Warsim's Point

The object of this scenario is to destroy the three Libyan Scud emplacements located in the southernmost edge of the Gulf of Sidra with seven ships in two task forces, while losing no more than five planes and no surface units. When the scenario opened I could see that the batteries were protected by overlapping arcs of Sa-5 ‘Gammon’ batteries at Benghazi and Surt. My primary air asset is the CVS Garibaldi. Neither task force has any surface-to-surface capability, so this would have to be an air-strike.

Air assets are fairly limited. There are a fair number of ASW helos available, but only eight AV-8B Harriers available for CAP and ground strike. I decided to load six Harriers with GBU-16 1000lb LGBs, but that took two hours of ready time. In the meantime I sent up a Harrier with four Sidewinders for CAP.

Over the next few hours the Libyans threw uncoordinated air attacks my way. Fitters, Floggers, and Fencers showed up, and loitered at the extreme range of their Sa-5 coverage. I would send the Harrier after them, and usually shoot them down with a single missile.

I only had one ‘game problem’, which led to a big loss. I had sent my CAP Harrier up under the Formation editor AAW patrol zone. But at one point I had the Harrier selected, and hit ‘Formation Air Operations’. This immediately sent the Harrier back to the Garibaldi, with a full tank of gas and four missiles. Since the other CAP was getting re-provisioned I was left without cover. Sure enough, a Flogger F made a dash for it, and sank the FG Lugo.
Soon after that my strike team was ready. I ordered three separate Ground Strike missions, two planes each, EMCON none, one group to each emplacement. They had no trouble on the way in, but as they approached a bunch of new AAA showed up, as well as another even nastier surprise! As soon as each group dropped their loads and turned for home I re-set them to afterburner, very low. I still lost two planes before I had a chance to get low.

As soon as the remaining planes got back to the Garibaldi I was proclaimed victorious! Which is odd, since I’m pretty sure I wasn’t allowed to lose any surface units. A problem with the victory conditions?

I would have liked to have seen more ‘umph’ from the Libyans, maybe in the form of a coordinated air and ship strike. Also, why no subs? To tell the truth, I didn’t even bother putting out ASW patrols, since I knew from the description that none would be involved. It would have been nice to have that bug in my ear the whole time.

All in all, a lot of fun. I enjoyed figuring out just what kind of coverage the Libyans had in place, and puzzling over how to strike the Scuds.

Good AAR! I've always enjoyed this scenario though I haven't played it for quite awhile. Will be interesting to see how the new aircraft ready times play into it.

A good scenario for new Harpooners because it helps with the learning curve related to planning an airstrike. If I remember right there is a limited amount of time such that you won't get a chance to restrike. When I've played I always managed the Scud strike manually and avoided going straight in.

Cheers,
Steve