Red Bosporus 1988 - Pact invasion of the Balkans Scenario.

[FellingerXZ]

Posting this here too because i accidentally posted on a toaw forum section thats not modding related.

I present the Red Bosporus 1988 scenario, simulating how the Greco-Turkish militaries would fare against capable Bulgarian forces and Soviet troops from Odessa. I have done excessive research regarding OOBs and TOEs. Both POs are programmed, the complexity isnt that high, there are no more than 200 units on either side. And a full playthrough may take only some hours. This is my first scenario im confident to release to the Public. I have no problem with receiving feedback

PS:
The Greeks and Turk do receive some reinforcements but they are not really big enough, due to the fact Germany is a bigger priority. Thus you have to be crafty on where to use them

[rhinobones]

It’s an intriguing idea that when confronted by a common enemy Greece and Turkey would work together. I wonder if that would be because they are in an alliance or more worried about self-preservation, and that would be self-preservation of the government elites. I have a few suggestions as follows:

Both sides have a great many objectives located in the Aegean Sea. I doubt that the PO is smart enough to attack/defend/occupy island objectives. You may want to rethink the objective tracks. My experience is that if the PO’s formation starts in a port hex and its first objective is a port hex, it will probably transport units to the objective and then go on to the remaining inland objectives. The PO does not seem capable of island hopping.

And if the PO did attempt to move troops by sea transport, the PO is certainly not smart enough to protect the transports from aircraft/naval units set on interdiction.

I like that the scenario is a short 22 turns. It’s a scenario I can finish in a couple of sittings and enjoy to a conclusion. Personally, my maximum attention span doesn’t last more than 50 turns.

This comment is strictly a preference, so feel free to ignore it. There is an effect I call the Christmas Tree effect which happens when there are too many contrasting unit colors. Unit sides become confusing and require attention be paid to colors rather than movement/engagements. For me, this scenario has reached the threshold of a Christmas Tree. That Soviet and Turkish units are both shades of red, doesn’t help.
Suggest that you select two colors, shades of X for one side and shades of Y for the other. Sure, if there are formations that you want to specifically highlight use color ABC, but the point is that a player should easily and accurately distinguish good guys from bad guys.

I think the formation structure is good as it applies to a PO game. Looks like the maximum number of units per formation is about 7. If formations are much larger than 7 the PO tends to spread them out rather than act as a coherent military unit. Smaller formation size requires more work when assigning formation tracks, but you can assign individual formations with areas of responsibility as opposed to one big formation defending/attacking a single hex or objective.

Albania is in the upper West corner; you might consider giving them something to do since you’ve already made the map. Maybe give them a 0.30 probability that they’ll support NATO and a 0.30 probability that they’ll try to grab some Greek territory. A little uncertainty would be interesting.

You might also consider making a companion scenario where the Soviets invade Turkey thru the Caucasus Mountains, i.e. Georgia and Armenia. While the Turks are tied up in the Balkans a land grab in Eastern Turkey would seem opportunistic.

In all I think you have made an excellent first scenario. Look forward to seeing more.

Best Regards, RhinoBones

[FellingerXZ]

It’s an intriguing idea that when confronted by a common enemy Greece and Turkey would work together. I wonder if that would be because they are in an alliance or more worried about self-preservation, and that would be self-preservation of the government elites. I have a few suggestions as follows:

Both sides have a great many objectives located in the Aegean Sea. I doubt that the PO is smart enough to attack/defend/occupy island objectives. You may want to rethink the objective tracks. My experience is that if the PO’s formation starts in a port hex and its first objective is a port hex, it will probably transport units to the objective and then go on to the remaining inland objectives. The PO does not seem capable of island hopping.

And if the PO did attempt to move troops by sea transport, the PO is certainly not smart enough to protect the transports from aircraft/naval units set on interdiction.

I like that the scenario is a short 22 turns. It’s a scenario I can finish in a couple of sittings and enjoy to a conclusion. Personally, my maximum attention span doesn’t last more than 50 turns.

This comment is strictly a preference, so feel free to ignore it. There is an effect I call the Christmas Tree effect which happens when there are too many contrasting unit colors. Unit sides become confusing and require attention be paid to colors rather than movement/engagement. For me, this scenario has reached the threshold of a Christmas Tree. That Soviet and Turkish units are both shades of red, doesn’t help.
Suggest that you select two colors, shades of X for one side and shades of Y for the other. Sure, if there are formations that you want to specifically highlight use color ABC, but the point is that a player should easily and accurately distinguish good guys from bad guys.

I think the formation structure is good as it applies to a PO game. Looks like the maximum number of units per formation is about 7. If formations are much larger than 7 the PO tends to spread them out rather than act as a coherent military unit. Smaller formation size requires more work when assigning formation tracks, but you can assign individual formations with areas of responsibility as opposed to one big formation defending/attacking a single hex or objective.

Albania is in the upper West corner; you might consider giving them something to do since you’ve already made the map. Maybe give them a 0.30 probability that they’ll support NATO and a 0.30 probability that they’ll try to grab some Greek territory. A little uncertainty would be interesting.

You might also consider making a companion scenario where the Soviets invade Turkey thru the Caucasus Mountains, i.e. Georgia and Armenia. While the Turks are tied up in the Balkans a land grab in Eastern Turkey would seem opportunistic.

In all I think you have made an excellent first scenario. Look forward to seeing more.

Best Regards, RhinoBones

Thanks, Rhino Bones, for the review. I chose the colors out of what everyone is used to seeing these countries have from the other scenarios. The Soviets usually have that palette, and so do the Americans and mostly everyone else in the Scenario. I feel like I'm giving the scenario more of a soul when a country has its own palette rather than each side having only color.

I initially wanted to do something where the Greeks and Turks don't cooperate in the first turns, but I was not sure how to implement it besides tweaking some stuff in the formation support area. Besides having it be a house rule, I knew no one would follow it.

Looking back now, there is not much of a reason to put Albania into the scenario, i thought it would be interesting to see how a Greek player could react to getting overwhelmed by them, and then Italian reinforcements arriving. The chance of Albania intervening is like 30% and happens only if Salonica is captured.

The idea was that the VDV and Marines would do island hopping, but when testing them they would get weakened by the second or third island. And when an island was under attack, the idea was for Greek Paratroopers to reinforce the area and repel the Turks (that's why Greek airborne formations exist IRL).

My original vision was for this scenario to be more like a war simulation, rather than a balanced fun wargame. The scenario is honestly best played as NATO, because like you said, the NATO PO is dumb.

[FellingerXZ]

I have also considered to make a scenario version which takes place in Eastern Turkey and Soviet Caucasus. Which might also include together a Syrian invasion of Turkey to reclaim Hatay. My goal is to make something out of the unexplored parts of a WW3.