (from the former TG Elliot) proceeds through the straits to meet them, while the other monitors the other side of the straits. The cruiser SAM group arrives to loiter in the center of the straits to provide SAM cover there, while the SSN lurks below, listening for any surprises sneaking in from the Bandar Abbas direction. F-16CGs from Al Dhafra fly CAP over the straits, while F-14s provide CAP for the tankers approaching from the Gulf of Oman. I’m not sure there’s much else I can do to secure the situation. The first fast tanker is just reaching the straits on Day 4, so the test will come soon.

Further out, the Austral Rainbow has reached Oman to offload its precious missiles, which will be sent to Al Dhafra. (Although I really needed the munitions up in Kuwait. Al Dhafra was relatively well off.) The Saratoga, still cruising in the mouth of the Gulf of Oman, has completed unrep. False sub contacts and biologicals continue to pop up here and there, but these are investigated and classified reasonably quickly.

Follow-up strikes have been launched on Shiraz, and Bushehr, targeting soft infrastructure (fuel tanks, hangars, etc.) and completely wrecking the nuclear facilities. Abu Musa was cleared of flack defences. A-6s also took the time to visit the two eastern-most airfields during the night and dump heavy bomb loads on the runways again, just to foil any attempts to repair them. (I’m sure there’s still some airplanes lurking in the hardened shelters, and I wouldn’t want a sudden pop-up surprise from a repaired runway.) I haven’t hit Omidiyeh yet, up by the tip of the Persian Gulf, but I haven’t seen any planes from there for a day now, and I’m not sure if it’s worth the stretch to attack it.

At this point it looks like it’s a matter of watching the tankers for another day, and hoping I haven’t missed any mines. (And hoping nobody’s sneaking in underwater to lay new ones.) We shall see how it goes.

[AndrewJ]

THE REST... DAY 4 and 5

As the tankers proceed through the straits, it suddenly occurs to me that I need to take care of them after they come out of the straits too! The first westbound tanker is making a beeline for Kish Island, which is still occupied by flack defence troops. A hastily organized strike bombs the defences, and then recce runs are sent up and down the coast looking for any more enemy units. They find and destroy a cluster of radars (sitting quietly without emitting), but nothing else of note.

As the clock ticks down, the tankers continue to transit. As dusk falls on the last day, and I think all is well, I suddenly get the report of Bear radars again! Have I let down my guard too much? Is this attack for real? The spread-out tankers would be very vulnerable to attack, and most of them are beyond any CAP. F-15s race in to intercept from Kuwait, but fortunately the Bears (just 3 of them, sporting fresh patches over battle damage from the first day) are still in their holding pattern, and they get shot down before they can do anything.

The scenario ends a few hours later, with all tankers having successfully transited the straits.

[AndrewJ]

OMG, there's an Oscar. [X(] And he's been in range of my ships almost the entire time... If any of my trailers had been spotted (by that Badger, f'rinstance) they'd have been paste.

[AndrewJ]

Here's some thoughts. I haven't had time to look through all the missions and events, so I'll try and send more info tomorrow.



SCENARIO PLAY OBSERVATIONS

This one has a nice live feel to it at the start, with numerous things happening along the length of the Gulf, a long area of operation to worry about, and interesting news reports coming in about other developments. It gives me interesting choices about where to spend my combat power. Try and defend the wide-spread tankers from a vague submarine threat, or concentrate on specific military units? Like many long scenarios, the end-game gets quieter once the player has had time to dominate the situation. I had no effective enemy resistance for the last two days. Giving the enemy more combat persistence in the mid and late game would definitely be advantageous, I think. (Shortening the tanker/logistics transit distances, and cutting a day off the scenario, might work too.)

The missile shortage is interesting, and I think it could be made slightly more acute. A few less AMRAAMs, forcing the player to go to Sparrows sooner, or to limit operations sooner, would preserve enemy capabilities longer into the game. (Although I’m speaking from the micromanaging play style, where I have fun flying the planes and firing manually, so someone relying primarily on missions will probably find their missile usage rate is already higher than mine.) This would also make the arrival of the freighter more important. (In my case the main fighting was over before it arrived.) I never really used the full AA power of my carrier air wing, so a slightly more acute missile shortage would probably encourage the player to bring those assets into use.

The La Combattante ships deployed along the Iranian coast are quite suspicious by their isolated nature, and invite immediate inspection and attack. Perhaps adding a few extra little fishing boats anchored there and elsewhere along the coast, with associated coastal docks and town markers, would disguise them and add some interesting confusion? If some fishing boats are at sea the player may ID them first, and then assume the warships are the same. This might help them last longer.

The SSMs around Bandar Abbas are relatively easy to find because they are all emitting. Perhaps only one or two could be radiating at first? Or maybe they only turn on later in the scenario, not in the first couple of days, before enemy forces could arrive? Alternatively, perhaps some of these mobile units arrive late, only driving in and setting up on Night 3 or 4? Perhaps the Russians have been hiding them in buildings, and they simply cannot be spotted from the air. A scattering of town markers, a warning in the briefing about the sneaky tactics, a special message about increased chatter (in Russian) near Town X shortly before deployment, and then LUA them into existence an hour later, and turn them on half an hour after that? Perhaps they arrive at night late in the scenario further down the coast near Jask, and engage tankers from there? (The same sort of late-arrival reinforcement could work with SAMs too, I guess. As could late-game LUA replenishment for the SA-5 ammo, for example, since they've only got 6 shots each.)

