Falklands Bonus Scenario 2 - Operation Mikado 24/5/82
Posted: Mon May 26, 2025 3:44 pm
With a hypothetical order of battle, the British respond to the sinking of HMS Sheffield by attacking the Rio Grande air base in Patagonia, where the Exocet-carrying Super Etendards were based. You can only play the British side.
Some 240nm E of the base, the main British force (TG 317.8) consists of the carrier Duke of Edinburgh, two destroyers, four frigates, an oiler and a supply ship. The carrier can field Buccaneers, Phantoms, a few F-14As, Hawkeyes and ASW choppers.
40nm SE of Tierra del Fuego, the cruiser Tiger (with helicopter deck) and two frigates is tasked with delivering a small force of SBS commandos to the vicinity of Rio Grande. Covering them rather uncertainly to the SE are two old Leander-class frigates.
The SSN Spartan is patrolling to the S of Tierra del Fuego and the diesel sub Onyx is 45nm NE of Rio Grande.
Chile is Friendly to the UK and has made the Chabunco air base, near Punta Arenas, available for covert operations. A British recon Canberra is based there alongside a variety of Chilean aircraft (which play little part in the game, like two destroyers and a frigate that Santiago has patrolling SW of Patagonia).
For Argentina, the carrier 25 de Mayo is at sea with two Type 42 destroyers and an oiler. Two Sumner-class destroyers and a patrol boat are screening Rio Grande. Most of the aircraft types used by the Argentines during the conflict are represented across the various Patagonian bases.
Peru is sympathetic to Argentina and has sent a cruiser, destroyer and corvette to the region S of Tierra del Fuego. The corvette is an Italian-built Lupo with eight Otomats and constitutes a significant threat if it gets within range, as does a German-made diesel sub, the Angamos. Whitehall’s orders are not to engage the Peruvians except in self-defence, which potentially makes the sub even more dangerous.
24/5/82 21:00L: I was quite nervous about how this would play-out after the bugs I’d encountered in Bonus Scenario 1. It seemed highly-advisable to avoid the Peruvians, so the two exposed frigates were sent NE at Flank to get out of the way, while the Tiger group aimed to dash in, land the SBS and then follow in the direction of TG 317.8. A complication was the presence of numerous Argentine fishing boats, which could be expected to report our position. It didn’t seem like cricket to fire on them...
All fighters were set to Shotgun (contrary to my normal practice) to improve their chances of going RTB when required. Since I didn’t believe I could trust iron bombs, the intention was to use SEAD and AJ.168 Martels for the strikes (we also had four Paveway-equipped Buccaneers, but they would have to wait for dawn before they could attack, as the weapons are day-only).
As the Sea Kings took-off from Tiger with the SBS, we had a message to say that an Argentine C-130 transport had left San Julian in Northern Patagonia with a cargo of Exocet parts for Rio Grande (supplied by the Peruvian government). We were ordered to shoot it down, so I launched two F-14s with Phoenixes to do the job.
The Argentine carrier and escorts were detected nearly 200nm NW of TG 317.8, with considerable air activity apparent in the region.
The lead F-14 was intercepted by a pair of Mirages and, though it downed one (20VP) and damaged the other, the one shot the Argentines got-off disposed of the Tomcat, costing 20VP. The second F-14 succeeded in catching the Hercules for 70VP, evading another duo of Mirages and RTB’ing without buggy problems, but this turned Peru Hostile.
22:00L: One recon and three SEAD Buccaneers reached Rio Grande and destroyed its radar for 50VP, taking the score to +120 and a Minor Victory. No SAMs were detected, just a couple of AA batteries that went dark before we could fire on them. The SEAD Buccaneers, with good endurance, circled and waited.
The two Sea Kings from Tiger dropped their commandoes (I had to specify Minimum Altitude before they would do so). I then switched the choppers’ base to Chabunco, which they reached without problems, helping the Tiger group to get clear.
A carrier-based Grumman Tracker MPA approached TG 317.8, got lucky against a Phantom but pushed its good fortune and was downed by a Sea Dart for 20VP.
23:00L: It was proving impossible to acquire any targets at Rio Grande in the low cloud and rainy night, either with the SBS or the recon Buccaneer, which was sent home. Instead, the SBS used their 81mm mortar to scatter ammo blindly around the various parking spaces, revetments and hangar. This was a great success and accounted for two Daggers for 20VP each and three of the precious Super Etendards for 70 each. The score flew up to +390 and the game declared a UK Victory. I decided to play on regardless.
