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Just wondering, some scenario descriptions are capturing in explaining the situations. Now I wonder if there is an overall plot why WW3 started on 20th July 1989.

The Soviets adopted a "use it, or loss it" mentality and try to save their crumbling empire?
1989
January : Soviet troops withdraw from Afghanistan
June : Poland becomes independent (Key event)
July: WW3 begins
September : Hungary becomes independent
October: After weeks of intense fighting, WW3 ends with both sides exhausted
November : Berlin Wall is demolished and East Germany allows unrestricted migration to
West Germany
December : Communist governments fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Rumania

I actually thought about writing a bit about that but, everyone has their own view and, in the end, the narrative can fit in anyone's view which makes it feel a bit more personal.

Having said that, I still think this series below was prob one of the closest to what could be the premise for something like this, where a series of what seem like small steps are actually massive escalations leading to an inevitable outcome that runs out of the control of everyone involved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War ... iniseries)

Almost forgot, there's an extra bit of colour some people might find interesting. Originally there was a scenario that occured before Lesson of War, it was called Toujours Pret, and was a very small fight between elements of the 2nd ACR and elements of the 900th AAB. The introduction to that scenario had a description of the start of the war:

On the evening of the 19th July 1989 the East German DFF had to replace ‘for technical reasons’ their hugely popular broadcast of Unser Sandmännchen. This was, rather peculiarly, replaced with a broadcast of an old episode of the rather unpopular (and unsuited as a replacement) Der Schwarze Kanal. Unbeknownst to NATO this was actually the final coded confirmation for the Warsaw Pact forces of the imminent attack that would start on the early hours of the 20th of July.

At the HHT of the 1st Platoon 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the first signs that something was wrong was when they found all of their communications jammed. Alarms bells rose immediately as communications with its own Troops were now severed. Shortly afterwards, the sound of low flying jets on a east-west trajectory could also be heard. As the HHT tried to re-establish contact with its superior HQ and with its Troops, the Bayerischer Rundfunk suddenly interrupted its broadcast of the new Münchener Freiheit single, Verlieben verlieren, and started announcing they were receiving alarming reports of enemy forces pouring into West Germany. Shortly, their broadcast ceased and silence filled the civilian radio waves.

With alarm now well and truly raised, it took some hours but HHT finally established contact with the nearest Troop, Apache, that reported refugees starting to arrive from the border areas. More alarmingly, some refugees reported helicopters dropping troops near a critical road junction, where the autobahn that linked Hof to Bayreuth and Nürnberg forked with the main road leading to Bamberg. This activity was confirmed by one of the Regiment’s aerial scouts. HHT took decisive action and instructed Apache Troop , with aerial support from the Nomad Troop to conduct an hasty attack of the commanding heights adjacent to the road junction.

The disparate settings, special ops, other theaters always get me when we start talking about an overall plot. There's an entire fantasy war we're waging here, and often there are components to it that I want to play out, but Flashpoint's scope simply doesn't cover them, particularly the naval operations. Sometimes I get events playing out in my head and find that I have to play an entirely different game to "play it out".

If there's a "Flashpoint Bible" or something of the like, I'd be very interested in reading it.

I feel like WW3 is so much more compelling as the last stand of NATO rather than the death throes of the Soviet Union.

The Soviets and Chinese formed strong alliance which led to the unification of Vietnam and Korea under Communist rule. Next, the Arab powers conquered Israel and Saudi Arabia. Choking off the oil and the Suez Canal.

The string of victories and political victories of Communist parties in Europe has lead the USSR to seize on NATO's weakness. A few quick victories in a lightning war could cause the entire house of cards to collapse.

Seems more interesting than "Desert Storm in Europe".