Scenario Design & Discussion

File Name: Mission to Macedonia (2018) File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 11 Mar 2013 File Category: Scenarios My seventh HUD-4 scenario of 2013... Macedonia has been plunged into chaos as rival factions battle for control of the country. The European Union fears that ethnic cleansing may take place and has decided to the only way to bring the warring parties to the negotiation table is to cripple the military capabilities of both sides. Image: French destroyer Forbin (Source: Image 090531-N-9988F-406; Author: Rafael Figueroa Medina, U.S. Navy) Click here to download this file

File Name: Pledge 7: Mission to Bahrain 1981-1982 Part 1 File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 27 Sep 2012 File Category: Scenarios Late in 1981, Islamic militants tried to seize control of the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain. In history, this coup attempt failed, but this scenario assumes that it succeeded, that the United States decides to restore the former government of Bahrain, but that the only forces available for this mission are the Kitty Hawk battle group, two submarines, and a group of amphbious vessels. First, American forces must make their way to the Gulf of Oman to gather intelligence. However, Iran has warned the United States not to interfer…

File Name: Pledge 11: Valor and Varna 2014 File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 25 Oct 2012 File Category: Scenarios Tensions between the Ukraine and its neighbors in the Black Sea region, allied Bulgaria and Romania, have reached a crisis point. Intelligence suggests that the Ukraine plans a massive attack against Bulgaria, focusing on its merchant fleet and the port city of Varna. Can Bulgaria, with the assistance of its ally Romania, defeat this threat? Image: MiG-29 take off for a combat training mission as part of exercise Rodopi Javelin 2007 at Graf Ignattevo Airfield, Bulgaria, Oct. 18, 2007. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth)…

I would like to start a thread dedicated to questions about and/or suggestions for OOBs for small task forces. All periods. All nations. To get the ball rolling, I will start with two questions... 1) Presently, or in the near future, what is a likely OOB for a task force involving a Littoral Combat Ship? I had assumed it would be one LCS and one DDG, the latter providing AA protection, etc. while the LCS served as the platform for SEAL teams and Firescout recon missions. Or is the LCS supposed to operate entirely on its own? 2) In or around 1985, if the United Kingdom had to respond to a minor crisis (i.e., something that did not require a carrier but …

File Name: Pledge 8: Mission to Bahrain 1981-1982 Part 2 File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 29 Sep 2012 File Category: Scenarios In early 1982, the Kitty Hawk battle group and an amphibious group must eliminate the threat to a counter-coup in Bahrain posed by Iranian forces. Destroy at least 75 Iranian aircraft and at least 20 Iranian facilities. Avoid serious losses. Image: Various aircraft parked in formation aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. Defense Image photo VIRIN: DN-SN-85-06347. Click here to download this file

File Name: Pledge 10: The Cardiff Incident (2014) File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 15 Oct 2012 File Category: Scenarios In 2014, a British task force must liberate a trawler seized under questionable circumstances by Ecuador. The captain and crew have been accused of everything from illegal fishing practices to being spies. The Prime Minister is reputed to have said, "When the time comes, we'll go to the International Court, and if I was wrong, I'll accept the consequences. But right now, the law be damned--we're getting our people out of there." Image: The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dauntless (D 33). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Se…

File Name: Koeln Sunset (1981) File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 25 Nov 2012 File Category: Scenarios My first scenario with the newest beta version of HUD-4, v 1.11. It is 1981 and tensions have increased between NATO and the Soviet Union. Intelligence reports suggest the Soviets plan to place several submarines in the North Sea and the English Channel. Their intentions are unclear, but NATO will not tolerate this provocation. A West German task force is assigned to force the Soviet submarines to leave. What will happen if the Soviets refuse to leave is not clear... Image: A starboard bow view of the West German frigate Köln (F 220) underway in …

File Name: Black Moon Sailing (2014) File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 06 Dec 2012 File Category: Scenarios Israeli forces must intercept a Turkish merchant vessel believed to be carrying weapons and other supplies for Hamas. Image: A port bow view of the Israeli Navy's guided missile patrol boat INS Hetz (Sa'ar 4.5). Source: http://www.defenseimagery.mil/ Author's Note: This scenario takes advantage of the feature in H3/ANW that allows one to board and take control of a vessel without sinking it--to win this scenario, you have to complete a boarding/takeover mission (among other things); simply sinking the merchant will not be enough. Clic…

File Name: Test Platforms File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 28 Nov 2012 File Category: Scenarios This is simply a copy of the generic scenario I use for testing platforms. Please download it, modify it, use it as you like, etc. It is already set up with some units related to some of the bugs that have been reported recently, but feel free to change them, add new ones, etc. as you like. It also has a Victory condition related to Possession (rather than Destroy); feel free to change it if you don't need it. If you find ships, planes, weapons, etc. with problems, please let Gunny know here on Harpgamer. New versions will be uploaded periodically as new issu…

File Name: The Cu Lao Re Affair (1984) File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 22 Jan 2013 File Category: Scenarios My third scenario of the year... At the height of the Cold War, Dutch forces must extract intelligence officers from an island off the coast of Vietnam. Image: A port bow view of the Netherlands frigate HrMs Kortenaer (F 807) underway (Author unknown, but image attributed to the U.S. Navy). Click here to download this file

