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Ouessant Relay, 2026 — The Ushant Handover
Europe 2026 campaign, scenario 2 · CMO v1.09 build 1825.15 · DB3000 v515

It is built on real events of 2025–2026: the Royal Navy handing escorted Russian groups over to allies off Ushant, and the French boardings of shadow-fleet tankers. A boarding under Russian military escort has not happened yet. That is the scenario's hypothesis. The units and bases are real; the tankers, the task group, the order and all intelligence are fiction.

The situation

At dawn a Royal Navy frigate hands you a Russian group at the top of the Ushant traffic scheme: the frigate Neustrashimy, the replenishment ship Akademik Pashin and three laden tankers, ten knots, heading south-west.

One of the tankers is sailing under a false flag. She has no nationality, and she is the only one France may lawfully board on the high seas. One is sanctioned but properly flagged, so her flag state decides. The third went over to the Russian flag eleven days ago, and whoever puts a team on her deck starts something nobody in Paris wants to finish. Which is which is drawn again every game.

The escort does not shoot. She crosses your bows at 400 m, locks her fire-control radar on anything that comes too close, and sticks to her convoy for as long as it holds together. It won't hold together all day. Meanwhile an intelligence ship waits west of Brest, a submarine may be heading for the approaches, and an autumn gale is coming in from the Atlantic. It takes the boats first, then the helicopters. And in Paris, a government that can fall before the day is out is watching the news.

What you command

Task Group 471.1, for the Préfet maritime de l'Atlantique:

• the FREMM Bretagne and the aviso Premier-Maître L'Her
• two Atlantique 2 and a Falcon 2000 Albatros
• a Caïman Marine and the one Commando Hubert team you have
• the emergency tug Abeille Bourbon

Weapons tight in every domain. France does not fire first, and a Russian-flagged ship is never boarded.

What makes it different

• A legal puzzle, not a shooting match. CMO has no model for a flag registry check, a question to Moscow, an authorisation from Paris, an order to stop, warning shots, a boarding by helicopter or by boat, a report or a cabinet. Here they are Special Actions, each with its own conditions, and most of them act on the tanker you select on the map.
• A different answer every game. The flags of the three tankers, the side threats and the timings are drawn at the first minute, so replaying it is a new problem each time.
• A political layer. Every decision moves the French government's standing, and it can fall before you run out of time.
• Weather that matters. The gale closes your options one by one, so timing counts as much as tactics.
• Part of a campaign. It inherits the government's state, the Russian posture, the NATO reinforcement pool and the intelligence handed on by CTF-401 Baltic Sentinel, 2026, and passes them on in turn. It also plays fine on its own.

Specs

• Start 22 October 2026, 0600Z. Duration 24 hours, about 4–5 hours of play at compressed time
• Iroise Sea, Ushant traffic separation scheme, Brest approaches
• Playable side: France. About 30 units at the start, a handful under your orders, and fifteen decisions that are not on the map
• Complexity 3/5, difficulty 4/5. Technically moderate, legally and politically unforgiving

What you get

The .scen file and a Mission Pack. That is a briefing pack (the situation, the law of the high seas, the three tankers, your forces, the weather, a guide to the Special Actions, the ROE) and a full operation order, OPORD 26-031 Operation HERMINE, with its overlays. Please read the briefing before you start: the scenario cannot be played without the Special Actions menu.

Download:
Ouessant Relay, 2026 (scenario file)
The Mission pack intelligence
The Steam workshop link

Feedback is very welcome. If something breaks, please post the CMO log file and the debrief text.

— totobimbo