Scenario Design & Discussion

Relations between the Ukraine and Russia have degraded into a shooting war after a prolonged dispute over gas supplies. Elements of the US-Eastern European Task Force (EETAF), established at a forward location in Romania, are being called into action to support and defend the West friendly government in Ukraine. Grab it at the HC Scen/AAR page.

The worst case scenario for Sweden has just come to pass. Failed promises of prosperity after EU integration, combined with persistent high unemployment, have suddenly brought down the government in Finland and replaced it with one friendly to an aggressive Russian Federation. Russian armed forces have been granted access to Finnish airspace and territory as part of a mutual defence pact. This includes the Aland Islands, which are rumoured to have been "leased" (some say sold) to Russia, and already military forces are reported to be digging in around the islands and constructing fortifications there. This is extremely alarming to Sweden, whose protests have gone unanswer…

A growing dispute between Indonesia and Papua-New Guinea about rights to a newly discovered uranium deposit on their mutual border has led to the intervention of China and Australia on opposite sides. China, eager to gain access to the uranium, has sent a sizeable force into the region to support the Indonesian claim. Indonesia has likewise shifted considerable military assets eastward into the disputed area. Overflights of Papua-New Guinea airspace by unknown (and presumably Chinese) aircraft have already been reported. Meanwhile, Australia is moving to support its old colony, and New Zealand is pledging assistance. Grab it at the HC Scen/AAR page.

The European Union has long been unhappy with American economic and military sanctions against the People's Republic of China. In recent years, the EU has grown increasingly concerned that the sanctions were unduly stifling European prosperity by blocking access to a huge market. The EU continued to bring diplomatic pressure to bear on Washington as the sanctions dragged on, hoping that eventually they would be lifted. Instead, when American intelligence community insisted that it had discovered an apparent link between China and the Iranian nuclear weapons program, the sanctions were tightened, much to the chagrin of the EU. The focus has now shifted away from diplomacy,…

The relationship between Singapore and Malaysia has never been particularly great, due in large part to historical sensitivities, some stemming from the time of their separation in 1965. Diplomatic level interventions by Australian in the 1980s (through the Five Power Defence Arrangement, or FPDA) helped to encourage better dialogue and cooperation, particularly in defence matters, but there remains an underlying friction between Singaporeans and Malays. Modern era difficulties include unresolved territorial and airspace disputes, customs and immigration issues, new cross-border bridges and railways, and the continued reliance of Singapore upon fresh water supplies from M…

Friends, Again, I'm brainstorming for scenarios. Here's the basic idea I'd like your input on... Nation A has either collapsed or slowly sunk into full scale civil war, with Side X fighting Side Y. Nation/Coalition B has chosen to openly support Side X and/or believes Side Y is responsible for terrorism, crimes against humanity, etc. Nation/Coalition C objects! They might try to intercept outside forces from attacking Side Y. (This actually gives us three different kinds of scenarios...Stage 1) A/X vs. A/Y, perhaps with B offering very limited support/intelligence, Stage 2) A/X and B vs. A/Y and Stage 3) A/X and B vs. A/Y and C. And, of course, Bl…

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 …

Friends, As always, I am looking for ideas for new scenarios. Here is a generic idea that could be fleshed out in a lot of ways; I would like to see your ideas about possible variations. It all starts when country A does (or appears to do) something really annoying or even frightening to country B. Country B has a big enough navy to give it a regional or global reach, so it promptly blockades some or all of country A's major ports. Country B figures that the economic woes caused by the blockade will even the score (and, if all goes well, without bloodshed). Unfortunately, things do not go well. One of two things happen... 1) Country A decides t…

The 2nd new scenario of the year! Not even one week into the new year and Mark Gellis has published a second scenario for the Harpoon community to enjoy. At this rate, I shudder to think how many great scenarios he will produce in the upcoming year. Thanks for sharing another game with us. Crete Convoy - EC2003 MEDC Battleset It is 1990 and the world is at war. America and its allies are gradually preparing to liberate Iran from the Soviet Union, which invaded that country earlier this year. Several allies of the Soviet Union have declared their support for the Soviet invasion. Blue Orders: Convoy AAS (Flag Robison) should proceed to the waters o…

AAR: Black Valour A scenario by Mark Gellis Romania was unhappy with Turkey, and its big brother, Ukraine, had promised to show up on the playground if there was any trouble. This time, the playground was the Black Sea. Realizing that a large portion of my front line TuAF fighters (F-16 and F-4) were sitting on the tarmac with no weapons loaded, I immediately set about arming them for air-to-air and suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) missions respectively. The ex Perry class frigate Gediz and a pair of FPB57 fast attack craft were patrolling in the western Black Sea, but I did not want to reveal their positions just yet by energizing their radars. Rathe…

