Scenario Design & Discussion

A new RAND report contains a number of hypothetical scenarios which are focused on aircraft carrier operations and which might provoke some ideas for new Harpoon scenarios (hopefully). The full report is here. China-Taiwan Crisis (2009) The government in Beijing waited until after the 2008 Olympic Games before taking a direct coercive approach against Taiwan. The motivation to take such direct action increased during the games, since the leadership in Taipei used China’s refusal to admit its team into the games as an opportunity to pronounce its “new national status” and virtually declare independence from the mainland. Within a month of the end of the games, Beij…

In conjuring up background information for a possible scenario. 2x Fighter Squadrons (VF) 24x F-14 A/B 2x Attack Squadrons (VA) 24x A-7E 1x All-weather Attack Squadron (VA) 12x A-6E and 4x KA-6D 1x Carrier Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 4-6x E-2C (Det.) 1x Tactical Electronic Squadron (VAQ) 4-6x EA-6B (Det.) 1x Air Anti-Submarine Squadron (VS) 10x S-3A 1x Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 6x SH-3G/H (Det.) 1x Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron (VQ) 1x EA-3 (Det.) 1x Light Photographic Squadron (VFP) 3x RF-8G This basic info was found on the web. Here

Rule #1 - Come up with a good scenario that hopefully all will enjoy. Rule #1a - Save often or suffer the ignominious loss of everything you have spent the better part of every waking hour on for the past week.

Labrador Lightning The 26th new scenario of the year! Labrador Lighting - EC2003 NACV The collapse of fish populations around the world due to overfishing has created serious international friction. This is particularly true in the Atlantic. More and more often, European fishing boats have illegally entered Canadian waters. Canada has attempted to resolve the issue via diplomatic channels, but without success. Two months ago, the Canadian people elected a new government. The new Prime Minister warned that Canada would deal harshly with illegal fishing. Barely a month later, Canadian warships sank three Spanish fishing boats in the Labrador Sea; …

AAR: Storsjoodjuret [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Brad Leyte Per Magnusson read the orders that had filtered down from Stockholm. Instead of patiently awaiting the imminent Russian attack, it was decided to pre-empt the Russian Bear and meet him at the fringes of Swedish airspace. Perhaps a show of force would be sufficient to get the New Russian Bear to withdraw his claws from Aland Island. "Yeah, and maybe Santa Claus will bring me the new Porsche that I’ve been dreaming about, too," Per thought. Per had not believed in Santa Claus for a long time, either. The fighter pilots scrambled from their airfields around the country and h…

After Action Report: United They Sail A scenario by Mark Gellis Transiting the Strait of Hormuz in a time of conflict is not a comfortable proposition. Particularly when one has to do so without the considerable force that can be brought by bear by Western air and naval firepower, both land and sea based. Thankfully, however, the UAE has decided to invest heavily in its self-defence, including procurement of the F-16E/F Block 60 Desert Falcon. Because of their presence, the Iranian F-4s, F-5s and even F-14s gave me very little trouble. It was the naval threat, and particularly the undersea threat posed by submarines and sea mines, that worried me. …

AAR: Thirst for Victory [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Brad Leyte The first order of business was to get some CAP [Combat Air Patrols] over the precious water supplies. The water tankers were coming in from India and their loss would spell doom for the nation. However, with Malaysia and Indonesia sitting on both sides of the transit route, that was easier said than done. It would be like travelling down a straw that might be squeezed by a giant fist at any time. I gambled and sent the Falcons from Brunei aloft right away. They were currently unarmed, but I had a feeling that I was going to their defensive / offensive punch ASAP. The so…

United They Sail - EC2003 IOPG Battleset The 25th new scenario of the year! United They Sail - EC2003 IOPG Battleset The Middle East has seen many shifts in alliances and political friendships over the years. Recently, Iran has become increasingly hostile to many of its neighbors in the region, which it describes as "puppets of the West." After the U.A.E. openly criticized Iran about its policies and suggested OPEC take action against Iran for its support of groups like Hamas, Iranian leaders threatened that the U.A.E. would pay for its "treachery." Author: Mark Gellis http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/FilesO...7s%20Scenarios/ This scenario re…

I ´ve reworked my Subhunt-Scen by using my db. The Original Scen was build with the HCDB. Get it here http://www.strategyzoneonline.com/fo...o=file&id=1104 Regards René

During the summer of 1975, on the Mecklenburg's coastline, a sport boat w/ 4 persons aboard managed to make its way free to the high sea, thanks to the cover of dusk, escaping security forces from the GBK in the process. Despite DDR's efforts, the sport boat managed to get to BGS's patrol boat. The East Germans asked to be brought onboard, as they wanted to go to the West. One hour later, 2 GBK rushed after the Duderstadt and tried to stop her. However, the BGS patrol boat managed to escape, aided by already being in international waters near west Germany. http://www.strategyzoneonline.com/forums/d...do=file&id=1091 Regards René

