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Basic training warship operations: tutorial

I have now run this scenario a few times. Eliminating the air threat, submarine and the land bases are straight forward enough, either through the mission editor or via manual control. Taking out the ship is a different matter though.

If I do this manually, there seems to be no problem. My missiles tend to miss or not fire at all (out of range) but a mixture of helo delivered Hellfire and ship-borne gunfire usually does the trick. The real problems occur when I start using the mission editor and letting the computer do all the work.

This is what happened the last time. I set up an ASuW strike mission using the Hellfire armed helo, plus USS Stockdale. I right clicked on the latter and checked the maintain stand-off option in the doctrine/ROE tab. I also clicked on the appropriate button to let the computer do its own thing with the sensors. First, Stockdale fired her missiles. They all missed or were intercepted. Then the helo closed in and fired her Hellfires. She only inflicted slight damage and was shot down in the process. Stockdale then proceeded around the north tip of the island, ran into a barrage of missiles and was sunk. I can only stress that I didn't do anything. This was all carried out via computer control through the mission editor.

This game is supposed to let you concentrate on grand tactics without the necessity to micro-manage Harpoon style. As it has been many years in development and exhaustively de-bugged and play-tested, I am pretty certain that it is me that is doing something wrong [&:]

I would therefore be very grateful if some kind person could run me through this scenario and tell me what I should be doing, both with manual control AND computer control via the mission editor.

Many thanks,

Pongo.

Here's what I did the first time through. As an old Harpoon 3 player, manually controlling one helo and one ship didn't seem like micromanagement to me...

Things to consider:
1. The Nanuchka carries six SS-N-9 Siren ASMs. Range of 80 nm means Stockdale can't engage the Nanuchka from outside its threat envelope.
2. The Siren is a subsonic missile that flies at 200 ft AGL, so should be a relatively easy target for Stockdale's ESSMs.
3. The ESSM is a semiactive radar homer. Its maximum range is 30 nm, but the target has to be above the horizon and illuminated by Stockdale's radar. The earth in CMANO is round, not flat like in Harpoon, so the ESSM's maximum range against a surface target is less than 30 nm.
4. San Clemente Island blocks radar and visual line-of-sight. The Nanuchka can't see or fire at Stockdale until it sails around one end of the island. Stockdale can track the Nanuchka using one of its helos, but can't fire missiles without direct line-of-sight.
5. Hellfire missiles have the same range (5 nm) as the Nanuchka's SA-N-4 Gecko SAMs, so the helo can't launch a standoff attack from a safe distance.

At this point in the scenario, Stockdale had 18 ESSMs left (6 expended shooting down 2 SLAM-ER and the P-3 Orion that fired them.) I assumed Stockdale could probably defeat the Nanuchka's missile attack with 6 ESSMs left over, and Stockdale's 127mm gun has a longer range than either the 76mm gun on the Nanuchka or its SA-N-4 missiles.

The plan:
Track the Nanuchka with one of Stockdale's helos, staying outside SAM range. Sail around the south end of San Clemente (farther from the Nanuchka's patrol station). After the Nanuchka expends all its Sirens, close and engage with remaining ESSMs and 127mm. Maneuver to stay out of range of the Nanuchka's gun and Gecko missiles.

Stockdale detected six vampires less than a minute after rounding the south end of San Clemente, and splashed all 6 with 12 ESSMs. A few minutes later the Nanuchka was above the horizon and Stockdale opened fire. ECM and chaff defeated some of the ESSMs but two scored hits, damaging the target and starting a fire. A few minutes and 40 or so rounds of 127mm later, the Nanuchka was destroyed.

I reran the scenario several times, assigning an ASuW strike mission to Stockdale instead of commanding it directly. Each time Stockdale plotted a course around the island, shot down six incoming missiles, and sank the Nanuchka with leftover ESSMs and gunfire.

The only problem I saw was when I also assigned the Hellfire-armed helo to the mission. I set "Maintain standoff" and "RTB when Winchester" in the mission RoE, but most times the helo would keep flying towards the Nanuchka after firing its missiles and get shot down.

So, bottom line:

Don't attack the Nanuchka with the Hellfire-armed helo. Use the helo's radar to track the Nanuchka while Stockdale maneuvers around the island. Stockdale should be able to defeat the Siren attack, then close with and sink the Nanuchka while staying out of Gecko and gun range.