Bay of Bengal, 1999

[aheadflank]

Have just finished playing Bay of Bengal, 1999. Finished, but not accomplished. Although I've got a major defeat result, I really enjoyed the gameplay – an important thing, when you fail a long scenario, isn't it?
My carrier squadron was proceeding to the north-east, when I spotted enemy's surface forces. They were split in four groups, including main carrier group and two vanguard destroyer groups. I decided, that I had enough time to eat that cow in pieces.
I made a couple raids of Hornets, armed with Harpoon missiles against vanguard groups. Unfortunately during the first one, I lost two of four my ASuW pre-loaded plains in a stupid way, so I had to rearm four more Hornets with Harpoon missiles. It took 6 hours, so I head to retreat… or, let's say – make a wide loop to the west in order to avoid close contact, until I'll deal enough damage to Indians.
After I had easily done with vanguard, the aircraft carrier became my prime target. I used Hawkeyes and Prowlers for reckon from the beginning, so I already knew, what did main enemy group consist of. But Prowlers seemed to be almost useless with their 800 nm ELINT radius until one of them detected a Goblin, detected and immediately classified it from 115 nm according to its emissions. And the Prowlers were, who classified all the members of enemy carrier group from 225 nm.
So, I sent six Hornets to strike the carrier with Harpoons, but all twelve missiles were shot down. I made another attempt in 6 hours, but hadn't succeeded again. And lost two more Hornets.
Doing all that things, I hadn't even noticed, that my time was running low.
And there's one another bladder-hurting moment, I haven't mentioned before. Fifteen anti-ship missiles (likely, submarine launched) appeared out from nowhere in just 25 nm from my surface forces. And they managed to deal with them all! So I wonder now, how could I get that Indian aircraft carrier?
The total score I had was “Major Defeat” with 400 points for four vanguard destroyers and four Hornets lost.
I understand, that it was only a first part of the scenario, I couldn't break through to go further, but I promise to report about my further success.

[ziolo]

I also tried this scenario twice couple of months ago, but I got "Major Defeat" result on both occasions...

[magi]

Really… I have never even fired this… I didn't know it was so tough… I think I'll give it a try… And see what's going on…

[magi]

Well.... I am looking at this thing… And right off the bat… there is so much that is implausible about it.... It is what I call… A game scenario.... It throws all prudent tactical management and conventional doctrine out the window…

The alpha issue is… The designer is requiring you to traverse 640-700 nautical miles in a 24 hour period of time… That would mean your continuous cruising speed to arrive on the station would be 26.5 nm's per hour..... In the hostil submarine infested waters… You know what… Nobody would do that… so this thing is set up so that you will take heavy losses and or fail…

He does give you 98 Tomahawk TLAM to strike with..... however you're only targets are single unit airfields which I believe are pretty indestructible although now they can be destroyed with nuclear weapons... as is my current understanding..... But you don't have any nukes so you cannot attrit there forces at their bases… also the carrier air wing is about 20-30 units short...... I can live with that but I don't like all their load outs.....

The intelligence in the briefing is a little weak.... But I like the mission and I will play it… however… I want to play the mission… Not the scenario designer… And here we come to one of my very favorite things about command… and that is the scenario editor… And as I am in command I will change a few components… not many but enough to make it a plausible mission to prosecute... That I will enjoy…

The first change will be the groups general disposition… I do not believe the carrier group would ingress in and be 650 nautical miles south of the tip of India and Sri Lanka.... They would've probably have been stationed in the north Arabian.. Sea to the Northwest.. or Southwest Pacific.. South China Sea etc. etc. I choose to have them coming out of the Arabian Sea… Therefore I will have my starting position approximately 700 nautical miles to the west northwest of the southern tip of Siri Lanka ......

The biggest change will be scenario duration..... I will have a base as an average Cruise speed open the 700 nautical miles at 15 kn… Which allow some technical flexibility..... So that makes this thing around a two day scenario… Which is very reasonable…

I will not change the air compliment… However I will tuneup some of the load outs.... The prowlers will get all the jammers they can hold and no weapons… And a few of the AAW loadouts on the hornets be changed to harms… Modifying some of the loadouts on the Seahawks too short range… And that will be it....

Ok.... Now I am ready to play… And for better or for worse..... I am in command......

[magi]

Well I added an oh perry and a Seahawk to the group.... Which is correct thing to do.....

[magi]

I wonder who made this thing…… It is set up for Blue to be slaughtered… so surreal…

[Mgellis]

I tried it a couple of times. My scores ranged from 400 to 1,000 (Average) but I never did get on station (not even quite sure where that is) before time ran out. I tended to go through EVERYTHING--by the time the scenario was over, I was taking out enemy ships with naval gunnery because I didn't have anything else left to throw at them! Literally went through all the Harpoons and the Slammers.

Pros: Fun and challenging...not sure it's actually possible to win, but it was fun to try. Lots of action.

