Chains of War 8 - Taiwan Blitz 8/7/18

[fitzpatv]

Having secured Okinawa, China turns to settle accounts with Taiwan. However recklessly, Beijing calls for a high-altitude nuclear attack to generate electro-magnetic pulses (EMP) and thus destroy enemy sensors. In reality, this would risk retaliation in kind from the USA (at the very least) but this does not happen in this scenario. All Chinese sensors start switched-off to facilitate this gambit and minimise (but not remove) the risk of damage to them. You can only play the Chinese side.

The Chinese strategy is to intimidate Taiwan into surrender with a 24-hour blitz, destroying air defences, command and control centres and warships. Specified targets are five underground command bunkers, the presidential building and Kuomintang (KMT) Party HQ, a Pave Paws missile-tracking radar, 8 FPS-117 air defence radars, 6 Sky Bow and an unknown number of Patriot SAM sites, the Taiwanese Navy and at least 80 aircraft. Note that, despite suggestions to the contrary, it is not necessary to achieve all of these targets to win.

China has one battery of eight DF-31 nuclear missiles well-back near Guilin. Numerous batteries of conventional ballistic missiles are also available, along with coastal multi-launch rocket systems (MLRS), the latter having limited range.

At sea, the PLAN has deployed just two flotillas of Houbei stealth corvettes (12 vessels in all) in the Taiwan Strait.
Large numbers of aircraft are assigned to the operation. The only PL-15 equipped fighters are at Wuyishan and Nanchang, which are conveniently close to Taiwan. All other fighters have PL-12s and many are Firebirds with limited range. A proportion of the many Flankers and some Flounders are armed with Kazoo anti-shipping missiles or YJ-91 ARMs, but others are limited to short-ranged laser-guided bombs or worse. There are three bases with Badger bombers, loaded with KD-20 or KD-63 stand-off munitions, but the KD-63s (once switched from Reserve settings) won’t be available until late in the 24-hour scenario. In support, there are three Cub AEW planes, four Badger tankers, four Roaring Wolf OECM aircraft (one of which can’t be given a viable loadout) and a handful of fairly useless recon drones. Most aircraft are capable of night operations and the prevailing weather will not hinder those that require clear conditions.

Taiwan is very much alone against this onslaught, with no chance of American help, given the situation elsewhere. They have a large and fairly well-equipped air force, with essentially inexhaustible numbers of F-16, Mirage, Hsiung Ying and upgraded Tiger II fighters supported by a few Hawkeyes. The five Sky Bow III SAM sites (wrongly marked as Sky Bow II on the map) would provide decent coverage were it not for the EMP factor. They are backed-up by an older Sky Bow I/II site on an island off the Chinese coast, unknown numbers of Patriots and I-HAWKs, some shorter-ranged Antelopes and land-based Sparrows and eight FPS-117 radars, while a single Pave Paws site watches for ballistic missiles.

At sea, Taiwan has fourteen destroyers and frigates of dated US design in four flotillas around the coast, with four PCFGs and a PGM in reserve in port.

Finally, the Taiwanese have batteries of well-concealed Hsiung Feng III cruise missiles, which can counterattack against parts of China within 324nm of the island.

8/7/18 12:00L: At the outset, all Taiwanese radars are prudently off, so the EMP attack will only damage the sensors of the numerous aircraft on CAP (and probably wouldn’t affect any planes on the ground). I really don’t like using nukes and tried to think of a way to win without doing so, but eventually had to conclude that it was only a game and that I had little choice. Under the circumstances, it seemed best to use minimum force, so I launched one DF-31, aiming to airburst it over Taipei, cripple the enemy CAP and force more sensors to light-up. It was necessary to wait a few seconds for an initial OODA loop to expire before the Briefing instructions on using the nukes worked (note that the place to right-click to order the high-level detonation is the box in the bottom right part of the Manual Engage Targets screen, not on the left as you are told).

