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Quite a challenge. One fighter squadron against many more. Little to no ground/naval attack aircraft. Token ground forces. ONE sub. A few surface ships against a good portion of the Russian Navy. HA! BRING IT ON!!!

Well, I gave out a lot more than I took. But in the end, the scenario dictated things wouldn't end the way I wanted to. Nevertheless, I scored a Victory of 561 points! Zero loss of aircraft, ships, or subs. NONE!

I edited some of the scenario based on my prior results from earlier missions. One in particular was the removal of the Kuznetsov, as I sank that ship in Northern Fury #5. I also added a battalion of US infantry to protect the island. It did not make any sense to guard that valuable piece of property with just a company of US Marines and a handful of local volunteers without putting up a scrap to deny an easy victory to the enemy. I made the Orions into hunter killers, and that's pretty much it. The changes really didn't make much of a difference, as I shot down a ton of enemy fighters. I couldn't get a good approach to attack the Kalinov Group with the USS Jacksonville due to a lot of sonobuoys and ASW Helix-As around so that wasn't much of a factor.

The ground war had spurts of action with Spetznas terrorists causing mayhem, but they were quickly dealt with by the US troops. One exception was when a French plane was hijacked by the Russians, it was allowed to land at Hornasfjordur and by design; took over the entire airport despite a platoon of infantry there. DAMN! Beyond that, the enemy ground pounders never had much of a chance.

Once I took control of the air war, things were easy. Until the Foxhounds arrived. I was ordered to evacuate and I panicked when they came after me. I should have kept a level head. Had I done so, I could have suckered all of them within SAM range of Keflavik and TG 84.1 but managed to only shoot down a third of them. It wasn't all bad. When 10 of the Foxhounds were shot down, I had a window to fly four Eagles through a gap and attacked the inbound airborne transports. It was a massacre, I probably killed at least two battalions of troops in the air. Had I set it up better, the entire assault wave could have been utterly destroyed.

Hours later, I had gathered up my combat planes back to Keflavik when the scenario ended. WHAT?!? WHAAAAT?!?!?

WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Sure, I could have played on, but I was ready to get moving on this exhaustive campaign.

Ran into a problem that has yet to be corrected. Either CMO needs to address this or I need to get smarter. The problem was loading up standing infantry into transport aircraft and dropping them off somewhere. The scenario ordered an evacuation. Despite asking questions in the forum, I couldn't get the infantry to load up into the transports as cargo at the airports. This can be done in Editor mode, but I don't like to use that during a game. But it can't be done. The exception to this is picking up infantry with helos, but that didn't help with loading them into the C-130s, C-5s and so on landed at the airports. Ah well.

I kicked their butts, and still lost the island. War's hell eh?

A full detailed AAR follows in the immediate response.

NORTHERN FURY # 7: KEFLAVIK CAPERS.
15 February 1991. Z 1300
Pre-mission edits:
#1, made the 57 Sqn full strength of 24 fighters.
#2, Due to the actions that occurred in Bardufoss Blues, I removed the Kuznetsov as it was sunk in that battle three days ago.
#3, Added platoons of US infantry at all the airports. It made sense to defend the entire island from an imminent invasion. Equals out to a battalion with a group of Rangers, Special Forces, and SEALs.
#4, added a few ELINT aircraft. 2 Compass Calls and 2 Ravens to help. It made sense to have these.
#5, I removed the Kuznetsov from the game, having sunk it in NF # 5. I don’t like fighting the same thing twice or more. The rest of the Russian vessels remained.

Zulu1300. Launched four flights of Eagles to cover the north, east, and southeast of the island shorelines. Launched Mad Fox #2 to protect the Keflavik Bay area of subs. Also launched one Raven and Compass Call for ELINT. Unassigned the airborne Sentry and sent it east to find enemies. Did the same to Mad Fox # 6.

Zulu 1308: Contact Goblin 26 nm west of Keflavik by sonobouoy. Sent Mad Fox # 2 to engage and destroy.

