Stand-Alone ScenariosSomali Convoys2008 saw a huge increase in pirate activities in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean.
In the absence of an effective government in Somalia, whole fishing families took to piracy and hostage-taking as a means of income.
NATO's navies, vastly over-designed for the task (with poor HumInt and even poorer ROEs), are forced to carry out the oldest Navy mission of the alliance, keeping the Sea Lines of Communication open.
The task of preventing attacks by pirate ships nearly indistinguishable from regular fishermen is virtually impossible.
Ships operators refuse to let their ships sail only in escorted convoys (the Big naval lesson from the 20th Century!), but have agreed to report the positions of all merchant ships in transit to the NATO Operations centre in Djibouti to pass onto the NATO ships.
Author: Freek Schepers
Somali Pirates2008 saw a huge increase in pirate activities in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean.
In the absence of an effective government in Somalia, whole fishing families took to piracy and hostage-taking as a means of income.
NATO's navies, vastly over-designed for the task (with poor HumInt and even poorer ROEs), are forced to carry out the oldest Navy mission of the alliance, keeping the Sea Lines of Communication open.
The task of preventing attacks by pirate ships nearly indistinguishable from regular fishermen is virtually impossible.
Ships operators refuse to let their ships sail only in escorted convoys (the Big naval lesson from the 20th Century!), but have agreed to report the positions of all merchant ships in transit to the NATO Operations centre in Djibouti to pass onto the NATO ships.
Author: Freek Schepers
Devil May CareWhen Britain faces its greatest peril, only one man can save the day.
He's going to need a little help, though.
This scenario recreates, in ANW form, the climax of the James Bond novel 'Devil May Care'. An evil genius intends to destroy Volgograd and start a nuclear war that will wipe out Britain.
Only the RAF can stop him...
Author: SilentHunterUK
Carrier ExerciseHalfway through 2008, Europe started to realize that the Asian nations' sustained economic growth would eventually lead to a strong new powerhouse. Asian countries already built or bought several very effective carriers and, with China laying down both a 45000 ton and a 96000 ton aircraft carrier, Europe decided that carriers would become critical in the future.
While England's 2 new carriers are still years away, the time was ripe for some serious exercise.
This scenario has been designed for play with any combination of 1 to 4 players.
Author: Freek Schepers
Interfet-StabilizeEast Timor is an old Portuguese colony which was annexed by Indonesia in 1975. In August 1999, the citizenry overwhelmingly voted for independence, and, almost immediately afterwards, Indonesian-backed militia became active. By September, 250.000 people had fled the killings.
In September, President Habibi of Indonesia finally agreed to the deployment of a multinational UN-peacekeeping force in East Timor so long as it was primarily Asian troops.
While US, New Zealand, Italian, Singapore, Malaysian, and Norwegian troops began the long preparations for deployment, Australia was ready and an amphibious convoy put to sea. Indonesia objected strongly to this breach of the agreement.
Author: Freek Schepers
The Third TempleA surprise attack by Egypt and Syria on Israel during Yom Kippur yesterday has been astonishingly successful.
Using the element of surprise, the Egyptian and Syrian Air Forces destroyed scores of Israeli planes in their revetments. Under cover of the strongest SAM-belts the world has ever seen, Syrian ground forces have broken through Israeli defences along the Golan Heights and are pushing south towards Jerusalem. Israeli ground-attack planes destroyed scores of tanks, but were decimated by SAMs.
As the Syrians are moving out of the protection of their SAM belt, they rely on the Air force to support the advancing tanks.
In desperation, Israel and has ordered the arming of F-4 Phantoms with Nuclear bombs.
Author: Freek Schepers
Rescue A SailorOn March 23, 2007 Fifteen Royal Marines were captured by Iranian patrol boats while on routine inspection of an Indian freighter.
The UK must look for options, through political or military means, to get its people back.
At the same time, US presence in the Gulf is at a high with two CVBGs amidst great tension over Iran's nuclear program.
