New Beta Release: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1972 (Linebacker II)

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New Beta Release: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1972 (Linebacker II) - UPDATED

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New Beta Release: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1972 ... - 6/5/2020 2:42:17 AM

wqc12345

Posts: 250
Joined: 12/7/2015
From: San Francisco, CA
Status: offline

Hi Everyone,

Been working on this for a bit, looking for some play testing and feedback.

Linebacker II, December 22nd 1972, Haiphong Raid. I've tried to put together a 24 hour scenario where pre-support SEAD and MigCAP, followed by B-52 raids. The B-52 force is computer controlled on a timer, so there is no planning of the actual bombing run.

I'm curious if 1) it's overpowered, 2) SEAD work is easier than historical and 3) Mig activity is appropriate. Also, curious if it's fun and creates problems to solve.

Please make sure to honor the directory structure with ..Assets/Scenario Folder and the actual scenario.

Scenario attached to this post.

Feedback welcome. Thanks,

UPDATE - SBR FILE INCLUDED
UPDATE - MADE SOME TIMING AND SCORING CHANGES

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by wqc12345 -- 6/6/2020 6:21:26 AM >

Post #: 1

RE: New Beta Release: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1... - 6/5/2020 2:03:16 PM

vettim89

Posts: 3576
Joined: 7/14/2007
From: Toledo, Ohio
Status: offline

Down with back problems right now but will check this one out. I always thought Linebacker would be a good scenario idea for CMO/CMANO

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(in reply to wqc12345)

Post #: 2

RE: New Beta Release: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1... - 6/6/2020 5:27:05 AM

Fido81

Posts: 80
Joined: 7/14/2019
Status: offline

In a playthough where I did nothing, the SAC scored 1000 points and lost 14 BUFFs. In a playthrough where I was active in mission planning on a macro level (but didn't micromanage), TAC/USN lost 16 airframes, SAC lost none, and the score was 1975.

Your questions:
1 I don't know. I could just be bad at this (I'm certainly not used to this sort of force composition).
2 My doctrine was to fire 1 ARM at an emitter, on the theory that this would tie them up with my aircraft for longer. It did protect the bombers, but I think I lost at least 5 SEAD aircraft, which is worse than the real-world performance.
3 I recall reading somewhere that the MiG pilots in North Vietnam were, by and large, excellent since they flew until they were KIA. If you're worried the US is too OP, maybe up their proficiency rating on average (and drop a couple to Cadet standing to indicate that they're replacements)?

I haven't seen a CMO scenario before that requires me to think tactically offensively (going after air defense sites and fighters), but operationally defensively (everything to support the bombers). In doing this, there's an element of nuance I'm not so great with, but find really engaging. It creates problems to solve, and I think it's quite fun.

Questions for the scenario creator:
Are the F-111s supposed to be able to do AAR? (I had issues with this)
Are the TAC/USN aircraft "supposed" to be engaging with the Hanoi air defenses?
What's supposed to be happening with the bomber refueling track mission?

Comments:
I wasn't really sure what to use the TELINT RC-135s and F-111s for - given how well thought-out this scenario is, I was confident they had purposes, but never quite figured them out (and lost 4 F-111s on an OCA strike). Maybe a line or two about them in the briefing would help that out?
You should lock the RPs for the missions you don't want users to delete.
I'd be interested in experimenting with the strike itself, in addition to the escorts. Would you consider releasing a second scenario file with all US forces on one side if you put out a v2.0?

This is a great scenario, and I hope you put it in the Community Scenario Pack when you're satisfied with it. Thank you for sharing it!

(in reply to vettim89)

Post #: 3

RE: New Beta Release: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1... - 6/6/2020 6:14:12 AM

wqc12345

Posts: 250
Joined: 12/7/2015
From: San Francisco, CA
Status: offline

Your questions:
1 I don't know. I could just be bad at this (I'm certainly not used to this sort of force composition).

>> Thanks, what I'm looking for is ordinance combos, or too much of one thing vs. another. Do they have just enough tempo room to keep a good SEAD/MigCap and drop the bombs without looking a bomber (historically, they lost none on the 22nd)

2 My doctrine was to fire 1 ARM at an emitter, on the theory that this would tie them up with my aircraft for longer. It did protect the bombers, but I think I lost at least 5 SEAD aircraft, which is worse than the real-world performance.

>> I do patols and what you do above. Not sure there is a perfect way, but was this hard? Were the SAM batteries placed well? Did you get any surprises?

3 I recall reading somewhere that the MiG pilots in North Vietnam were, by and large, excellent since they flew until they were KIA. If you're worried the US is too OP, maybe up their proficiency rating on average (and drop a couple to Cadet standing to indicate that they're replacements)?

>> This I can most certainly do.

I haven't seen a CMO scenario before that requires me to think tactically offensively (going after air defense sites and fighters), but operationally defensively (everything to support the bombers). In doing this, there's an element of nuance I'm not so great with, but find really engaging. It creates problems to solve, and I think it's quite fun.