Zulu 1310: Received an incoming report. Said this:
“Sir,
A strange fishing trawler is heading South into Eyjafjordur on the North coast, it's heading towards Akureyri at 12 Knots – It should be evacuating civilians – that boat is going the wrong way!”
Being a suspicious commander, I sent the Tyr and its helos in hot pursuit to investigate. Also sent Mad Fox # 6 in case I needed some Harpoons if things got hot.

Zulu 1315: My staff informs me of this:
“Sir the Icelandic Coastguard received an emergency call from the mechanic at Grímsey Island airport. He reported shots fired in the tower and saw three armed men in civilian clothes moving from building to building like they were searching for something or someone. There was a large explosion just before he had to abandon the radiophone to avoid detection. Almost all the 85 inhabitants of the island have been evacuated, the last flight left a few minutes ago.”
Realizing it’s too close to enemy activity, I leave Grimsey Island to its fate.

Zulu 1316: Mad Fox #2 sinks enemy SSN. PLA-671RT Victor II [Syomga].

Zulu 1318: Cluster of warships spotted NE of Iceland with Yak-141s and MiG-23MLD Flogger Ks in flight.
I launch four more fighters to help with the inevitable air war coming up.


Zulu 1341: Report came in:
“We have just received an emergency message from a Danish Air Transport (DAT) flight 745. They were en route from Copenhagen to Vagar in the Faroe Islands but were diverted to Reykjavik an hour ago due to a threat in that area. They report engine trouble and are losing altitude and are now diverting to Hornafjörður Airport. The aircraft is a French built ATR 72-200, its transponder is not active, they report 27 passengers and 5 crew on board. It is losing altitude fast. The Coastguard has asked for assistance should a rescue operation be required. We have alerted RS 56 and the USCG station.”

Yeah, riiiiiiiiiight. I’m not buying that. Looked at their altitude for a good minute, no change at all. Being even more suspicious of foul play, I sent flight 1744, 57 Sqn #11- #12 to investigate.

57 Sqn #5 of flight 1698 shot down 2x Yak-141s.
57 Sqn #1 of flight 1696 shot down a Badger L.

Zulu 1350: 57 Sqn # 7 of flight 1699 shot down a Badger L east of Iceland, pursues to intercept a group of four bombers en route to the island.

Zulu 1351: Flight 1696 engages a group of 4x Badger Gs, northeast behind the SAG.
At that same time, I received bad news:
“Sir. Someone on board that Danish Air Transport airliner that called the emergency (DAT 745) has gotten message to us – using one of those new ‘cellular phones.’ He claims that a Hijacking is underway and that there are over a dozen armed men aboard and that most of the flight crew are dead!”

This was trouble. I couldn’t shoot them down, so I left it up to the platoon of infantry to secure the airport. I had a C-130 of Sqn 700 ALS #2 loaded with a platoon of Rangers launched to deal with that.

57 Sqn #1, #2 each killed 2x Badger Gs, took 7 AMRAAMS and 2 Sidewinders to do it.

Zulu 1355: 57 Sqn #10 shot down 2x MiG-23 Flogger K’s.

Zulu 1358: 57 Sqn #3, #4 of flight 1697 each shot down one MiG-23 (2 0f 3 AMRAAMs).
57 Sqn #7, #8 of Flight 1699 shot down four Badger-Gs 150 nm east of Iceland.

Zulu 1400: Incoming message from my staff:
“We have a call from Hornafjörður tower! That DAT plane has taxied to the tower area and several armed men have debarked and are attacking the tower. Airport security and local police are engaging but it’s a battle of pistols against AK-47s. The phone connection is now broken.”
Ok, this had my head itchy. The plane landed but didn’t see any enemy units even though I had a platoon of infantry 250 meters away. I moved the grunts as close to the airfield as possible. Four minutes later, Hornafjordur disappears!!! Apparently, the script doesn’t allow any sort of ground defense against the obvious unit of SPETZNAS who took over the place. I should have shot down the civilian plane. Lessons learned.

Zulu 1407: 57 Sqn shot down 2x Yak-141s over land in a game of outrun-the-missiles.
Goblin contact spotted just off the coast near Bakkafjordur. I sent Mad Fox #6 to investigate even though it has no ASW loadout.

