A Land War in Asia Scenarios

[Airborne Rifles]

OK, here is the re-balanced Vladivostock scenario. Based on SaS TrooP's feedback, here are the changes I've made:

-removed the on-map platoon of Russian tanks, the USMC tank platoon, and the USN air support.

-reduced the visibility rating of every unit on the board to 0 (except those units equipped with TI) to better simulate the blizzard conditions.

-added a strip on impassable terrain to much of the coastline so hopefully the AI IFVs won't wander into the ocean.

I haven't had time yet to play this version all the way through, but I think this will go a long way towards making the Chinese AI assault more of a challenge to stop.

I'm well into the map for the next scenario. Hopefully that one will be up in the next week or so.

[Airborne Rifles]

I noted a few more mistakes in the previous upload. Please use this one instead. Thanks!

[Airborne Rifles]

All right, here is my latest addition to this series. This is a tough one, but very fun, I think. Here's the briefing:

"The Chinese strategy for cutting the Trans-Siberian Railroad west of Khabarovsk is to cross the Amur River south of Birobidzhan in the Jewish Autonamous Oblast and then drive north to cut the line at that town. Two crossings are planned, one at the bridge at Leninskoye and the other a diversionary river crossing at Amurzet. The Russian commander in this sector, however, is an aggressive and resourceful tactician. Further complicating the invasion is the difficult terrain and logistical constraints of northern Manchuria and Siberia. This will not be an easy campaign for the Chinese forces.

The Chinese set-back at Leninskoye on the first day of the war immediately upends the strategy for seizing Birobidzhan. The diversionary crossing at Amurzet becomes far more important, and the Chinese begin funneling reinforcements there. However, the Amurzet crossing is not without its own problems. There is no bridge at Amurzet so a pontoon bridge must be thrown across once the opposite bank is secure. Furthermore, logistical problems delayed the crossing that was supposed to take place during darkness into the morning hours. Now the Chinese must cross the broad river in daylight, exposed to whatever the Russians can throw at them, and the Russians are sending reinforcements as well from Leninskoye. If the Russians can defeat this second attempt to bridge the Amur, the Chinese strategy west of Khabarovsk may collapse.

Colonel, your failure to cross the river during last night's darkness will cost the lives of many of your men and may damage the strategy of all of China! You must cross the river and secure the town as a bridgehead so we can construct our pontoon bridge and restart our drive on the Tran-Siberian Railroad. Further delay is not acceptable. Your IFVs and amphibious tanks are prepared for fording operations. The local ferries and barges we have commandeered are at your disposal. We are sending you some heavy armor to reinforce your assault, but they are still on the road. Do not wait for them! We know that a Russian rifle company was flown in to the airstrip north of the town during the night to reinforce the police and border guard forces here. Our aerial reconnaissance has also sighted a strong Russian armored column approaching from the north-east from Leninskoye. Their forward reconnaissance elements may already be in Amurzet. The Russians are contesting our command of the air as well, so your air support will be limited.

Take control of your forces and cross the river. Your main objectives are the ferry terminal and the grain wharf that will be the termini for our bridges. After that, secure the rest of the town and the airfield to the north. Be prepared to repulse the coming Russian counterattack. If you fail, our entire strategy in Siberia may be in jeopardy."

In this scenario the Chinese player must find a good balance between and maintaining tactical principles such as dispersion and concealment while crossing the river. Do not expect to get across without casualties. The Russian counterattack will also be unforgiving, so do not simply assume that you can send all of your forces to seize the center of the town. Watch your flanks on the opposite bank! Also, pay attention to the different carry capacities of the ferries and barges. They are very different even though they are represented by the same symbol on the map.

I have another scenario in progress for the Leninskoye battle which takes place a few hours before this one to the east, so stay tuned. I'll post a map as I did with the Vladivostock sub-series of how all this fits together once I've completed this sub-series of scenarios.

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.

