New Command scenario: Solomon Islands Incursion

March 26, 2014 · Posted in Command · Comment 

Database – DB3000
Author – Nick Dowling ‘NickD’

This scenario models a fictional Papua New Guinea Defence Force incursion into the Solomon Islands following a breakdown in negotiations between the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) and the Papua New Guinea government.

Situation

Following the breakdown in negotiations with the Bougainville Revolutionary Army earlier this year Papua New Guinea Defence Force units on and around Bougainville have been under considerable pressure from the rebel forces. The BRA has built up a small fleet of ships in recent months, and have succeeded in smuggling large amounts of weapons and ammunition through the blockade.

Until recently the source of these weapons and ships has been a mystery. However, a month ago a highly-placed source in the Solomon Islands parliament confirmed that the government has transferred stocks of weapons, ammunition and other equipment from the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force to the BRA. The RSIPF and BRA have also been sharing intelligence on PNGDF deployments.

It is believed that the main logistics centre for the BRA in the Solomon Islands is located on Nidero Island. The rear headquarters of the BRA may also be located on this island.

Objectives

The Papua New Guinea Cabinet has authorised a raid on Nidero Island to destroy the BRA facilities there. This operation is to be conducted by two platoons from the 1st Battalion, Royal Pacific Islands Regiment who have embarked on HMPNGS Buna.

Execution

Two patrol boats have been assigned to escort HMPNGS Buna to Nidero Island. A Nomad transport plane is also available to provide air cover.

It will take one hour to land the soldiers once HMPNGS Buna arrives off Nidero Island. The landing ship must remain within coordinates A-B-C-D during this period.

A section of the 1st Battalion, Royal Pacific Islands Regiment’s mortar platoon has also been emarked on HMPNGS Buna an can provide fire support for naval forces. However, most of the unit’s ammunition needs to be reserved for use on Nidero Island and only 40 rounds are available.

Enemy forces

The BRA is believed to operate two or three small armed fishing boats. If located, these should be engaged and destroyed. Any BRA smuggling craft which are sighted may also be attacked.

Both of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force’s patrol boats are believed to be at sea. They may be fired upon if they approach your force agressively. It is believed that the RSIPF has charted a small civilian aircraft to conduct maritime patrols.

Neutral forces

The Australian Government has learned of the upcoming raid from its intelligence sources. Australian diplomats have argued in closed-door meetings that the raid is an unessessary escalation of the Bougainville War, and have attempted to prevent it. It is expected that Australian Defence Force units will monitor the operation, but are unlikely to intervene. You may fire upon Australian units only if they attack your forces.

A large number of civilian fishing boats and other commercial ships are likely to be encountered. These may not be attacked.

New Command scenario: Changjiang Strike

March 26, 2014 · Posted in Command · Comment 

Database – DB3000
Author – ‘poaw’

USN vs. PLANAF

Date/Time: 22nd October, 2016
Location: South China Sea
Playable Sides: USN

Introduction

A Carrier Strike Group supported by submarines and strategic bombers launches a raid on the Changjiang nuclear power plant facility on Hainan Island. Clear away the Chinese CAP and IADS so the bombers can do their work.

Orders for Commander US Forces

Background:

You have been tasked with launching a carrier raid on the Changjiang Nuclear Power Complex on Hainan Island, in support of future offensive operations against mainland Chinese miltary facilities. Cripple it’s ability to provide power but do not attack the reactors themselves.

The island itself is heavily defended by both modern fighter aircraft and advanced SAMs, so you’ll have to attack it in stages. You may attack their airfields and related facilities at your discretion.

The B-2s will be taking off from Andersen AFB at 1020PM GMT and arrive over Hainan Island at approximately 0250AM GMT. They will be under your operational command for the duration of this mission.

Available Forces:

Submarine Forces:

  • USS Seawolf

  • USS Georgia

  • USS New Hampshire

Reagan CSG:

  • USS Reagan

  • USS Cape St. George

  • USS Momsen

  • USS Sterett

Aviation Assets:

  • 6x MH-60R Seahawks

  • 12x F/A-18F Super Hornets

  • 12x F/A-18C Hornets

  • 24x F/A-18E Super Hornets

  • 4x E-2C Hawkeyes

  • 5x EA-6B Prowlers

Rules Of Engagement:

You are authorized to take any offensive action you deem necessary against Chinese military assets in order to accomplish your mission, however you are NOT to destroy the reactors themselves.

Also, we’ve managed to secure overflight rights from most of our partner nations in the region with the exception of Vietnam. We can’t assure the security of their land border with China or promise any assistance in dealing with retaliatory attacks so they have to avoid provoking a response by staying officially neutral. Everywhere else in the AO is fair game.