Zulu 1413: Incoming message:
“Police HQ is reporting that they received a phone call from Bakkafjordur which was abruptly cut off. The caller reported a surfaced submarine in the harbour and that 4 high speed rubber rafts delivered about 30 troops ashore and were seen heading back to the Submarine. 3 or 4 of the locals engaged this group with hunting rifles and shot guns but after a quick battle, explosions were heard, and the phone line went dead.”
Assessment: Likely that this is a group of Naval Spetznatz, they are experts in demolition, communications, and small unit actions.

Duh. Unlike what happened at Hornafjordur, an unknown contact was spotted inland from the airfield. Knowing they were NOT friendly native folks, I immediately opened fire with my infantry, 3plt C Co. Turned out to be 5xMG units (?) and one unit of SPETZNAS. They never had a change. Bakkafjordur holds.

Zulu 1428: Incoming report:
“A fishing trawler has just arrived outside Akureyri harbour and is unloading several RHIBs with armed soldiers, they are heading towards the airport.”

I thought so, it’s an attack. Thankfully, I came prepared. Waiting in defense is 2 plt B Co ready to rain death upon them. Weapons platoon B Co is on the way, but probably too far at 17nm. That’s when things really started to heat up.
“Sir, we are receiving reports from Icelandic police that the telephone exchange, RUA broadcasting station and other communications infrastructure is under attack. They are requesting our assistance.”
I have a platoon of D company infantry at each location, I sent in the IDF section to assist. They may be too far away, but worth a try.
The Telephone Exchange was destroyed, but the enemy units paid the price. The weapons plt there then set up base and provided indirect fire on the enemy attacking the RUA Station. The enemy is destroyed, the station suffers 61% damage.

Zulu 1435: Russian naval infantry has landed close to Akureyri airport. 2nd plt B Co engages, while Mad Fox #2 and the Tyr is closing in for support. Weapons platoon B Company are too far away to be of any help in time, they are on the way nevertheless.
Mad Fox #2 launches three Harpoons at enemy vessels in the fjord.
At the same time, enemy units are spotted at Hellissandur 600 meters away from weapons platoon D Company on the Snaefellbaer peninsula. The enemy troops are all destroyed.

Zulu 1440: Spetznas are spotted NW of Keflavik, firing mortars at radar and SAM sites. I send a platoon of mechanized base defense to attack. The base defense force platoon eliminates the enemy.

Zulu 1445: Mad Fox #2 sinks enemy fishing trawler and three of its boats. I send the Tyr to finish the last one.

Zulu 1447: Message from my staff:
“Glad to see you back from you lunch - a lot has been happening since you left but before I bring you up to speed on everything the latest incident has caught our attention:
The police are reporting that the National broadcast station and the telephone exchange have been seized by Soviet Special Forces. They are mounting their reserves to retake them, but it could be several hours. The Minister of communications is holding an emergency meeting at 1600Z and has requested a representative. I have warned the J6 to attend.”

Now THIS is messed up! I saved the RUA station from attack twenty minutes ago, and now it disappeared from an invisible Russian Spetznas attack with a platoon of infantry right next to the station!!!!
DAMN THOSE INVISIBLE RUSSIANS!!!

Zulu 1448: A pair of Mig-23 Flogger Ks got bold and tried to shoot down some of my fighters. 57 Sqn #3, #4 each made them pay for their aggression.

Zulu 1453: The invisible Russians are at it again:
“Sir,
Hofn Air Station is also under attack, these guys have vehicles and some heavy weapons, and they've probably been here for a while.”

3rd platoon D company has been sitting there 157 meters away from the station, no sight of them in daylight in spite of light rain. Hoping that C-130 of Rangers nearby can help. Nope, system somehow blew up the entire airfields without that platoon knowing anything at all.
DAMN THOSE INVISIBILE RUSSIANS!!!

Zulu 1500: Flights 1697 and 1743 pick off several enemy Helix As and Hormone Bs to clear a path for a potential sub attack with the Jacksonville before heading back to base.