[SaS TrooP]

And made my finish. I really like your scenarios.
Made a strong marginal victory. Beginning was a suck, Russian MiG clustered my infantry while they were loading on the barges and caused like 40 casualties. My supporting MGs failed to do anything. It was until second company made it unscratched and spilled all over, hitting Russians from the flank. I had issues with that Russian mech column, but I gave them some ground and struck from the flanks.
Scenario I say is well balanced, just little note: Border Guards are one of the best formations in most armies, trained to initially delay the enemy before main armies will load munitions and regroup outside garrisons. I believe border guards should not be reserve infantry but rather something more elite.
Also, check for spelling, there are some errors such as "Wharehouse". I found nothing else to report, waiting for more!

[Airborne Rifles]

Thanks SaS TrooP, I'm really glad you're enjoying them. Thanks for the pointer about the border guards, I guess I was thinking of them as US border patrol, a bad comparison. I'm planning to use a border guard formation along the lines you suggested in my next scenario.

I'm most of the way done with the map for my next scenario, so I should have a new one to post within the week if my schedule cooperates.

"Wharehouse," ha, Freudian slip?

[Airborne Rifles]

By the way SaS_TrooP, when I ran through my testing of the scenario I had good success using the UAVs to spot the Russians across the river and then use my supporting MGs to suppress them.

New scenario almost completing testing. Packaging and posting by this weekend, hopefully.

[Airborne Rifles]

Here's the next one (although this battle takes place a few hours before the Amurzet battle). Here's the mission briefing:

"The Amur River Bridge Project near the city of Leninskoye is the only bridge spanning the Amur river between Khabarovsk and the Mongolian border. The P455 highway runs through Leninskoye and from there straight north to Birobidzhan. This makes the bridge a key and predictable target of any Chinese invasion of Siberia. Realizing this, the Chinese execute a surprise crossing of the Amur River bridge on the night of 8-9 October with forces in place, achieving strategic surprise in their invasion. Heavy reinforcements are en route by rail to continue the offensive. The Russian forces in the area, however, have been training for just this situation. As dawn breaks and the fog clears in the marshy Siberian countryside, the sounds of engines and rumble of artillery predict that battle is about to be joined.

Tovarich Colonel, last night the Chinese crossed the Amur without warning over the bridge project and established a perimeter around Nizhneleniskoye. Our border guard forces did well, withdrawing from their outpost and into Leninskoye proper as we had planned, reporting on enemy movements. They've established defenses in the town and report signs that the Chinese may try to take it. Make no mistake however, the Chinese are going to mount a strong attack northwest from the bridge to try to advance rapidly on Birobidzhan. They can have no other strategy. As we've anticipated, this puts our own base at risk, and we've already maintained our HQ there for too long. Displace your HQ and logistical elements as soon as possible to a safer location before they draw attention.

Colonel, our Brigade has trained for this fight long and hard. You know your mission. Your combat troops have already deployed away from our base. Hold the Chinese as best you can at our base complex and in Leninskoye, and counterattack the Chinese at a weak point in their perimeter. It is essential that we gain a position of over watch on the bridge to prevent Chinese reinforcements from crossing the river. As we’ve discussed, the best position for this is the Chinese cliffs south of Nizhneleninskoye. Our signal intercepts reveal strong Chinese forces are de-training right not at their rail terminal across the river, so you must hurry. I’ve given you our brigade’s tank destroyer sub-units for this task. Once you've established enfilade on the bridge, do your best to get into Nizhneleninskoye and wreck the Chinese logistics. We won’t be able to hold here for long, but if we can upset the enemy timetable we can buy time for our own reinforcements to arrive at Birobidzhan from European Russia. Your attack, unfortunately, will be weaker than we had hoped because I was forced to dispatch a column to Amurzet during the night as it appears the Chinese may attempt a crossing there as well.

You have your orders Colonel. We’ve been training for just this situation and if we handle our men right, the Chinese will never know what hit them."

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. I spent a lot of time testing to get the Chinese AI forces to act how I wanted. I think I was pretty successful.

[SaS TrooP]

Sorry, I was and I still am quite busy recently, but I will get on it ASAP.

[Airborne Rifles]

No rush, I've got the next one in the pipeline. Thanks for your interest and feedback!

[SaS TrooP]

OK, got it done, I had busy November.
Made marginal at Leninskoye, it was really hard fight, seeing them having nice equipment advantage over me. Hard to really say anything else, I enjoyed this particular scenario less than previous ones, but maybe it is some sort of random feeling.
Keep up the good work, I am ready for more.