Cons: As has been mentioned, various issues with plausibility, the way the briefing was put together, the time provided, etc.

If I was going to write my own version...I'd let India rely on submarine patrols and bomber strikes for the initial attacks. Why would the Indian surface groups even come out of Indian waters to meet the American ships? Why not stay close to shore, under a protective umbrella of fighters, SAM missiles, etc.?

[Tailhook]

For what it's worth, this is a pretty faithful recreation of a Fleet Command campaign mission, including the briefings and ORBAT.

[aheadflank]

Well, even though the time had elapsed, I continued my mission I went around Maldives from the West, and Indian naval forces kept following me. After I approached to Hindustan peninsula, real action begun. I was engaged by great number of aviation both from the continental airfields and carrier. For some strange reason, my casualties were unexpectedly low. Then I sent six Hornets to the south, and finally destroyed that Indian carrier

Actually. I think, that exceeding estimated amount of time isn't a loss, as there's no points subtraction or any message. It's just a result of wrong evaluation. Unfortunately I didn't notice, how much time I used.
But in general, I agree - there's something inadequate in it

Average, 1600 points


SIDE: India
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------
1x D 51 Rajput [Pr.61ME Kashin II]
1x D 61 Delhi [Pr.15]
1x RK Osa II [Pr.205U]
1x MRK Nanuchka I [Pr.1234 Ovod]
6x MiG-25PD Foxbat E
3x Tu-16N Badger A
3x 3MS-2 Bison B [Tanker]
6x Tu-22M-2 Backfire B
10x Tu-16K-26PM Badger G Mod
15x Tu-95K-22 Bear G
10x MiG-27K Flogger J
10x MiG-27M Flogger J
20x Sea Harrier Mk51
1x S 71 Chakra [PLARK-670 Charlie I]
10x Su-17M-4 Fitter K
3x Ka-28 Helix A
1x R 22 Viraat [Hermes]


EXPENDITURES:
------------------
16x SA-N-7 Gadfly [9M38]
6x SA-N-1b Goa [M-1M/P Volna-M/P, 4K91 / V-601]
8x PK-2 Chaff [TSP-47]
7x PK-16 Chaff [TSP-60U]
4x AK-725 57mm/80 Twin HE Burst [6 rnds]
84x SA-N-6a Grumble [5R55RM]
20x SS-N-19 Shipwreck [P-700 Granit]
83x Generic Chaff Salvo [4x Cartridges]
5x AA-6 Acrid C [R-40RD, SARH]
15x Akash
2x AA-6 Acrid D [R-40TD, IR]
3x AA-8 Aphid [R-60TM]
16x Generic Chaff Salvo [8x Cartridges]
28x SA-N-9 Gauntlet [9M330-2 Kinzhal]
4x AK-630M 30mm/65 Gatling Burst [400 rnds]
4x Generic Flare Salvo [4x Cartridges, Single Spectral]
17x Generic Chaff Salvo [5x Cartridges]
3x Generic Flare Salvo [3x Cartridges, Single Spectral]
5x Generic Flare Salvo [2x Cartridges, Single Spectral]
14x 30mm Gsh-6-30 Burst [50 rnds]
2x Generic Acoustic Decoy
2x 30mm ADEN Mk4 x 2 Burst [50 rnds]
2x SA-8b Gecko Mod-0 [9M33M2]
10x 40mm/60 Mk3 Single Bofors Burst [2 rnds]
14x AK-230 30mm/65 Twin Burst [50 rnds]
2x Corvus Chaff [Distraction]
2x Corvus Chaff [Seduction]

SIDE: Sri Lanka
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------


EXPENDITURES:
------------------



SIDE: USN
===========================================================

LOSSES:
-------------------------------
9x F/A-18C Hornet
4x F-14D Tomcat
1x S-3B Viking

EXPENDITURES:
------------------
46x AGM-84D Harpoon IC
23x Generic Chaff Salvo [5x Cartridges]
32x RIM-66M-1 SM-2MR Blk III
30x RIM-66M-2 SM-2MR Blk IIIA
3x RIM-7M Sea Sparrow
9x AN/SSQ-53D DIFAR
85x AIM-54C Phoenix
24x AIM-7P Sparrow III
17x Generic Chaff Salvo [8x Cartridges]
5x Generic Flare Salvo [3x Cartridges, Single Spectral]
70x AIM-120A AMRAAM
15x AIM-9M Sidewinder
22x 20mm/85 M61A1 Vulcan Burst [100 rnds]
3x Mk50 Barracuda Mod 0 ALWT

[MikeJ271]

I enjoyed this scenario, even though as has been noted, the time limit is both unrealistic and meaningless. I did actually manage a Minor Victory, with about 8 minutes to spare, and that was due to killing the last of the SAM units on the mainland right at the end.