Zulu 1518: Mad Fox #2 sinks enemy sub near Bakkafjordur, returns to base in triumph for its sixth total kill of the day.

Zulu 1535: Start of a fairly big air battle. Kiev group launched ten Freestyles with a total of six Flogger Ks engaged with six Black Knights. Behavior of the Freestyles suggests ground attack missions, they didn’t react to my fighters. A group of four An-26 Curl As were shot down by 57 Sqn #13, #14, two apiece. Probably carrying paratroopers, but without any fighter escort?!? Lots of enemies died.
(Some of the dice rolls for chaff by the enemy fighters were insane. Two Freestyles spoofed seven missiles from 57 Sqn #13 and #14. Almost punched a hole in the wall.)
Spent the next few minutes shooting down more ASW helicopters. Things were going well, until this message came in from SACLANT:

TO: COM2ND FLEET
COM NAS KEFLAVIK
TG 84.1
COM ANG BANGOR
COM CFB GOOSE BAY
USS TRENTON

FROM: SACLANT, COORD WITH COM ACC AND SACEUR

1. SITUATION: CURRENT THREAT STATUS PRECLUDES ABILITY TO REINFORCE NAS KEFLAVIK. LOSSES PROHIBITIVE. VERY LIKELY ICELAND WILL BE ATTACKED BY LARGE AIRBORNE FORMATION WITHIN NEXT 18 HOURS

2. MISSION: EVAC NAS KEFLAVIK AND ALL NATO FORCES ON OR IVO ICELAND

3. EXECUTION
3.A. TASKS
3.A.1. NAS KEFLAVIK: USE ALL AVAILABLE MEANS FOR EVACUATION TO CONUS
3.A.2. TG 84.1: PROVIDE AREA AD TO KEF THAN PROCEED TO AREA SW OF 35W 60N
3.A.3 ANG BANGOR: ESTB EVAC HQ, RECEIVE AND SUPPORT EVAC
3.A.4. CFB GOOSE BAY: ESTB ALTN EVAC HQ, RECEIVE AND SUPPORT EVAC
3.A.5. USS TRENTON TO STANDBY FOR EVAC OF AVIATION ELEM


3.B. COORD INSTR
3.B.1. EVAC PRIORITY
1) MULTI ENGINE AC
2) C2 ELEM
3) FTRS
4) AIRCREW
5) GROUND CREW
6) SUPPORT STAFF
7) CIVILIAN DEPENDANTS
8) CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES
9) US CITIZENS
10) CITIZENS OF NATO COUNTRIES
11) BASE DEFENCE FORCE AND USMC SECURITY FORCE
11) ICELANDIC NATIONALS
12) OTHERS

3.B.2. TIMINGS
1) INITIATE IMMEDIATELY
2) ESTB EVAC HQ, ANG BANGOR MAIN NLT 151800Z FEB 94
3) ESTB ALTN EVAC HQ, CFB GOOSE BAY NLT 152000Z FEB 94
3) INITIATE DESTR OF KEY INFRASTRUCTURE NLT 160100Z FEB 94
4) INFORM ICELANDIC GOVT VERBALLY NET 160700Z FEB 94
5) EVAC COMPL NLT 16 0800Z FEB 94
7) FORMAL STATEMENT RELEASED BY POTUS 16 1200Z FEB 94

3.B.3. DESTRUCTION PRIORITIES (Not a game requirement)
1) COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT/MATERIAL/SPARE PARTS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
2) MUNITIONS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
3) FUEL AND INFRASTRUCTURE
4) NON-OPERABLE AC
5) RADARS AND NAVIGATION AIDS
6) AD SYSTEMS ONCE MUNITIONS EXPENDED OR AT LAST SAFE MOMENT
7) NON-ESSENTIAL WEAPONS AND MILITARY EQUIPMENT
8) GROUND SUPPORT EQP
8) MILITARY GROUND TRANSPORT
9) LOGISTICS STOCK HOLDINGS
10) INFRASTRUCTURE
11) BASE DEFENCE EQUIPMENT AT LAST SAFE MOMENT