Some interesting web sites, for those looking for reasons why countries might go to war with one another... http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/...verfishing.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overfishing http://ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER/awr/dec99/Feature2.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in...sis/default.stm http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1128-04.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_resources I understand that the phrase "May you live in interesting times" is a curse. I fear that we may have some very interesting times ahead. Mark

Friends, A quick question... Do you know where I can find out... What countries are building (or are likely to be building) ships or planes for other countries (and who their customers are or are likely to be)? And... What countries are selling (or likely to be selling) older vessels and aircraft to other countries (and, again, who their customers are likely to be)? Thanks. Mark

AAR: Bad Moon Rising [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Brad Leyte I decided right away that recovery was too risky since there was virtually no possibility of air coverage of any of the surface elements. They would be too exposed in the heart of the Russian / Chinese strike range. I ordered the submarine tenders and rescue ships to stay well away from the Kuriles and gambled with the submarines. A CAP [Combat Air Patrol] was sent up to cover the Frank Cable. They were engaged by Flankers and returned fire when fired upon. It turned out that the Russians were going to be very sensitive to any and all flights in the northern Pacific and were "defend…

I was glad to see that the new HCDB includes more Coast Guard ships (and, in general, we've seen a lot of patrol boats added to the HCDB). But now I'm wondering how to use them in scenarios. They are, of course, for guarding the coast. So you send them after naughty fishing boats who violate our fisheries (although unless they have escorts, this isn't much of a challenge). Or you stop smugglers of one kind or another. By the way, I figured out one way to do a "rescue" mission. You can use a neutral Green vessel, without a programmed course, to represent the vessel that you have to save. You won't know where it is at first so you actually have to search for…

The 22nd new scenario of the year! Beida-La Boom – EC2003 MEDC History is full of interesting surprises. The mercurial leader of Libya, having made much of his reputation as a foe of the West, ultimately decided that the future of his country (and his own future) might be secured more easily by adopting a policy of moderation. He was promptly ousted and forced into exile. The new regime is openly hostile to the West. Its ultimate goal is to dominate North and Central Africa and it has started an aggressive campaign of purchasing weapons from nations such as China, North Korea, Russia, and Iran. In addition, it has purchased materials necessary for the c…

After Action Report: Crete Convoy A scenario by Mark Gellis So, I had to get a convoy through possibly hostile waters. Well, lotsa experience doing that, so her goes ... I had very little fixed wing air support, so that meant I would need to use my two helicopters sparingly and carefully. I moved into the Strait of Sicily at a decent cruise speed of 16 kt without energizing any radars or launching any helos. No sense in letting an enemy know my position too early ... It wasn't long, however, before I figured it was getting a little too dangerous to be cruising along blind. In fact, a neutral oil tanker had reported on open channels about being overflown by a …

AAR: Blame it on the Kellys [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Brad Leyte As the orders arrived from Canberra, all that I could think about was the poem that went, "For want of a nail..." When were the pongos ever going to learn that the pointy end of the spear is pretty damned useless without the beans, bullets, and gas needed to get them there? Now, due to a shortage of spare parts, no ASW helos could be operated from the frigates that depended so heavily upon them. Well, the bean counters finally got their way. I just hope that they are the same ones who have to count the bodies that result from their parsimonious conduct after this operation is ov…

Friends, In the past, I've focused on convoys and CVBGs in my scenarios, but I'm trying to figure out how to create more varied scenarios that are also realistic. At this point, I've reached the limits of my knowledge and I need your help! I apologize for any ignorance on my part, but I simply don't know the answers to these questions, and that's why I'm asking. I imagine in some cases it's simply "these were the ships in the area at the time," and this is what I've been doing for a lot of scenarios, but assuming there was time to put the ideal (or at least preferred) SAG or Phibron/amphibious group together, what's it going to look like? For exampl…

AAR: The Java Sea Incident [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Mark Gellis I had no idea where the convoy was coming from. Intelligence and my orders hinted that it might be coming around the east side of Borneo, but I could not be certain. Therefore, I had to plan for patrols on both sides of Borneo until it could be located. Even in the age of satellite photography, it isn’t easy to locate a convoy of ships that don’t want to be found. Tengah quickly launched her E-2 Hawkeye as it had the best sensors around. I couldn’t allow it to venture far from Tengah since her poor speed and the low loiter time available for her escorts would leave her easy pr…

21st new scenario of the year! The Java Sea Incident – WestPac. It is the early 1990s and Indonesia has become increasingly hostile towards its international neighbors. In the last six months, there have been several incidents in the region, including the sinking of a fishing boat the Indonesians claimed refused to stop when challenged by one of its frigates. Three weeks ago, two Singaporean A-4s were shot down when they strayed into Indonesian airspace. A large shipment of arms is on its way from Russia to Jakarta. Singapore and Australia are increasingly concerned about Indonesia and its long term plans for the region and have decided that this shipmen…