The Taking of Sakhalin, from the HUD3 GC1 battleset AAR by Mark Gellis I am taking the role of Japan. It is 1994 and I have to escort amphibious ships to a landing point on Sakhalin. The Russians, not surprisingly, are eager to stop me. They have a task force in the area and some submarines, including an Oscar, according to my intelligence briefing. I have my task force, a trio of submarines, and about 20 aircraft at Sapporo. Before starting, I set up patrol missions for the submarines, as I am playing at full realism and will not be able to control them otherwise. I’m sending all three on sub hunts. This scenario was prepared for the HUD-4 (v1.1 b1…

“Assault on Zion,” from the HUD3 GC1 battleset AAR by Mark Gellis Taking the Israeli side…looking for PLO boats…must sink them before they do bad things… This scenario was prepared for the HUD-4 (v1.1 b10) simply by opening it in the scenario editor and rebuilding all platforms; the revised scenario was then saved. Scenario seems to load properly. I made a point of keeping an eye out for database errors. In this scenario, I saw no problems with weapons firing, ships not having any fuel, or any other database errors. I may have missed something, but nothing that was vital to the scenario. I did notice in the rebuilt scenario in the scenario editor that…

I had a crazy thought... Why not have a competition for small scenario designs for the HUD-4? Each round would have some general rules but some room for creativity--e.g., "A French task force with two warships and one light combatant vs. two groups of three or four gun boats and/or missile boats, anywhere in the world." Or, "A German convoy with two warships and six merchants must make an opposed passage against a nation with one destroyer-sized ship and 6-12 aircraft to use against them." In each case, we're talking relatively small scenarios, with each side having only a few vessels and/or about a dozen aircraft. Designers have 24 hours to produce the scen…

In 1980, leftist guerillas began a long and bloody campaign in Peru. As a scenario possibility...what if the Soviet Union had been pro-active in their support of the guerilllas, sending supplies, "military advsiors," etc., starting around 1981? First, how would they have done this? A full-scale invasion seems extremely unlikely. A blockade of Peruvian ports also seems unlikely, but the Soviets could probably have done this--a large visible task force and a squadron or two of submarines. Any thoughts on how plausible this is? The most likely to me seems a moderate form of support--effectively a task force that included supply ships, some way to move s…

Pason-2: “Channel Engagement” Scenario by Ralf Koelbach. AAR by Mark Gellis Played on November 4, 2012 Pason-2 was prepared for the HUD-4 (v1.1 b10) simply by opening it in the scenario editor and rebuilding all platforms; the revised scenario was then saved. Scenario seems to load properly. I made a point of keeping an eye out for database errors. In this scenario, I saw no problems with weapons firing, ships not having any fuel, or any other database errors. I may have missed something, but nothing that was vital to the scenario. Looks like a nice, simple “search and shoot” scenario. 13:01. I set up a simple zig-zag course up and down, north an…

File Name: Salalah Station (1986) File Submitter: Mgellis File Submitted: 04 Feb 2013 File Category: Scenarios My fourth scenario of 2013... In 1986, the civil war in Yemen spilled over into Oman. Oman responded by firing mortar rounds into Yemen. The Soviet Union, Yemen's ally, moved ships into the area. The United States has been asked by Oman to move vessels into the area to help stabilize the situation. Image: CG 24 Reeves (public domain image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:E4-CG24Cruising.jpg) Click here to download this file

Playing around with ideas... This is a revision of a World War III concept I was playing around with a few months ago. I've tried to trim it back a bit, maybe make it a bit more realistic. I'd be grateful for feedback on this one as a background for wargame scenarios... How plausible is this? What else might happen (or what might happen instead)? What am I missing? Here goes... What would happen if, in 1985, the Soviet Union joined forces with Iraq and Syria (and some help from India, which had a military pact with the Soviets at the time) and invaded Iran? The Soviet Alliance is able to seize control of most of Iran, including its ports and oil fields, in a few …

I'm playing around with scenario ideas and had some questions about one of them. In 1980, the Soviet Union decided to not invade Poland, despite the Solidarity movement's challenges to Soviet power. It seems an invasion was planned, but was postponed... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_reaction_to_the_Polish_crisis_of_1980%E2%80%931981 http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ece/research/intermarium/vol2no1/jaruzels.pdf http://wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ACFB35.PDF ...but what if the invasion had gone ahead? On December 8, 1980, Soviet, Czech, and East German forces invade Poland. President Carter refuses to use a pre-emptive nuclear strike, and does not b…

I was playing around with some ideas and I was hoping for some feedback. First, am I correct that ANW allows multi-player scenarios? Are there any servers up right now? Second, it occurs to me that multi-player scenarios will often be different than regular scenarios (or, at least, there are some things that have to be taken into consideration for a scenario to really work as a multi-player scenario)... * Balance is essential...either the sides have to be pretty equal in firepower OR one side has to have some kind of handicap to balance things out (i.e., the stronger side can only lose a certain number of planes or it will fail to meet its victory conditions)…

A recent article in Global Research at... http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-vig...rth-korea/4730 ...included a detailed account of the scenario behind Vigilant Shield 07. I would be very interested in reading the background scenarios (i.e., the "history" leading up to the "war" in the exercise) for similar military exercises. Quite apart from them being a gold mine for scenario design, I just think they are very interesting. But where do you find them? I imagine there is probably some archive of them somewhere, and if Vigilant Shield 07 can be discussed in this much detail, I imagine they get declassified after only a couple of years. (Or perhaps the basic scenario is n…