>> great.. that made my night.

Questions for the scenario creator:
Are the F-111s supposed to be able to do AAR? (I had issues with this)
>> THe intent was "free reign" pre-bombing. So, take out an airfield? Take out more SAMs, take out critical parts of the whole. Meaning, maybe bomb more of the primary targets, there is nothing stopping you. But, they are there to help "soften" up the defenses for the Hanoi run. Hanoi is NOT offlimits, its just not the focus, so this can become tricky if you want take those airfields, and tempo around in Hanoi.

Are the TAC/USN aircraft "supposed" to be engaging with the Hanoi air defenses?
>> They were part of the original OOB that I studied. I think they are just TELINT (they can see surface and air units, but they aren't too sophisticated.

What's supposed to be happening with the bomber refueling track mission?
>> I lock out large sections of the SAC ingress to Haiphong. I wanted them to take the historial mission, which came over the sea. As the USN/USAF player, you can't see no-fly zones SAC deals with and I was worried a fueling track would be setup and bombers couldnt get fuel, so I set one up and locked it.

[/quote]

(in reply to Fido81)

Post #: 4

RE: New Beta Release: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1... - 9/25/2020 5:32:01 PM

stww2

Posts: 67
Joined: 5/23/2017
Status: offline

This is a fantastic scenario, and I have really enjoyed playing it over the last couple of days. I've written up an AAR which you might be curious to read; it has been posted in the After Action Report section of the forums (https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=4889621&mpage=1&key=�). First, to answer the questions you posed in your initial post:

1) I think the balance is about where it should be. I lost four aircraft (an RF-4, two F-105s, and an A-7). Looking at the wikipedia page for Linebacker II, it looks like the US lost a single F-111; looking back on my playthrough I think this casualty level is definitely achievable and I might have managed to do it were it not for a couple of stupid mistakes on my part.

2) I don't know enough about Vietnam SEAD operations to say whether SEAD in this scenario is easier/harder than in real-life, but it certainly is balanced from a gameplay standpoint. My Shrikes were laughably ineffective since the SAM batteries kept turning off their FCRs, which from what I understand is what happened historically. I will say it seemed a bit too easy to knock out all the NV air search radars (effectively leaving them blind); I did this this on my first airstrike (with some help from the Long Beach).

3) I shot down 24 Migs during the scenario, and according to Wikipedia NV air losses were 3-6 Migs, so Mig activity may be above historical levels. Although a more likely explanation is that that CMO's AI is frequently borderline suicidal. Not to mention the Migs in my playthrough were entirely operating without ground-based radar (since I destroyed all the radar sites in range), which would have made them even less effective. Again, though, whatever the activity of the Migs historically, the implementation in your scenario works very well from a gameplay standpoint.

As for your final question, yes it is very fun and it definitely created problems that I enjoyed solving. Thank you!

A couple of scenario-design related questions/points:

1. I noticed that the several of the SA-2s and the heavy AAA sites were in a group and thus only visible in unit-view mode; this can make it difficult to manage strikes in which you want to give orders to groups of aircraft while still keeping visible the overall threat environment, and it might be worth modifying.

2. I see your explanation with the refueling track for the bombers in the post above; you might want to consider adding a similar explanation to the side briefing as it was also unclear to me how many tankers I was supposed to assign there, if any.

3. In my playthrough, several of the B-52s executed a second afternoon airstrike; was that supposed to happen?

4. I don't know how historically exact you have set the loadouts to be, but if you have some flexibility perhaps consider giving the F-105s a longer range pure-ARM loadout. As currently equipped by default their fuel margins can be fairly tight, even with refueling (especially if they execute low-level bombing runs, as their cluster-bomb included loadout implies they are supposed to be doing).

5. That train-explosion that happened when the first RF-4 really caught me off guard; I checked in the editor and I see that it was scripted. Out of curiosity, was that something that happened historically and is that why it is present in the scenario?

6. I also noticed when looking in the editor an event about rouge ships and bombs (or something along those lines); what is that referring to (I'm curious)?

(in reply to wqc12345)

Post #: 5

RE: New Beta Release: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1... - 9/29/2020 8:55:45 PM

[BSM]Roby7979

Posts: 808
Joined: 2/20/2018
From: Italy,Rome
Status: offline

I am very pleased to see someone involved in the creation of this scenario ..
I'll have a look at it next week

a long time ago I started it too,but then the priorities changed and I put it in the drawer..

https://youtu.be/EGKAR7Krvzk

anyway if you need some material or info let me know I'll be happy to help you

< Message edited by [BSM]Roby7979 -- 9/29/2020 8:57:57 PM >

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Post #: 6

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Command: Modern Operations series >> Mods and Scenarios >> New Beta Release: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1972 (Linebacker II) - UPDATED

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