While I was waiting for the nuke to arrive, I destroyed an FPS-117 on Quemoy island, just off the Chinese coast, with an otherwise useless short-ranged MLRS battery, scoring 100VP. Another MLRS battery took advantage of the offshore Sky Bow I/II site having its radars off and steamrollered it with SY-400 rockets. Oddly, this scored nothing but it did remove a considerable hindrance to operations.

The nuke duly detonated over Taipei and might have neutralised a number of sensors. It was helped by the enemy switching lots of things on in response to its approach, which wasn’t smart of them. The downside was that some Chinese sensors were damaged, even though they were switched-off, as the EMP wave hit all of Taiwan and a considerable area of China.

13:00L: I followed-up with conventional ballistic missiles. Some took-out the KMT HQ and Presidential building for 100VP each, while others, supplemented by shorter-ranged BPS-12s, destroyed the Pave Paws site and five FPS-117s for similar awards. It was clear that a number of enemy fighters had been unaffected by the EMP, but they could do little to intervene and nor could any functional SAMs. Ballistic missiles are hard to stop. On the other hand, the underground bunkers were proving extremely hard to kill, as they were hardened targets, had 3,200DP each and the missiles were not really accurate enough.

There was a case for using the ballistic missiles to close runways on enemy fighter bases, but I chose not to. There were a lot of enemy bases, closing runways is a chancy business, I had a relatively limited supply of missiles and preferred to use them for things that scored points (which could also be done by shooting down fighters in the air). Had I known how hard it would be to destroy the bunkers, I might have chosen differently.

In the middle of this, I used a second nuke in the S of Taiwan over Kaohsiung. This, I concluded, would have to do, as one of my own Gargoyle coast defence SAMs was now inoperable (despite being turned-off) and damage was mounting on several other systems. Chances are that the Taiwanese suffered more, as the Sky Bows posed no threat for the rest of the game.

While this was going on, two Taiwanese Mirages flew too close to the Chinese coast and were splashed by Gargoyles (different site, set to fire at 20nm) for 10VP each. Our own fighters were keeping a low profile at this stage.

14:00L: The remaining two FPS-117s were eliminated. I now had just ten ballistic missiles left and opted to keep them in reserve.

Two more interloping Mirages were downed by Gargoyles. Chinese fighters scrambled to clear the skies over Taipei, using PL-15s to destroy 7 more Mirages and two F-16s without loss. The PL-15 remains a formidable weapon if used properly, but the latest (1307.13) update has tamed it somewhat. It is now best used at a range of 70-80nm, preferably at targets moving towards it. Any nearer and it will overshoot the target, lacking the time to come down from altitude. Much further and it will simply miss, as the target will have time to run or simply stooge around in circles and not be where the missile was aimed when it arrives. Getting this right is literally hit-and-miss. The best way to fight PL-15 armed planes (and probably US Phoenix and Russian Amos aircraft) seems to be to barrel in quickly to get inside the weapon’s ‘Goldilocks Zone’, preferably coming-in from outside its radar arc. If this is done, the PL-15 user will be completely unsuited to a close-ranged dogfight, with its backup PL-10s a poor substitute. It should, therefore, fire then gain range before turning for a second salvo if possible. By now, the score was up to +1,230 and Average.

15:00L: Another sweep from Wuyishan met with a heavy counterattack from Taiwanese fighters, which pursued over China. Much of the fighting took place over Wuyishan airbase and two Chinese PL-12 Flankers were lost for 25VP each. However, this was offset by the destruction of another 11 Mirages and three F-16s. The PL-12 has a dogfighting ability that the PL-15 lacks and can be used at 20nm against an oncoming target, but AMRAAM and MICA-armed planes can retaliate at these ranges, hence the losses despite a lot of safety-first evasion at Afterburner.

16:00L: Efforts to wear-down the Taipei CAP continued, with another 6 Mirages downed without loss.

17:00L: Yet more Mirages were engaged between Taipei and Wuyishan, nine being destroyed without loss. By now, China was beginning to run low on PL-15s, but the enemy fighters kept coming.