4. LOGISTICS: EVACUATION SUPPORT FACILITIES BEING MOBILIZED ANG BASE BANGOR MAIN AND CFB GOOSE BAY. KC-135 SUPPORT AVAIL AT GOOSE BAY. ALL INBOUND FLTS CANC

5. COMMUNICATIONS: OPSEC ESSENTIAL. COMMUNICATIONS PLAN CONTROLLED BY HQ 2ND FLEET, NO COMMUNICATIONS OR RELEASES AUTHORIZED UNLESS SPECIFICALLY APPROVED. OUTLINE PLAN AS FOLLOWS
1) ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL NAS KEFLAVIK, ANG BANGOR, CFB GOOSE BAY, IMMEDIATELY
2) KEY SACEUR, ACC AND 2ND FLEET STAFF NET 151900Z FEB 94
3) NAC BRIEFED BY US MILREP AT 152200Z FEB 94
4) COM KEFLAVIC TO INFORM ICELANDIC GOVT AT 16 0800Z FEB 94
5) UPDATE TO POTUS AT 161000Z FEB 94
6) UPDATE TO NAC AT 161100Z FEB 94
7) STATEMENT RELEASED BY POTUS 16 1200Z FEB 94

ACK INSTR: ACK TO HQ 2ND FLEET

As I was reconfiguring transport aircraft to ferry status and guessing capacities, this came up:
Zulu 1630:
“Sir, we are starting to get various reports of transports, probably An-26’s from Jan Mayen, arriving at Hornafjörður, and Vopnafjordur. They may be forward staging the Battalion that landed on Jan Mayen yeasterday, although they would not have much heavy equipment coming with them at this stage.”

In an act of pure god-like magic, my lost airfields reappeared deep within the central part of Russia past the Ural Mountains. I’m not so concerned about transports, my real fear is wondering where the heck are the anticipated swarms of Russian air regiments which will most definitely include the formidable Mig-31 Foxhounds.
DAMN THOSE TELEPORTING RUSSIANS!!!

Turns out that unless I start using Editor, I don’t have a means to getting my troops of the island due to a lack of adequate air and naval transportation. With heavy heart, I decided that the Army battalion and the rest of the defenders were left to their fate.

Zulu 1718: Goblin contact east of TG 84.1, identified as an Alfa class sub. Mad Fox #5 was sent to destroy it before the enemy were to reach within torpedo range of the surface ships. Alfa was very deep at -2105 feet below. I knew it couldn’t attack me, but neither I could attack it at that depth. I swiveled my TG 84.1 away, not risking any chances, while keeping a helo and Mad Fox #5 circling it the entire time. Wish I had a few nuclear depth charges…

Zulu 1728: Mad Fox # 4 sank the lasts Igor contact with a Harpoon missile (the first shot malfunctioned. I need to talk with the CMO developers about these dice rolls).

(This is when I began to see several pop-up window reports about soviet AC being destroyed, but I have no idea when, where, and how.)

Zulu 1730: I noticed the Alfa sub slowly surfacing, perhaps to attack TG 84.1 at the lowest possible depth to fire its torpedoes. In doing so, it will be under immediate air attack.

Zulu 1735: Mad Fox #4 fired last two Harpoons at an enemy picket vessel. At Zulu1742, enemy escort ship sunk, presumed to be a Krivak-class based on emission contact data.

Zulu 1745: Swamp Fox #2 of the USS John Rodgers sank the Alfa class sub. Dunno how, it must have reached the maximum possible launch depth of the NEARTIP. I heard the launch on my speakers and toggled over to see what was happening, the BOOM! At the same time, another Goblin contact 36nm east was detected. I sent Mad Fox #4 and 5 to terminate. I added Sea Snakes #1 from USS Boone to help.

Zulu 1751: 57 Sqn #24 shot down a recon bomber between Jan Mayen and Iceland.

Zulu 1755: Sea Snakes #1 and Swamp Fox #5 combined to sink an SSN sub.