Designer notes:

This scenario is intended for the player to use the the carrier’s air wing for screening hostile fighters  and then using jamming, standoff weapon capabilities, and TLAMs concurrently to destroy the IADS on Hainan Island to clear a path for the B-2s. You score points by:

  • Degrading the Chinese IADS capability (destroying SAMs and Radars)

  • Knocking out airfield runways

  • Destroying the facilities of the Changjiang Reactor Complex

You are penalized for:

  • Losing aircraft

  • Destroying the reactors

Touchdown: Command v1.03 has been released

March 21, 2014 · Posted in Command · Comment 

Arlington, VT, March 21, 2014 

Praised by both hobbyists and defense specialists, Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations has swept the wargaming awards since its release last September, including the Usenet Wargame of The Year 2013 and the gold medal for the Grogheads Game of the Year 2013 readers’ award.  However, the developers from Warfare Sims are still polishing this diamond.

Today is the culmination of nearly three months of constant refinements. The v1.03 update brings massive speed and stability improvements to an already rock-solid game and provides loads of new content in direct response to player feedback and requests. Brand new features enhance the level of realism of this advanced simulation and plenty of new weapons and platforms have been added to the giant database of the game.

Here’s a selection of the major improvements:

  • Soaring game speed with the new no-pulse (aka "Turbo mode") time mode.
  • Ironclad stability with hundreds of crash/bug/logic-flaw fixes.
  • Further realism features like realistic loadout drag & weight effect on fuel consumption ("Christmas tree" loadouts now have a price), enhanced weather effects and refined air-ops AI options.
  • Countless database & installation additions -  from WW2-era IJN aircraft and hypothetical Cold War units & weapons like the Yak-141, Ulyanovsk CVN, F-23 ATF, A-12 Avenger II, Super Tomcat 21 and "son of Phoenix" AIM-152 AAAM all the way to ultra-modern hardware like the MOP super bunker-buster, Club-K container-launched cruise missile, the UK’s Type-26 frigate, Russian Vityaz and Morfey SAMs and Chinese burgeoning air and naval forces.
  • Dozens of new community scenarios enhanced by the new features available at the WarfareSims download page: http://www.warfaresims.com/?page_id=1876

Download the update HERE.

Read the full release notes for v1.03 HERE.

Scenario bonanza! Sixteen new scenarios on updated community scenario pack

March 12, 2014 · Posted in Command · Comment 

Miguel Molina has released a new version of the Command community scenario pack. The updated pack includes sixteen new scenarios!

  • Indian Ocean Brawl (The War that Never Was), 1989 : The Soviet Indian Ocean squadron must hold out against vastly superior NATO forces as long as possible. How long can this modern Light Brigade survive?
  • Black Gold, 1985 : Greece and Turkey very nearly went to war in 1987 over oil exploration & drilling rights. This scen assumes a similar crisis erupts two years earlier, and this time the hotheads get their way.
  • Operation Gudrun, 2012 : Based on the book Midvintermörker (Midwinter Darkness) by Lars Wilderäng. Russian forces have mounted an amphibious landing at Gotland. Chaos rules. The surviving Swedish forces must counterattack or lose everything.
  • Operation Kaman 99, 1980 : Iraq’s first blow on the Iran-Iraq war, a massive two-part airstrike, has been absorbed with little damage. Now Iran prepares for a grand counterstroke.
  • The Migrant War, 2013 : Pakistan and Oman get serious on cross-border migrant disputes. It’s Viper-on-Viper time!
  • Yellow Sea Patrol, 1949 : With the Chinese Civil War in full swing, a pair of American destroyers conducts a cautious patrol of the Yellow Sea. Will this be just another routine patrol like every else?
  • Attack on H-3, 1981 : The Iranian AF’s masterful end-around raid on Iraq’s sanctuary airbase, one of the most impressive OCA strikes in air warfare history.
  • Kiwi Strike, 1998 : New Zealand’s upgraded “Kahu” A-4Ks have a big bite for their size. But can they reach out and touch a modern warship? The crew of the guided missile frigate HMAS Canberra are about to find out, in a strike & air-defence exercise.
  • In the Calmest Waters Swim the Ugliest Fish, 1985: The Swedes have long suffered from intrusions of unidentified foreign ships and submarines in their archipelago. The stakes are now raised – trespassers will no longer be tolerated. Weapons are hot.
  • Who’s Sinking Our Ships, 2014 : Mines have damaged/sank more ships than any other weapon since WW2. What do you do when you suspect you are losing ships to mines? How do you react to the threat? And what do you do if you chance upon the culprit?
  • Take it, Brave York, 1990 : The winter of 1990 has seen increased tensions between the Soviet Union and NATO, and fleets from both sides are scattered out to sea. With itchy trigger fingers everywhere, HMS York has been instructed to investigate an unknown submarine contact northeast of RAF Leuchars.  She is assisted by HMS Brazen and the submarine USS Dallas.
  • Splendid Rambler, 1968 : Australia and Indonesia duke it out around a brand-new Indonesian SIGINT station on Enu Island. Can Australian ships survive against a strong air & surface screen?
  • Smooth Trail, 1988 : Day Ten of World War III. Europe lies in smoking ruins. A Soviet amphibious group is detected in the Denmark strait. The only available assets to intercept it are a motley bunch of French ships and submarines and a pair of German Tornados. Are they enough?
  • Randolph’s Racket, 1954 : The Suez crisis explodes two years early. Egypt targets US-flagged vessels. An Essex-class carrier and its escorts intervene.
  • Novi Pazer Pursuit, 1999 : In the middle of the Kosovo air campaign, strike at Serbian army formations and destroy the bridges through which they intend to pass. And avoid harming civilians. Piece of cake? Maybe not.
  • Pyrpolitis 1/14, 2014 : A faithful recreation of a real maritime-strike exercise ran by the Greek air force. Can you punch through a strong fighter+SAM screen and eliminate the enemy task group?