Taiwan launched a big counterstrike with Hsiung Yings, some in shipping-strike mode. These found and sank five Houbei corvettes but, somewhat questionably, this cost China no VP. I had been keeping them back against the coast, intending to use them later in co-ordination with a strike on the enemy fleet, but had trusted too much in their stealth qualities and the backscatter from the shoreline. I should probably have used them straightaway and ordered the remaining corvettes forward accordingly. During their sweep, altogether too many Hsiung Yings flew within range of Chinese SAMs and these put down 13 of them.

19:00L: As aerial clashes continued, the Taiwanese mounted a full-scale salvo of Hsiung Feng III cruise missiles, aimed at ammo shelters on mainland airbases. Over 80 missiles destroyed 10 shelters (which cost nothing and made little real difference, as China has plenty more and the key bases are out of range), though most were shot down by a frantic defence. This cost China more ammo in PL-12s and PL-10s expended than the successful strikes on the ammo shelters. Don’t use PL-15s against cruise missiles, as it is a waste.

This coincided with Flanker strikes on the Taiwanese squadron NW of Taipei, which sank a Kidd DDG, Perry FFG and Lafayette FFG for 100VP each, taking the score to +2,000 (still Average).

The second group of Chinese Houbeis was then attacked by Hsiung Yings and five were sunk. The last one made a futile attack on the enemy squadron off Makung Island, W of Taiwan, before suffering the same fate. The last Houbei, from the other squadron, was sunk soon afterwards while I wasn’t looking. Could have made better use of them...

20:00L: Flankers attacked the Makung Island squadron, damaging them all but sinking none. It seems that, under the latest settings, if an ARM hits and knocks-out a target’s radar, all subsequent ARMs fired at that target will miss. Realistic, I suppose, but another surprise rule change.

Used some BP-12s from an MLRS battery to destroy one of the Sky Bow III sites for 100VP. The enemy had no fighters around for once.

21:00L: Flankers sank two Perry FFGs off Makung, while covering fighters downed three Hsiung Yings.

Badgers with long-range KD-20s wrecked another Sky Bow III near Taipei, taking the score to +2,520 and a Minor Victory. Being a KD-20 Badger crewman is an easy duty – take-off, fire, go home, no risk.

Another four F-16s destroyed took the tally of Taiwanese aircraft over the specified 80 if helicopters on the sunken ships count, but there was no special bonus award.

22:00L: Some Flounders attacked the Taiwanese squadron NE of Taipei. As always, there were more fighters and the escorts failed to down any. Nevertheless, the strike crippled a Perry and damaged a Lafayette without loss.

A KD-20 strike took-out the Sky Bow III on Makung Island.

23:00L: Some deep-pursuit Taiwanese fighter sorties caused some dislocation, but enemy losses took the aircraft-downed count definitively over 80.

9/7/18 00:00L: A Taiwanese Tuo Chiang PGM unwisely appeared close enough to Guangzhou to be struck by Firebirds armed with LT-2 laser-guided bombs (which work at night). These sank it for another 100VP.

All this time, the enemy continued to send Hsiung Feng IIIs in ones and twos towards the Xiangshui Hsu airbase near Guangzhou. They gave the local Firebird squadron something to do.

Another KD-20 strike failed to reach the bunkers near Taipei, all missiles being stopped by fighters and SAMs.

01:00L: Taiwanese strike planes sortied, no doubt looking for Houbeis. Finding none, they circled and went home.

02:00L: Four Flankers with Kazoos sank a Perry near Makung and four Kuang Hua PCFGs with no meaningful air defence which had foolishly been left loitering in the Taiwan Strait. This scored a massive 500VP, plus more for fighters disposed of by escorts. At 3,400, the score was now a Major Victory and approaching a Triumph.

03:00L: Trying to seal the win, I fired my ten reserve ballistic missiles at a Sky Bow III in SE Taiwan, but only two hit. They really aren’t very accurate.

04:00L: A wave of 32 KD-20s failed to destroy two bunkers near Taipei. Escorts downed four F-16s, but the defending fighters were truly inexhaustible and four Hsiung Yings still managed to intervene. The Chinese were now completely out of PL-15s.