Zulu 1758: 3 plt, D Company engaged and destroyed a unit of Spetznas where Hornasfjordur used to be.

Zulu 1814: Mad Fox #5 launched four Harpoons at a Russian picket vessel in the Kiev Group. This is identified as a Krivak IV. One missile hit; BDA unknown. The Kiev group slows down.


Zulu 1835: Enemy sent several helos to attack USS Jacksonville, probably due to the system making it surface (Glitch?). 57 Sqn #1 and #2 spent lots of time shooting these helos down which flew well outside of SAM range of their surface ships.
While this is happening, I am evacuating all remaining aircraft from Keflavik with the fighters holding last to provide air cover.

Zulu 2000: A massive wave of bogeys detected heading for Iceland. Judging by the speed and altitudes, looks like a combination of Cubs and Foxhounds. I launch all remaining planes. Either they fled west or provided rear guard actions. I sent several fighters southeast to try and pick off stragglers if possible. Iceland is about to fall. Those Russians better have a massive number of tankers, because there should be no way Foxhounds can reach Iceland with a weapons loadout.

(NOTE: My game seems to demand that all my subs automatically appear on the surface no matter the orders or how deep they were at that moment. It’s happened on several scenarios before. I would literally watch a sub go from Under the Layer to surface instantaneously. Because of this, I was forced to use editor and relocate the USS Jacksonville far away from the action.)


Zulu 2023: 57 Sqn #4 shot down a recon bomber 120nm south of the missing Hornasfjordur Airport.
The wave of Foxhounds began circling in what appears to be an air cover mission 50nm east of Bakkasfjordur. I attempt to circle a few flights south to locate and pick of some Curls I anticipate will be coming for the airborne assault.

Zulu 2035: First contacts of enemy large aircrafts detected. I decided to play the deadly game with the enemy. Three flights would try and engage the transports at maximum possible range from the east which would put them in range of the formidable AA-9 missiles. At the same time, three other flights would attack from the south. Hoping the eastern group will draw fire and out run the Foxhounds missiles, while the southern group picks them off. I won’t get them all, but the goal is to inflict damage while losing little to myself.

Zulu 2043: 57 Sqn #7 took down a pair of Il-78 Midas from long range with a flight of Foxhounds bearing down on he and #8. From the southeast, 57 Sqn #4 shot down two transports and sped away east. The nearest flight of Foxhounds began to chase them, the enemy transports appear to be disoriented. The two closest groups veered north. This must have pissed off the enemy, as all the fighters began to close in on my fighters like angry hornets. Because of the range of the AA-9s, I couldn’t squeeze any fighters past them to attack the transports. My flyboys were running for their lives. My best chances were to have them fly within range of my SAMs or burn up fuel and peel off soon.

Zulu 2110: The retreat west is paying off. SAMs from Keflavik are attacking the Foxhounds. Two of them killed by Patriot missiles. The Foxhounds chasing me south broke off and went back to their AA.

Zulu 2115: Massive contacts east of Iceland detected, probably the airborne assault I was anticipating.
(NOTE: Because I didn’t have enough aircraft to fly the ground troops out, I simulated the Army Battalion having been transported to Keflavik by means of “organic transport” aka trucks to conduct a last stand so to speak)

Zulu 2128: The trap works, despite being late. I suckered several Foxhounds within range of SAMs from Keflavik and TG 84.1. They lose 10 fighters at this point, giving me a window to sneak in fighters and attack what airborne transports I can. There is a column of them heading straight for what appears to be Keflavik, I got something waiting for them. But they begin dropping troops on the eastern end of the island. I was expecting that. Can’t do much about it, my fighters are almost out of fuel. Going to rely on my ADA coverage to recover as many fighters as possible. I have time, so I think…

Zulu 2145: four fighters of 57 Sqn begin to attack the airborne wave, others had to land or were too far away to attack before enemy Foxhounds would close in. It was a turkey shoot. By the time it was over, 10 An-22 Cocks and 15 Il-76 Candid Bs were shot down by 57 Sqn #11, #12, #15, and #16.
According to the loses and expenditures report, I may have destroyed several battalions of Russian airborne troops in the air.

