Scenario: Vital Airfield

[Suhiir]

Vital Airfield - Gotland

Date: July 4, 1989

Battle Location: Bunge-Farosund, Sweden

Battle Type: Soviet Union assault vs Sweden/USMC counterattack

Design by: Suhiir

Scenario description: Fictional Scenario

Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika has not been popular with hard-line Communits Party officials. The erosion of power and prestige has resulted in a coup.

The justification for the coup, and in order to forestall public unrest, is fictitious evidence that non-aligned Finland (not a NATO member) is intending to militarily re-occupy Karelia, with Swedish assistance, and Gorbachev's blessings.

Both Finland and Sweden have partially mobilized but maintain their peace-time deployments. European NATO members have adopted a "Wait and see" stance.

A Marine Amphibious Unit Team (MAU), still aboard ship, has been deployed into the Baltic . Washington feels the Soviets won't want to involve NATO in their internal political squabbles.

Then, to everyones suprise, on July 3rd the Soviets invade Finland and Gotland. The Soviets have been VERY careful not to antogonize the European NATO members, even going so far as to have their units in Europe return to garrison. Needless to say the Europen NATO members are "discussing" the issue but have done nothing.

The US Navy is NOT happy about having an amphibious fleet in the Baltic but on orders from Washington deployed the MAU on Gotland before withdrawing.

Then on July 4th the Soviets invade Gotland and the Marines rush to secure the vital Bunge-Farosund airfield.


Notes:
Designed to be played as Sweden/USMC.
This is a HUGE and LONG battle, as both sides struggle for control of the airfield.

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I'll be curious to see what our resident Swedish expert thinks!

As always, feedback and bug reports are desired.

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[Suhiir]

Note this scenario is still in "testing".
I could use some feedback from someone that (unlike me) doesn't know what's showing up where, when, an where it's going.

[Imp]

Only 4 turns in I think some of my stuff its obvious where it will turn up, due to emplacments in place.
I am assuming the Marines will be making an anphib landing, not checked HQ screen to see when or where or whats coming by clicking on. Probably will around turn 10 to 12 if not shown up.

SPOILER
From layout my assumption was attack is expected from top, bottom right quadrant & possibly from left side thoughthat looks least protected.
Survived the initial bombing fairly well but smoke from has hindered fire zones quite badly, confirmed attack from the top but was not expecting the paratroopers to drop in.
They have been causing costly havoc as landed near some of my MANPAD & ATGM units & a MMG, also to close to my HQ for comfort, fortunatly I did my normal set his range to 4 at the start thing so I dont think he has been detected.
Currently mech reinforcments that have arrived have split, 1 platoon heading to take up position in the South the others to the rescue of my HQ.
Due to smoke only other unit that could protect him was a fortified turret that was dispatched with a well aimed RPG.
Tense already need to mop up the paratroopers as a priority & I know some have landed out of LOS so I need to find them.

[Suhiir]

Yeah, you usually know the general direction a major attack is coming from, in this case the top of the map. The question, of course, is how soon and how much?

I'm glad you're "enjoying" the Soviet Paratroops. While not a paratrooper myself a vital airfield like this seems to be an ideal target. And help, in terms of heavier units, is closing in.

As to the Marines ... nope ... if you read the scenario description they were landed elsewhere on Gotland yesterday so they'll be coming by land. And guessing where shouldn't be too difficult. The question will be ... throw them all into the fight near where they arrive on the map or take some of the faster units cross-country to other areas that could use reinforcement?

[Imp]

I did wonder with the Marines as I was typing it, so confirms my left flank is probably safe. My guess is by the time they turn up I might well need to split & send some much needed support across the map.

[Imp]

Ever wish you saved the game at the end of your turn so you could roll the die again just to see how differently it pans out, this was one of those turns.

Russian air is doing an amazing job of taking out my air defences.

Top of map my emplaced tank misses the moving target only to be taken out by its initial return fire, 60+% vs 11%. Scouts was the same mines dead killed in 2 shots without inflicting harm.

Battle for the airfield goes badly especially engineer hill side, Paras are living up to there elite status hitting bunkers at 500m with RPGs & making short work of dug in units.

On the flip side the home guard excelled round the school making short work of the paras there but the real surprise was the non combat troops.
Poor guys took a real beating during the bombing at the start losing an entire squad & the rest in route or rally state. They have been shot up a bit by the Paras some of whom landed adjacent.
Enough is enough must have had a hero rally or something the surviving squads are still hanging in there & have taken out everyone except the sniper.

Very bloody turn for both sides not your normal exchange of shots for the odd casualty lots of snake eyes on both sides entire units lost in 2 to 3 exchanges of fire.
I would love to have seen how that played out if I did it again, my dug in front line troops are getting slaughtered while the lesser quality not entrenched troops are having a field day.
Heck I was coming to the rescue of the wrong guys the battle might well hinge on what I do with my mobile forces I feel a storm coming from the top but the paras are still a big issue. Running my vehicles around at speed could prove very costly with the air still active.

[DRG]

Originally Posted by Imp

Ever wish you saved the game at the end of your turn so you could roll the die again just to see how differently it pans out, this was one of those turns.

Russian air is doing an amazing job of taking out my air defences.

Top of map my emplaced tank misses the moving target only to be taken out by its initial return fire, 60+% vs 11%. Scouts was the same mines dead killed in 2 shots without inflicting harm.

Battle for the airfield goes badly especially engineer hill side, Paras are living up to there elite status hitting bunkers at 500m with RPGs & making short work of dug in units.