The SEAD Buccaneers used their remaining Martels on the two Sumner-class destroyers, Hipolito Bouchard and Piedra Buena, leaving both seriously the worse for wear. All aircraft then RTB’d OK.
25/5/82 00:00: Another Tracker was downed by a Phantom.
01:00: A Buccaneer sank the crippled Hipolito Bouchard with iron bombs – which, to my great relief, actually worked!!. Another 60VP.
The submarine Onyx then stalked and finished-off the Piedra Buena for 60 more.
To my astonishment, the Peruvian sub Angamos suddenly turned-up NW of TG 317.8, nowhere near the Peruvian surface group, which was labouring along S of Cape Horn. As she was doing Flank at depth, I felt justified in claiming self-defence and she was sunk with an Ikara from the destroyer Bristol, not that it scored anything.
Another Tracker was destroyed NW of the task group.
05:00L: With the two carrier groups closing, an F-14 engaged the 25 de Mayo’s CAP and downed a Skyhawk.
06:00: Three SEAD Buccaneers attacked the 25 de Mayo group, trying to get behind the two Type 42’s and exploit the gap in their Sea Dart coverage, but the Argentine ships improbably spun like tops to repel the attacks.
07:00L: An F-14 downed two more Skyhawks from the Argentine carrier. Two more had ditched for some reason, somewhere on the map.
09:00L: Lacking the firepower to penetrate the Sea Dart defences, I kept my distance to round-off a Triumph, with a score of +650.
The UK lost one fighter.
Argentina lost 2 destroyers, 3 Super Etendards, 8 other fighter/attack planes, 3 MPAs, a transport plane and a radar, while Peru lost a sub.
No bugs this time!. This leaves what happened in Empire Strikes Back as something of a mystery – perhaps the problems really were scenario-specific, though goodness knows how or why. I’ll be keeping a wary eye out for this kind of thing next time I play.
Overall, Falklands is a relatively easy, low-complexity DLC, which is good, as new players need something like this to cut their teeth on and it also provides some light relief for the more experienced. Death Valley was undoubtedly the most difficult challenge, though Handbrake can be lost to flukish bad luck, as happened in my first playthrough. The low point was Pebble Island Raid, rivalled by the buggy Empire Strikes Back.
So, I’ll be moving-on to Pacific Fury next and alternating this with the various Command:LIVE scenarios.
Some 240nm E of the base, the main British force (TG 317.8) consists of the carrier Duke of Edinburgh, two destroyers, four frigates, an oiler and a supply ship. The carrier can field Buccaneers, Phantoms, a few F-14As, Hawkeyes and ASW choppers.
40nm SE of Tierra del Fuego, the cruiser Tiger (with helicopter deck) and two frigates is tasked with delivering a small force of SBS commandos to the vicinity of Rio Grande. Covering them rather uncertainly to the SE are two old Leander-class frigates.
The SSN Spartan is patrolling to the S of Tierra del Fuego and the diesel sub Onyx is 45nm NE of Rio Grande.
Chile is Friendly to the UK and has made the Chabunco air base, near Punta Arenas, available for covert operations. A British recon Canberra is based there alongside a variety of Chilean aircraft (which play little part in the game, like two destroyers and a frigate that Santiago has patrolling SW of Patagonia).
For Argentina, the carrier 25 de Mayo is at sea with two Type 42 destroyers and an oiler. Two Sumner-class destroyers and a patrol boat are screening Rio Grande. Most of the aircraft types used by the Argentines during the conflict are represented across the various Patagonian bases.
Peru is sympathetic to Argentina and has sent a cruiser, destroyer and corvette to the region S of Tierra del Fuego. The corvette is an Italian-built Lupo with eight Otomats and constitutes a significant threat if it gets within range, as does a German-made diesel sub, the Angamos. Whitehall’s orders are not to engage the Peruvians except in self-defence, which potentially makes the sub even more dangerous.
24/5/82 21:00L: I was quite nervous about how this would play-out after the bugs I’d encountered in Bonus Scenario 1. It seemed highly-advisable to avoid the Peruvians, so the two exposed frigates were sent NE at Flank to get out of the way, while the Tiger group aimed to dash in, land the SBS and then follow in the direction of TG 317.8. A complication was the presence of numerous Argentine fishing boats, which could be expected to report our position. It didn’t seem like cricket to fire on them...