WE’RE STILL IN THIS FIGHT!

Zulu 2200: A lull in the Battle for Iceland. All combat aircraft has been ordered back to Keflavik, with a few others prepping up in other bases. I sent a flight of Eagles north to take down brave enemy helos harassing the civilian shipping. It appears the enemy aircraft is either heading back home or remaining on station east of Iceland.

Zulu 0030: USS Jacksonville launched torpedoes at two ships from Kuznetsov Group. Adm. Zakharov (Udaloy-I) hit at 0041, the other missed the Adm. Chabanenko (Udaloy-II).
The Kuznetsov group remained stationary. I decided to add some distance to that group with the Jacksonville for a much later attack in concert with my Orions. It’s been quiet for now.

Zulu 0130: I received this message:
“Sir – the outer defense elements are under attack by BMD armored vehicles and are receiving some artillery fire. We have destroyed the last of the stores and gotten everyone we could out to safety. We even got several hundred out on small boats, although their fate in the North Atlantic in February may be worse than ours. Good luck - This is the END.”

WHAT! THE!!! YOU KNOW WHAT!!!!!!!

Final score: 561






SIDE: NATO
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------
1x Building (TV Mast)
2x Radar (AN/FPS-93A)
4x Radar (AN/MPS-14 HF)
1x Radar (AN/TPS-63)


EXPENDITURES:
------------------
36x 12.7mm/50 MG Burst [10 rnds]
5x 20mm/85 M61A1 Vulcan Burst [100 rnds]
211x 7.62mm MG Burst [20 rnds]
34x 81mm HE Mortar
12x AGM-84D Harpoon IC
116x AIM-120A AMRAAM
16x AIM-9M Sidewinder
26x AN/SSQ-53B DIFAR
33x AN/SSQ-53D DIFAR
84x AN/SSQ-62B DICASS
21x AN/SSQ-77A VLAD
37x AN/SSQ-77B VLAD
10x Generic Unguided Anti-Tank Weapon
11x MIM-104B Patriot PAC-1
2x MIM-23E I-HAWK
2x Mk46 NEARTIP Mod 5
2x Mk48 Mod 5 ADCAP
3x Mk50 Barracuda Mod 0 ALWT
7x RIM-66E SM-1MR Blk VI



SIDE: WP
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------
24x 7.62mm MG [Cargo]
18x 81mm Mortar [Cargo]
10x An-22 Cock
22x An-26 Curl A
4x Civilian RHIB [7m, Armed]
2x Forward Observer + Sensor Tripod (Generic Laser Designator) [Cargo]
18x Generic RPG [Cargo]
15x Il-76M Candid B
4x Il-78M Midas
16x Infantry Section [7.62mm MG/Unguided Infantry Anti-Tank Weapon] [Cargo]
2x Ka-25Ts Hormone B
1x Ka-25Ts Hormone B
14x Ka-27PL Helix A
5x Ka-27PL Helix A
3x Ka-29RLD Helix
8x MiG-23MLD Flogger K
10x MiG-31 Foxhound
1x PLA-671RT Victor II [Syomga]
1x PLA-675N Echo II
1x PLA-705K Alfa [Lira]
1x PLA-945A Sierra II [Kondor]
1x SKR Krivak II [Pr.1135M Burevestnik-M]
6x Spetsnaz Saboteur [Cargo]
8x Tu-16K-26PM Badger G Mod
2x Tu-16P Badger L
2x Tu-16RM-1/2 Badger D
6x Vehicle (Truck, Armed Technical) [Cargo]
10x Yak-141 Freestyle