The 57th new scenario of the year has just been released! Black Valour - EC2003 MEDC Battleset A few years in the future... Tensions between Turkey and its neighbors in the Black Sea region have increased during recent years. The causes have ranged from trade issues to environmental concerns. Romania has been among the most vocal in its protests against Turkey, going so far as to threaten the use of force if Turkey continues to interfere with its international agenda. The situation has been made more serious because Ukraine has declared itself a guardian of the slavic Black Sea nations and has made it clear that Turkish aggression against any of these na…

AAR: Stage Fright [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Brad Leyte Barrackpore was just launching its routine patrols when a hangar containing three aircraft exploded in flame. INCOMING! There had been no warning whatsoever. So, the Chinese were trying to implement their own version of Pearl Harbour. Well, we would teach them, the Bangladeshis, and the Burmese that their new friends in Beijing are a long ways away. Port Blair was looking pretty exposed and understrength so all Flankers from Bangalore were immediately ordered to ferry over to bolster her defences. Airborne radar coverage over the Eastern provinces was desperately need…

AAR: Crimean River [spoiler Alert] By Brad Leyte The loss of weapons-grade nuclear material is the greatest modern-day fear of most Western leaders. That fear would become a reality if this mission were to fail. With only four Harriers in the entire operation, the heavy lifting was going to be left up to the pilots of the helicopter gunships and the Marines and Special Operations troopers in their slicks / Osprey. The Harriers were launched in order to clear a path for the air assault elements. Unfortunately, the pair of Harriers assigned to Simferopol air base declared mechanical problems and immediately returned to base. This meant that 50% of the …

Finished up Mark Gellis' latest scenario, Hungry Lion, last evening. Here's a short AAR: This is a traditional convoy scenario, in which you (as the Blue player) are tasked with moving a large number of ships across the pond (i.e. the Atlantic) from CONUS to Europe. It is also primarily a submarine warfare scenario, and like all traditional ASW, tended to comprise long periods of little activity punctuated by moments of sheer terror. The submarine threat to my convoy(s) was very real from the outset. Though I managed to escape the loss of any of my "merchies", the escorts suffered for their efforts in probing the unknown waters ahead. Shore based maritime patr…

Here are some rambling observation from toying around with the SE. Is the ALQ-164 ECM Pod found on the AV-8B II+ supposed to give relatively long ranged jamming support? I will double check tonight actual distances, but it was in fact “jamming” enemy radars. I had a neutral EW Su-24MR flying in a patrol status directly above a neutral Jask Iran. The Su jammed everybody, and Blue had no opportunity to suppress it. Mines were easily detected, engaged, and destroyed. Should mines be successfully engaged by helo launched torpedoes and/or surface ship anti-sub stand-off weaponry? Is their a way to tweak them so that it would require more specialized detection a…

If I select a base in the SE, Jask Iran for example, am I restricted to only adding Iranian Aircraft (currently only obsolete model F-4's and F-14's)? I have an interest in exploring a militarily modernized Iran taking advantage of cash-strapped Russian companies or CIS states willing to sell high tech fighter/attack aircraft such as SU-30K (MKK, MKI) or MiG-29C/MiG-29K to the highest bidder. Thanks,

AAR: LaGrange 6 [spoiler Alert] A Harpoon Classic scenario By Brad Leyte The crisis had arisen almost too quickly for the newspapers to report. Military intelligence was caught behind the curve and failed to provide sufficient warning of impending events. When the pot boiled over, few units were ready and those that were ready were dispersed throughout the Mediterranean theatre. The Makin Island PhibRon was, literally, caught between a rock and a hard place. She found herself neatly sandwiched between the immense Russian base of Krasnodar and the Romanian base at Kogalceanu. A Fencer E jammer was immediately despatched to cover the Makin Island PhibRon. …

Since mines are a relatively new addition to the game I thought I'd ask if anyone has pointers on setting up a believable and effective water/land mine field. Mostly for water, but here are the Qs. What is the best depth to place them at? How many would make a decent field? How far apart should I place them? In my few experiments with them, I almost always end up getting them into what I consider far to large an area. This could just be my perception however.

Would any of you more-prolific HC scenario designers care to share some of your tricks of the trade in creating your scenarios? Not so much story line, but actually sitting down and using the editor to tie everything together. Thanks

AAR: Thunder Dragon [spoiler Alert] By Brad Leyte Operation Thunder Dragon was in full effect; the hunting and trapping of an entire USN carrier battlegroup. I checked my forces and found that I had a fair number of aircraft and ships. Unfortunately, most of them were near or past obsolescence. However, to paraphrase Comrade Stalin, "Quantity is a quality in and of itself." My patrol assets were sent aloft immediately in hopes of catching a sniff of electronic emissions from the CVBG. Intelligence had reported that there was a CVBG in the area, but could not be more specific. Almost right after takeoff, the enemy emissions were detected smack in the midd…