All fighters were set to Shotgun (contrary to my normal practice) to improve their chances of going RTB when required. Since I didn’t believe I could trust iron bombs, the intention was to use SEAD and AJ.168 Martels for the strikes (we also had four Paveway-equipped Buccaneers, but they would have to wait for dawn before they could attack, as the weapons are day-only).
As the Sea Kings took-off from Tiger with the SBS, we had a message to say that an Argentine C-130 transport had left San Julian in Northern Patagonia with a cargo of Exocet parts for Rio Grande (supplied by the Peruvian government). We were ordered to shoot it down, so I launched two F-14s with Phoenixes to do the job.
The Argentine carrier and escorts were detected nearly 200nm NW of TG 317.8, with considerable air activity apparent in the region.
The lead F-14 was intercepted by a pair of Mirages and, though it downed one (20VP) and damaged the other, the one shot the Argentines got-off disposed of the Tomcat, costing 20VP. The second F-14 succeeded in catching the Hercules for 70VP, evading another duo of Mirages and RTB’ing without buggy problems, but this turned Peru Hostile.
22:00L: One recon and three SEAD Buccaneers reached Rio Grande and destroyed its radar for 50VP, taking the score to +120 and a Minor Victory. No SAMs were detected, just a couple of AA batteries that went dark before we could fire on them. The SEAD Buccaneers, with good endurance, circled and waited.
The two Sea Kings from Tiger dropped their commandoes (I had to specify Minimum Altitude before they would do so). I then switched the choppers’ base to Chabunco, which they reached without problems, helping the Tiger group to get clear.
A carrier-based Grumman Tracker MPA approached TG 317.8, got lucky against a Phantom but pushed its good fortune and was downed by a Sea Dart for 20VP.
23:00L: It was proving impossible to acquire any targets at Rio Grande in the low cloud and rainy night, either with the SBS or the recon Buccaneer, which was sent home. Instead, the SBS used their 81mm mortar to scatter ammo blindly around the various parking spaces, revetments and hangar. This was a great success and accounted for two Daggers for 20VP each and three of the precious Super Etendards for 70 each. The score flew up to +390 and the game declared a UK Victory. I decided to play on regardless.
The SEAD Buccaneers used their remaining Martels on the two Sumner-class destroyers, Hipolito Bouchard and Piedra Buena, leaving both seriously the worse for wear. All aircraft then RTB’d OK.
25/5/82 00:00: Another Tracker was downed by a Phantom.
01:00: A Buccaneer sank the crippled Hipolito Bouchard with iron bombs – which, to my great relief, actually worked!!. Another 60VP.
The submarine Onyx then stalked and finished-off the Piedra Buena for 60 more.
To my astonishment, the Peruvian sub Angamos suddenly turned-up NW of TG 317.8, nowhere near the Peruvian surface group, which was labouring along S of Cape Horn. As she was doing Flank at depth, I felt justified in claiming self-defence and she was sunk with an Ikara from the destroyer Bristol, not that it scored anything.
Another Tracker was destroyed NW of the task group.
05:00L: With the two carrier groups closing, an F-14 engaged the 25 de Mayo’s CAP and downed a Skyhawk.
06:00: Three SEAD Buccaneers attacked the 25 de Mayo group, trying to get behind the two Type 42’s and exploit the gap in their Sea Dart coverage, but the Argentine ships improbably spun like tops to repel the attacks.
07:00L: An F-14 downed two more Skyhawks from the Argentine carrier. Two more had ditched for some reason, somewhere on the map.
09:00L: Lacking the firepower to penetrate the Sea Dart defences, I kept my distance to round-off a Triumph, with a score of +650.
The UK lost one fighter.
Argentina lost 2 destroyers, 3 Super Etendards, 8 other fighter/attack planes, 3 MPAs, a transport plane and a radar, while Peru lost a sub.
No bugs this time!. This leaves what happened in Empire Strikes Back as something of a mystery – perhaps the problems really were scenario-specific, though goodness knows how or why. I’ll be keeping a wary eye out for this kind of thing next time I play.
Overall, Falklands is a relatively easy, low-complexity DLC, which is good, as new players need something like this to cut their teeth on and it also provides some light relief for the more experienced. Death Valley was undoubtedly the most difficult challenge, though Handbrake can be lost to flukish bad luck, as happened in my first playthrough. The low point was Pebble Island Raid, rivalled by the buggy Empire Strikes Back.
So, I’ll be moving-on to Pacific Fury next and alternating this with the various Command:LIVE scenarios.