More frustration followed as two Flankers attacked the remaining Perry off Makung with Kazoos. All seemed well until the target went imprecise at the last minute for no accountable reason and the missiles failed to lock-on, flying past to be mobbed by Hsiung Yings.

06:00L: Ten Flankers from Quzhou, eight armed with a variety of Kazoos and two with YJ-91 ARMs, went for the ships NE of Taiwan. Four F-16s intercepted. Two were lured away over China by the YJ-91 planes while the Kazoo aircraft scattered and evaded them. This didn’t enable them to avoid the second pair of Falcons, but they got most of their missiles away and, freed of the burden, transformed into PL-12 fighters, outmanoeuvring and downing the defenders without loss before returning home. The Kazoos sank a Knox destroyer and a Lafayette frigate, while the third ship, a Kidd destroyer, later died of wounds inflicted by earlier attacks. The first pair of F-16s flew most of the way to Quzhou, threatening aircraft returning to base low on fuel or burdened by missiles, so four PL-12 Flankers took-off from nearby Wuyishan and overwhelmed them. Overall, one of the more exciting passages of play in the game. The AI’s NEZ firing policy makes it very predictable and it is quite easy to flee attacks on Afterburner, tire the opponent out and then close-in for the kill at deadly range. It might be better if designers mixed-up the AI fighters’ tactics a bit to make things more challenging.

08:00L: By now, it was a Triumph at over +3,500, but the scenario did not end. Two Flankers added to the margin by finishing-off the damaged Perry off Makung.

10:00L: The KD-63 Badgers were finally available, so I sent them against the elusive bunkers with four PL-12 Flankers to hinder intervening fighters. As it happened, the Flankers could not intervene properly due to the enemy interceptors being on Afterburner and impossible to catch and the danger from SAMs near the targets. Just two Hsiung Yings managed to destroy an impressive percentage of the 44 KD-63s with missiles and cannon and those that got through were unable to clobber the bunkers.

12:00L: The game ended as a Triumph, with a score of +3,900. China lost two fighters, 12 PCFGs and 10 ammo shelters. Taiwan lost 10 destroyers or frigates, 4 PCFGs, a PGM, 97 fighters, a Hawkeye, 7 choppers and 44 ground elements including 3 Sky Bow III sites, a Sky Bow I/II site, a Pave Paws and 8 AN/FPS-117s.

Overall, rather one-sided and easier than the scenario rating would suggest. Giving Taiwan 100VP for Houbeis would have evened things up a bit and exploited my only real mistake. China should have scored for the Sky Bow I/II. The bunkers are nigh-impregnable and it is probably better to use ballistic missiles and KD-20s on runways. Then again, this would deny China VP for aerial combat. The huge discrepancy here (despite the reduced-effectiveness PL-15s) underlines how the AI cannot handle A2A combat under the V.1307 settings.

[BDukes]

Thank you!

M

[wrgmlvr]

How to use EMP nuclear weapons？

[Schr75]

How to use EMP nuclear weapons？

You just BOL fire your weapon at the intended burst point.
In the weapon allocation dialog, right click the weapon and select "Special: High Altitude Detonation".

That´s it.

Søren

High altitude burst.jpg (167.65 KiB) Viewed 1240 times

[wrgmlvr]

Nice, it work, wow

How to use EMP nuclear weapons？

You just BOL fire your weapon at the intended burst point.
In the weapon allocation dialog, right click the weapon and select "Special: High Altitude Detonation".

That´s it.

SørenHigh altitude burst.jpg

[wrgmlvr]

Nice, it work, wow

How to use EMP nuclear weapons？

You just BOL fire your weapon at the intended burst point.
In the weapon allocation dialog, right click the weapon and select "Special: High Altitude Detonation".

That´s it.

SørenHigh altitude burst.jpg

[wrgmlvr]

Thanks all, it work. Bong...

Taiwan Blittz EMP.png (413.82 KiB) Viewed 1174 times