Late-arriving subs might be good too, particularly if they target the long stream of tankers on either side of the Straits. I know I didn't have a lot of ASW power along the N coast of either Gulf, so a sub might be able to hide there on the bottom, and then sneak south into the stream of tankers slow and low once the lead escorts have gone. By Night 5 I had a big gap between escorts up in the straits and the carrier group at the mouth of the gulf, which a sub could have exploited, provided it remained undetected up to that point.

Thinking of ways to prolong the enemy air power, is there any way to simulate the rough-field capabilities of Russian planes, if their runways have been bombed? LUA-in some bulldozers, and then (if they are not destroyed) LUA-in a short runway a day later, to represent a freshly scraped landing strip?? Maybe the Iranians can tow a plane or two up the road to a local civil airfield? Just enough for one or two lightly loaded intercept missions? Some older aircraft on very long ready times (several days) might represent obsolete aircraft being brought out of storage. A handful of fresh Mig-21s from some little airfield late in the game might make a nasty surprise once the player has relaxed, or switched planes from air-to-air to air-to-ground. I know I got careless enough at the end that a couple of old jets (ex-Iraqi Fitters?) with iron bombs could have bitten off a tanker without too much difficulty, provided it wasn't near the CAP in the straits. (Assuming they could find it, of course. Alway the trick...) Another way to put the player off balance might be to have just one or two Phoenix-armed F-14s with late ready times, so just when they think they can deal with them reasonably easily, they have something new to worry about.

(Please forgive all these musings. It’s easy to make suggestions when I don’t have to implement them!) [:D]

The minefields were good (although the Iranians had already lost 57 small craft to their own mines, with several more damaged, before I took a shot at them), and I was never fully confident I’d found all the mines in the field. Maybe there was one more just beyond the edge of where I’d searched? I wonder if late-game replenishment of the minefields by submarine (lurking as close to the bottom as quietly as possible) would be useful? If the player isn’t keeping a careful watch, a new minefield (even a very small one) could be a nasty surprise. They don't even have to be in the straits. A small field projecting off the corner W of Jask might catch tankers trying to cut the corner, or a field on either side of Abu Musa might do the trick.

I never did use the special action to announce my intentions to open the straits. I couldn’t see any particular advantage to telegraphing my moves to the enemy. Although it was said it would reassure my allies, it wasn’t clear if it would bring an immediate military benefit, or that it was really necessary in any way, so I just continued without it. (Also, section in the briefing on the special actions to be used in the scenario might be useful. I know to look for them, as an experienced player, but it might be helpful to have them explicitly spelled out for novices.)

Had you intended us to take the CVBG into the Gulf? I had the tanker support I needed to stay out at sea, so I didn’t go into those horribly restricted waters, and stayed in the mouth of the Gulf of Oman. I think most players would need explicit orders if they are intended to take the carrier in.

This is one of the first scenarios where the Quick Turnaround on the ASW helicopters has been really handy. Rather than using them in long duration patrols, I’ve been keeping them on deck, and darting out to investigate and classify distant sonar contacts, and then immediately heading back to the ship. It’s actually working quite well.


TECHNICAL ITEMS

The neutral tankers are trying to plot their own minimum distance course through the S-bend of the straits, and as a result they cut very close to the land in several places, in particular the Iranian shore at Jask, and all along the coast past Qeshm Island. A guy standing on shore could hit them with an RPG! (Well, he might actually have to wade out up to his knees. ) This would be a very risky move for tankers that are presumably trying to avoid a hostile shore. More importantly, they also hug the tip of the peninsula near Khasab Airbase, and then cut between the little islands at the very tip. That means they will completely miss the minefields without any intervention at all, which takes away the main obstacle in the whole scenario. I think you may need to have individual courses plotted for the tankers, to keep them in the center of the sea lane.

As mentioned earlier, the speedboats (and many of the minelayers) are getting hit by their own minefield, which saved me a fair bit of work. The Straits Ctr ASUW patrol overlaps very slightly with the east edge of the 'Straights' mineing zone, but the big problem is the Straits West patrol, which almost overlaps the entire minefield. (I think you were looking at the RPs on the wrong side of the minefield when you set it up.)

The minelaying mission also has the mines set for a two hour arming delay. Mines deploy at 3 minute intervals, so the 40 mine load will take the full two hours to deploy. When the minelayer turns to go home it may pass through already active mines it just laid. One of the minelayers is in the zone already, but the others are 1 to 2 hours away at cruise, so when they enter they will be passing through active mines for some or all of their mission. (Incidentally the mission is set as inactive, but the start time is 5 days before the start of the scenario, so it activates immediately.) If you extend the arming time (1 day?) the minelayers should be able to get in and out safely. It may be worth having a mission deactivation time too, so they don't re-arm and hurry back into a live minefield.