On the flip side the home guard excelled round the school making short work of the paras there but the real surprise was the non combat troops.
Poor guys took a real beating during the bombing at the start losing an entire squad & the rest in route or rally state. They have been shot up a bit by the Paras some of whom landed adjacent.
Enough is enough must have had a hero rally or something the surviving squads are still hanging in there & have taken out everyone except the sniper.

Very bloody turn for both sides not your normal exchange of shots for the odd casualty lots of snake eyes on both sides entire units lost in 2 to 3 exchanges of fire.
I would love to have seen how that played out if I did it again, my dug in front line troops are getting slaughtered while the lesser quality not entrenched troops are having a field day.
Heck I was coming to the rescue of the wrong guys the battle might well hinge on what I do with my mobile forces I feel a storm coming from the top but the paras are still a big issue. Running my vehicles around at speed could prove very costly with the air still active.

If the air attacks involved the use of WC 17 weapons, yes you may see an increase in their effectiveness for all nations now.

[Suhiir]

The Russian bombardment of the airfield is in three stages.
#1 - A bunch of level bombers, there's enough of them they'll hit something, and if nothing else block fields of fire with dust and smoke.

#2 - SEAD strike, hopefully taking out radar guided/aimed AA weapons.

#3 - A swarm of MiG-27Ds, each with a couple LGB's (WC 17) for their initial strike then rockets and cluster bombs for follow-up strikes.

Oh ... did I mention a battalion of artillery and another of BM-21s?

One might get the feeling the Russians really want that airfield out of commission if not in their hands.

Those non-combat troops are armed with SMGs ... if the paratroops are in range ... yeah .. they should do fairly well. The question is what happens when they're not in SMG range?

[Imp]

#1 As mentioned bombers did do some minor damage including wiping out a complete squad. Main thing though was smoke helped Paras till turn 4 or 5 by hindering view.

#2 Yes was aware due to probably giving away positions firing at para drop AA assets have also been actively targeted early on. Even the reinforcement MANPADs have been targeted over the vehicles & other units they unloaded from.

#3 Seen many people comment on air not being cost effective, I agree if used on a small scale but its a serious problem in a case like this.
Air & paras give the AI intel so it plays better.

This is a Tense battle choices, choices do I want my arty firing all out. Can I risk vehicles moving at high speed & hence being easily spotted & am I going to the right spot anyway.
This battle rages across a good portion of the map with hotspots flaring up here & there.

Not the best recon but remaining non combat troops are moving to cover avenues of approach for areas I am not expecting an attack from, just in case.

Not going to give updates as will spoil the fun but your deployment gives you a good idea of where they are coming from, not for the light hearted this is proving a very bloody battle.

I my case the surprising ferocity of the early exchanges has calmed down, the game engine has still thrown up some nasty surprises. 2 Para ATGMs fired on while they were moving hero rallied & took out the attacking unit.

If you wanted to nit-pick a couple of my early reinforcements arrived adjacent or in one case in the same hex as the Paras (it was wiped out in the very first exchange of shots).
To me its fine they were not close to the airfield so just a bit slow reacting to the attack, out of the barracks straight into enemy arms.

In my case also the one thing AAA was fairly effective at hitting was the transports so several bailed early rather than at the drop zone.

May just be this run through but the AI has been very effective at selecting priority targets, ATGMs MANPADS etc. apart from a few AA guns I have not managed to take advantage of the extra ammo load outs some support units got.

Like this one fraught rather than fun is how I would describe it. Need to pay attention your choices & indeed a bit of luck or not could make your losses quite varied. Will definitely replay this in the future at some point

[RightDeve]

Originally Posted by Imp

#1 As mentioned bombers did do some minor damage including wiping out a complete squad. Main thing though was smoke helped Paras till turn 4 or 5 by hindering view.

#2 Yes was aware due to probably giving away positions firing at para drop AA assets have also been actively targeted early on. Even the reinforcement MANPADs have been targeted over the vehicles & other units they unloaded from.

#3 Seen many people comment on air not being cost effective, I agree if used on a small scale but its a serious problem in a case like this.
Air & paras give the AI intel so it plays better.

This is a Tense battle choices, choices do I want my arty firing all out. Can I risk vehicles moving at high speed & hence being easily spotted & am I going to the right spot anyway.
This battle rages across a good portion of the map with hotspots flaring up here & there.

Not the best recon but remaining non combat troops are moving to cover avenues of approach for areas I am not expecting an attack from, just in case.

Not going to give updates as will spoil the fun but your deployment gives you a good idea of where they are coming from, not for the light hearted this is proving a very bloody battle.

I my case the surprising ferocity of the early exchanges has calmed down, the game engine has still thrown up some nasty surprises. 2 Para ATGMs fired on while they were moving hero rallied & took out the attacking unit.

If you wanted to nit-pick a couple of my early reinforcements arrived adjacent or in one case in the same hex as the Paras (it was wiped out in the very first exchange of shots).
To me its fine they were not close to the airfield so just a bit slow reacting to the attack, out of the barracks straight into enemy arms.

In my case also the one thing AAA was fairly effective at hitting was the transports so several bailed early rather than at the drop zone.

May just be this run through but the AI has been very effective at selecting priority targets, ATGMs MANPADS etc. apart from a few AA guns I have not managed to take advantage of the extra ammo load outs some support units got.

Like this one fraught rather than fun is how I would describe it. Need to pay attention your choices & indeed a bit of luck or not could make your losses quite varied. Will definitely replay this in the future at some point

Reading this, Cool stuff! Now there is an itch to play.