EXPENDITURES:
------------------
58x 12.7mm/50 MG Burst [10 rnds]
13x 23mm AM-23 x 2 Burst [50 rnds]
141x 7.62mm MG Burst [20 rnds]
54x 81mm HE Mortar
6x AA-10 Alamo A [R-27R, MR TSARH]
1x AA-11 Archer [R-73]
3x AA-7 Apex E [R-24MR, SARH]
20x Generic Acoustic Decoy
26x Generic Chaff Salvo [4x Cartridges]
27x Generic Chaff Salvo [5x Cartridges]
3x Generic Flare Salvo [3x Cartridges, Single Spectral]
4x Generic Flare Salvo [4x Cartridges, Single Spectral]
57x Generic RPG
13x High Explosives
16x PK-10 Chaff [SR-50]
16x PK-16 Chaff [TSP-60U]
191x RGB-NM-1 [Passive Omni]
2x SA-N-4b Gecko [9M33M3]
10x SA-N-6a Grumble [5R55RM]



SIDE: Iceland
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------
1x Boeing 727-100



SIDE: Iceland Govt
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------
1x Building (Communication Hub)



SIDE: Suspect
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------
1x Commercial Large Trawler [1,250t DWT]

EXPENDITURES:
------------------
2x SA-7a Grail [9M32]
1x SA-7b Grail [9M32M]

bladesinger79 wrote: Wed Aug 31, 2022 12:45 am
I edited some of the scenario based on my prior results from earlier missions. One in particular was the removal of the Kuznetsov, as I sank that ship in Northern Fury #5. I also added a battalion of US infantry to protect the island. It did not make any sense to guard that valuable piece of property with just a company of US Marines and a handful of local volunteers without putting up a scrap to deny an easy victory to the enemy. I made the Orions into hunter killers, and that's pretty much it. The changes really didn't make much of a difference, as I shot down a ton of enemy fighters. I couldn't get a good approach to attack the Kalinov Group with the USS Jacksonville due to a lot of sonobuoys and ASW Helix-As around so that wasn't much of a factor.

Main issue here is that the scenario was balanced based on those assets being present, so the 24x Su-27s on the carrier would have made your air battle a little more of a challenge. Seems that it was a bit of a cake walk for you, fill your boots. The infantry didn't exist, the reserves destined for Iceland are in Kuwait at the moment (in real and Alt history). Fly in is complicated by the damaged runways and mobilization time.

In campaigns, I dislike fighting the same enemy units repeatedly. Just my thoughts on it. For fairness, I will not delete the Kuznetsov in NF #8 if it's there. Maybe I'll enjoy killing the same foes over and over more than I imagine.

What made this easy was the Patriot battery at Keflavik. Once I suckered the Foxhounds within range, I had 'em. Where I messed up was I panicked when the entire wave of Foxhounds came at me and retreated halfway to the States. I had anticipated there would be more than a squadron of them. Flankers don't scare me, Foxhounds do.

I'm still scratching my head as to how an entire airport can disappear when a handful of terrorists assault it and reappears in Central Russia. There wasn't anything I could have done. The defending infantry didn't make a difference on those vanishing airports. Ah well, war is hell isn't it?

Foolish actions on my part could have cut my forces down to unacceptable losses. I felt it was easy because all I really had to do was kill a few enemies and run away. Had this been a Hold-At-All-Costs scenario, it would have been far bloodier than what happened in Norway for NF #1 and NF #5. Had I been CINCLANT, I would have prioritized the defense of Iceland due to its strategic value. I would have dropped several battalions of ground troops, more aircraft, and had them dig in for the long fight.

(Hint, HINT...)

Gunner98, I have always enjoyed your input over the years. Keep 'em coming!

I agree that one of the most frustrating aspects of the Northern Fury series is having to repeatedly kill the same enemy units from one scenario to the next and, in Iceland, you ain't seen nothing yet!!

However, if you use the Editor to alter a scenario, you are not playing it as designed and this devalues the result. This doesn't mean you shouldn't if you want to (it's your enjoyment), but just saying...

Keflavik Capers is always going to be a defeat in real terms. It is a plot event and sets the scene for later scenarios. However, it is actually pretty hard to lose in game terms, as you can fairly easily extricate your forces (infantry apart) while inflicting disproportionate losses, as you did here.

Incidentally, I was interested to hear that the Alfa couldn't attack you from the depths. This makes me less nervous about facing them and less keen on playing a scenario where I control them, just to test them out. Sinking it was a real stroke of luck, though...