I’m not sure how big an impact my inadvertent discovery of the bombers was (due to the wandering Saudi AWACS). However, when the Blinders formed up at their loiter station they were given away by their active radar. Could they be radar silent until they are actually advancing to engage? (The Bears were emitting too.) Also, is there any LUA way that bombers can retreat if fighters approach or get in among them?

The SSK in the Persian Gulf gave itself away by surfacing. (Mentioned in other reports.) His patrol area includes a lot of very shallow water with islands, and I doubt the AI helmsman will have much luck. His initial course is already pointed at very shallow water, so he'll be on the surface almost immediately.

The Saudi doctrine allows them to refuel from allies, which means their AWACs etc. will attempt to fly to the far end of the theatre in order to refuel from NATO tankers way down in Oman. (Already reported)

Bandar Abbas AAW West mission has its prosecution area curved behind its patrol area. Perhaps one of the reference points got moved by accident?

The La Combattantes along the Gulf of Oman coast aren't on a mission, and won't fire, even at known targets. If I set them to Engage Opportunities = Yes then they will shoot. (Unless there's some event to assign them to a mission that I haven't seen yet.)

Typo in scenario file name – “Homuz” Hoedown.

Missing verb in scenario briefing: “There are strong indications that a Costal Missile Regiment, probably the 24th from the Black Sea Fleet has moved? to the area of the Straits.

Typo in briefing: “Details of what we assess tor remain are:”

Typo in briefing: Thumrait AB: 2x E-3B AWACS, 2x KC-10, 2x kC-135, 1x EC-130H Compass Call

The game starts with an obsolete contact for the Palang, to the East of the Straits, but there’s nothing actually there.

Was the Saudi AWACS North mission supposed to have 3 RPs like that, or is one an accidental extra?

My isolated surface groups start the scenario with radar active, which makes sense. Should they also be running with sonar active, since subs are a threat?

[AndrewJ]

Here's the tankers cutting the corner.

[AndrewJ]

It looks like the WP side considers tankers neutral, and Iran only considers them unfriendly. Does this mean nobody is actually trying to sink them? In which case the only way they could be damaged is with a mine?

[Gunner98]

Thanks Andrew, some good suggestions. I'll get to an update on the weekend.

B

[AndrewJ]

Here's a few more bits and pieces after looking through the missions, events, etc.



Is the Oscar intended to only shoot at the carrier? Currently its WRA is set up so it can't engage cruisers, destroyers, replenishment ships, etc.

The Victor is manually stopped and manually set as deep as possible, so it can't actually patrol in its zone. (Possibly intentional?)

The Jaguars only have one load of cluster bombs. (Possibly intentional?)

Was there supposed to be someone coming in on the WP's Bandar Abbas Ferry mission? The mission is empty and inactive, with an activation time 5 days before the scenario starts. (Left over from a previous scenario build?)

I got the "We'll do CAP" message from the Saudis (Saudi Message 3), but no CAP happened. I think this is because none of the Saudi F-15s are assigned to the RSAF CAP mission. I didn’t see any actions to assign them to the mission.

I notice there's an action (Lua- Tfr Saudi AC) to transfer the Saudi aircraft to NATO, but it doesn't look like there's an event which makes use of it. There are also a Saudi Point Trigger 4 and Saudi Msg 4 action, which don't seem to be used either. Perhaps there is a missing event for a fourth level of escalation (intended to be called Saudi Message 4)?

The 'Hold a Press Conference' special action implies there might be a bad effect for announcing your intentions. Was there supposed to be any enemy action, other than the 50 point loss to NATO's score? (A mission activating, more reinforcements, etc.?)

The Saudi Aircraft Destroyed event has the Soviet Aircraft Destroyed trigger (already reported above).

The player will not currently get points for destroying Land Facilities of the Building_Bunker class or the Building_Underground class. (This includes things like the ammo bunkers of different types present on the airfields.) Should there be a trigger for these too, added to the Structure Destroyed event?

There's an action called Msg - Neutral Shipping Attacked, but there doesn't seem to be any event or trigger which actually uses it. (Although currently the scenario has no enemy side hostile to the neutrals, so maybe this is intentional?)

My cargo ship got to Oman, and I received the arrival message, but the subsequent ammo convoy to Al Dhafra and activation of the C-130 did not happen. It looks like this is because the 'USNS Austral Rainbow at Said ibn Navak Base' event does not include the 'Marker Teleport' action. Without that timer the rest of the ammo transport chain does not happen.

The 'Iranian MPA destroyed' trigger is not functioning. It looks like the target class needs to be selected for it to work, which is odd, because I would have expected target class "none" to mean "any". (By contrast, the 'Iranian AEW destroyed' trigger does have the target class selected, and it works.)

[Gunner98]

Thanks again Andrew.

The Oscar WRA is intentional but I think I'll change that.

The Jag ammo is intentional as well, but the Victor is something I'll fix.

I wanted the press conf to somehow give the WP the location of the CV so both the Oscar and the bombers could have some fun. But couldn't figure out a good way of doing that, still chewing on it.


Will clean up the events, thanks.


B