As always, all scenarios are available on the Downloads section of WarfareSims: http://www.warfaresims.com/?page_id=1876

New Command scenario: Pyrpolitis 1/14

March 12, 2014 · Posted in Command · Comment 

Pyrpolitis (Firestarter) 1/14 was a COMAO exercise executed by the rapid-reaction elements of the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) in the early hours of Thursday, Jan 30 2014, as part of the the larger Astrapi (Lightning) 1/14 joint-force exercise. During the exercise, aircraft from multiple HAF airbases participated in assaulting a strong naval formation (and its air cover) off the island of Chios. This is a reproduction of the exercise scenario.

This is a small, simple but tough AAW & ASuW (maritime strike) scenario with a duration of 8 hours. Greece is the only playable side.

Designer Note: In the real exercise, the frigate Lemnos stood-in for the OPFOR naval formation, with several HAF F-16s simulating the OPFOR air cover. Since the scenario of the exercise describes “a powerful naval formation” as the OPFOR, a number of representative potential adversary naval & air units have been used to populate OPFOR assets. 

BRIEFING: 

* OPERATIONAL: IMMEDIATE * 

ATTN: Commander, HAF RR elements 

INTEL/SITREP 

A major OPFOR naval task force has taken up station between our mainland and the major islands of Chios & Psarra (ref points 1-4 on the map). Concurrent with movements of other OPFOR assets, it appears very likely that this force acts as the screen / sea-control element of a possible invasion action of one/both of these islands or any of the smaller islets in the area.

ENEMY FORCES

Enemy forces comprise of a number of main surface combattants, including a number of AAW-optimized frigates (likely AAW systems incl. SM-1MR, NSSM, ESSM). No auxiliary or amphib vessels have been observed in this group. Our EW radars have detected strong air cover for this group from what appear to be F-16Cs (likely weaponry AIM-9M/X, AIM-120B/C-7). Additional forward-staged AEW&C and tanker elements are likely to support the air umbrella.

FRIENDLY FORCES 

The rapid-reaction elements under your command consist of:

  • 4x EMB-145 AEW&C at Elefsina
  • 4x F-16C Blk52+ (SEAD – HARM) at Souda
  • 4x F-16C Blk50 at Nea Anchialos (AAW – AIM-120)
  • 4x Mirage 2000EG at Tanagra (ASuW – Exocet)
  • 4x Mirage 2000-5 Mk2 at Tanagra (AAW – MICA)
  • 4x F-4E AUP at Andravida (ASuW – Maverick-G)
  • 4x A-7H at Araxos (ASuW – Mk82)

MISSION

Use your available assets to cause maximum possible damage to the OPFOR naval force. Attrition to enemy air assets is welcome (particularly AEW/tanker elements) but is a strictly secondary objective. You have 8 hours to accomplish your mission.

EXECUTION

At your discretion. Be aware that the tight time window does not allow for many return flights (unless on light A2A loadouts) so most/all of the work will have to be done in one go.

COMMAND AND SIGNAL 

Command: ATA (Larissa)
Signal: EMCON State C (Unrestricted Emissions)

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