The TLAM’s are only really useful for that (and that was marginal because they couldn’t get a solid lock on the missile units until very late on) as you can’t use them to target the airfield – which messes up the scoring since the scenario designer awarded 500 points for knocking them out!
I couldn't work out how to trigger the 1000 VP’s for the evacuation either.

For anyone wanting to try this “blind”, there are a few spoilers here but apart from running at what would be a stupidly high speed, a few of the key points were:

1. I got lucky with the timing of AAW missions/aircraft, having aircraft available at the point at which the Harriers were launched from the ex-Hermes. The net result was that I had two 2-plane CAP flights up (F-18’s) when that happened, and the F-18’s wiped the Harriers out as they lifted off. Also, I had a couple of aircraft ready to go on AAW missions when the Shipwreck attack from the enemy fleet came in. A quick manual launch, and they were straight into action; my CAP’s then managed to knock a few of the Shipwrecks down so my SAM’s weren’t overwhelmed.

2. Ditto to some extent when the long-range bombers made their run, though I’ll take a bit more of the credit for that as I kind of anticipated the attack. I’d thrown out a three-plane F-14 long-range CAP well beyond the Indian ships by that point. Between them and my regular 2xF-18 CAP (with a BIG prosecution area behind the approaching Indian ships), they managed to obliterate the bombers before they could do anything significant.

3. Not knowing what subs were out there was a nuisance and due to the high-speed run, I only just managed to detect them in time, using overlapping close ASW patrols (helicopters) and more extended (and partly micro-managed) Viking ASW aircraft. The SSGN surface-to-surface missiles weren’t such a big threat, but torpedoes were.

4. The Indian ships took some serious effort to sink, and getting the balance right between using enough missiles to kill them and running out before that had been achieved was a mighty close-run thing; the final one eventually succumbed to my very last missile attack. Fortunately, once battle had started, they obligingly left their radars on active, which made HARM’s rather useful. In fact, once the initial F-18 Harpoon mission was recovered, I switched two of those aircraft to a short-range HARM loadout, which gave them a bit more potency. A bit of a gamble at the time, but it certainly paid off as the Indians managed to shoot down a lot of Harpoons and SLAM’s.

5. As the fleets closed in, it took a lot of work to actively manage the proximity to the enemy vessels of the patrol/prosecution zones and egress routes for my own aircraft. In fact, two of the Tomcats that eliminated many of the bombers were lost as they went Bingo and flew straight over what remained of the Indian fleet on the way back. That task was even harder as the final Indian ship was damaged by my penultimate strike, and fell behind me as I made my mad charge to Sri Lanka. It was then in a position to attack my recovering aircraft as they manoeuvred to land! What helped was sinking one and damaging the other of the foremost enemy vessels, which caused them all to slow, and gave me room for the ASW and point-AAW patrols.

There was one other thing I didn’t like with the way the scenario was set up: I opened it up in the editor after the end-game, and there was an absolute shed-load of newer enemy aircraft (20 MiG-29’s plus 10 Su-30’s at the most northerly airfield) just sitting ready to go, and none of them took off while I was destroying the SAM’s for the win. There’s no way I could have fought through that to kill the SAM’s if they’d entered the fray.

[kgambit]

In order to trigger the embassy evac, a CH-46E CSAR helo has to remain over the embassy on Hover for 5 minutes. I think the event area that triggers the timer is fairly small so you need to be close to embassy. IIRC, that is all it takes to complete that mission.

[MikeJ271]

Thanks - I've got it now.

[Zaslon]

I played the scenario....And I found the Carrier air wing a bit unreallistic.

For example, We can change CVN 68 Nimitz for CVN 72 Abraham Lincoln and his Carrier Air Wing Fourteen at the time of the scenario:

-VF-31 Tomcatters (Felix) 12 Grumman F-14D
-VFA-25 Fist of the Fleet (Fist) 12 McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18C
-VFA-115 Eagles (Talon) 12 McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18C
-VFA-113 Stingers (Sting) 12 McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18C

-VAQ-139 Cougars (Cougar) 4 Grumman EA-6B ICAP II Block 89
-VAW-113 Black Eagles (Black Eagle) 4 E-2C
-VS-35 Blue Wolves (Blue Wolf) 8 Lockheed S-3B
-VQ-5 Sea Shadows (Sea Shadow?) 2 Lockheed ES-3A
-VRC-30 Providers(RW) 2 C-2A

-HS-4 Black Knights (Black Knight) 4 Sikorsky HH-60H + 4 Sikorsky SH-60F.

Info:
http://www.gonavy.jp/CVW-NKf.html
http://navysite.de/cvn/cvw.htm

And about the Lincoln Battle group in his fourth deployment (June 1998- Dec 1998):
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72)
USS Shiloh (CG 67)
USS Valley Forge (CG 50)
USS Elliot (DD 967),
USS Jarrett (FFG 33)
USS Jefferson City (SSN 759)
USS Camden(AOE 2)
HMCS Ottawa


http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/docs/981207-nws.htm