BRICS #3: Northern Moves (Part TWO)

BRICS Campaign - Scenario #3: Northern Moves (Part TWO)

A Harpoon Commanders Edition (HCE) scenario for the North Atlantic 2003 Battleset.

This scenario is designed for play by either BLUE or RED sides.

Scenesetter: (Taken from “The BRICS Conflict – A Brief History of the Third World War (2016 to 2018)”)

The 60-hours following the kick-off of Operation: Northern Moves was a global whirlwind of activity. Thouroughly out-matched, the Baltic forces of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland and the Baltic States were destroyed piecemeal by the naval and air forces of Russia's Northern and Baltic fleets. The Mistral amphibioous assault ships brokeout of the littoral Baltic Sea into the North Atlantic, where they linked up the the RFS Admiral Kuznetsov battle group. Russian air assets stormed over the region, laying waste to most of Norway and Swweden's air capabilities. Although most of the Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN) was sank in port, the RNoN's submarine force remained relatively undamaged, as several units were at sea conducting training with UK Royal submarines.

Canada was furious over the closure of the Northwest Passage (NWP). In response the US ordered the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CSG) into the region to force the issue. Within hours of changing course northward, a hail of submarine launched anti-ship missiles were vectoring toward the US Navy ships. More than half the missiles were stopped short of their intendd tagets, but those that made it through the layers of standard missiles, ESSMs electronic and mechanical countermeasures and CIWS slammed into two Arleigh Burke class DDGs, sinking them within minutes and the CSG's centerpiece itself. 'Give'em Hell Harry' was in a fight for it's life similar to the old USS Forrestal. More than half the embarked carrier airwing was decimated on the flight deck and hangar bay by missile detonations and the resulting fires. The carrier's LOX (liquid Oxygen) storage unit off the hangar bay was ordered jettisoned, before it could explode and completely destroy the ship. As the ship was fighting for its life, the remaining aircraft were launched from the bow catapults bound for the Azores. The fires took fully 48-hours to get control of and more than 1,000 people lost their lives in the attack and combatting the resulting damage. Still able to maintain a speed of twelve-knots, the ship began limping to Rota, Spain.

With the sweet taste of victory upon its lips, the Russian naval forces quickly moved to take advantage of the situation in the north. The heavy cargo shipped to Greenland contained Club-M missile batteries and advanced surface-to-air missiles systems. Russian Arctic forces quickly assembled the battery nearby, as a means of keeping the NWP closed to all non-BRICS forces. Jan Mayen Island was assaulted by SPETNAZ and airborne forces. The airfield was secured intact and Russian air assets quickly landed, ferrying in equipment to fortify the facility.

Without any viable means of defense, Iceland was quickly surrounded. It was agreed in the planning stage of Northern Moves, to jump past the island nation and let it appropriately whither. Once starved, amphibious forces loitering off the coast would conduct a landing, to capture it intact as well.

Submarines were the force equalizer in the opening days of the BRICS Conflict. Russia had pre-positioned many of its best units under the guise of a training exercise. In the opening hours of hostilities, several units screamed into the Atantic at highspeed, to begin interdicting shipping. At the same time, the US submarine fleet had avoided many of the budget cuts imposed by countless wrangling over the defense budget. Several units were in key positions around the world, as things went from bad to worse.

Russian Naval Headquarters in St. Petersburg:

Fleet Admiral Mikhail "Misha" Stanislav Petrovskiy was pleased with the progress of Northern Moves thus far. Casualties had been minor, but as they said in the west - you have to crack a few eggs, to make an omelet. Pity, one of them had been the Antyey class submarine Omsk. The Oscar II had successfully hit the American carrier group, but had been retaliated against. The guided missile strike platform was lost with all hands. The sailors had did their duty well - the carrier was severly crippled and limping from the field. If the Kuznetsov and Peter the Great could find it, it could be removed from the equation, before it reached the safety of the US base in Rota.

Studying a map of the Atlantic, he knew his current goal was driving a wedge into the ocean and preventing the US from resupplying its few remaining allies in Europe. Canada was a nusance. With the NWP closed and being fortified, the puny resistance by the US's northern neighbor would be inconsequential.

He picked up the telephone receiver and asked his assistant to come into his office. It was time to begin issuing the daily operational orders to the fleet.