Author: Freek Schepers
Cruise ControlThis scenario follows Katyusha.
After a month-long war in Southern Lebanon which saw thousands of Katyusha rockets landing in Israel, the UN Security Council has enforced resolution 1702.
With Lebanon weakened and unstable, Syria felt it was in her best interests to occupy the country. Beirut has come under attack and Western nations are coordinating a massive effort to repatriate their citizens.
This scenario is a re-make of a Harpoon Classic scenario written by Mark Gellis and has been re-made for Harpoon 3 with the author's permission.
Author: Mark Gellis, Freek Schepers, Herman Hum
NICOBAR WALTZFor reasons which are not entirely clear, Indonesia has invaded and occupied part of the Nicobar Islands.
Normally, the United States would leave the matter to India, but, by unhappy coincidence, the Indonesians chose to invade while an American film company was on Car Nicobar shooting scenes for a movie. In the confusion of battle, there were a number of American casualties, including two popular young American starlets (one of them a friend of the President's own children and a frequent visitor to the White House). A few days later, an amateur video showing the bodies of Americans killed in the attack surfaced on the internet.
To make matters worse, the Indonesians have refused to release those Americans who survived the attack; the Indonesians are holding them as hostages to prevent American involvement in the conflict.
With American public opinion inflamed, the President has little choice but to act. Whether the Indians like it or not, America will be taking the Nicobar Islands back for them.
This scenario is a re-make of a Harpoon Classice scenario written by Mark Gellis. It has been re-made into Harpoon3 with permission from the author.
Author: Mark Gellis, Herman Hum
Lone WolfThree NATO diesel submarines travelled north together, guarding each other during snorkel periods. They had intended to conduct wolf-pack operations near the Soviet sub base at Polyarnyy. They have been plagued by bad luck, however. First, one unit was sunk by a Tango-class SS before the other two could sink it. Then as they approached their objective, one of the remaining two boats hit a mine and was lost. The remaining ship, a Dutch Walrus-class, continued north and has run afoul of a coastal ASW group.
Author: Dave SteinmeyerPower SweepThe war has not been kind to the Soviet navy; especially their submarine forces. In order to protect their remaining submarine units, the Soviets have been forced to begin escorting their less capable boats with first-line SSNs.
In this engagement, a Soviet SSN is guarding two other units as they proceed south through the Norwegian Sea. Once the group has reached the Atlantic, the SSN will perform its own mission while the SS and SSGN attack surface shipping.
First, though, NATO will try to stop them.
Author: Dave Steinmeyer
Beach ReconnaissanceSoviet submarines have scored many successes in the Atlantic convoy lanes through the profligate expenditure of torpedoes and missiles. By the third week of the war, many submarines are suspected to be low on fuel and munitions. However, the number of submarines returning to ports in the Kola Peninsula is far lower than expected.
The level of subsurface activity in the Spitzbergen area is higher than expected. Investigate and see if these anomalies are coincidental or correlated. If the Soviets can replenish away from the Kola Peninsula, this would be a significant and strategic force multiplier.
Author: Herman Hum
PiratesThe Malakka strait, Sunda Strait, and Java Sea are notorious Pirate waters. Attacks have increased to over 200 per year. Often crews of attacked vessels are put overboard, the ship is quickly searched for valuables, and then sunk. Many pirates are individual criminals, but organised gangs have emerged who have excellent Intell, and have purchased some of the hundreds of obsolete Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Australian 1960s and 1970s gunboats.
While Pirates have no chance against modern naval ships, the Navies in the region have other priorities; and rumour has it that some Pirate gangs are headed by ex-navy personnel. With over 50.000 ships passing the Malakka Strait annually of which 2000 are Ultra Large Crude Carriers, private enterprise has stepped in with the creation of the United Escort Service.
Author: Freek Schepers
PhilippinesWhen Mt. Pinatubo covered Clark AFB in the Philippines, it signaled the end of US protection of this nation. By 2008, the Philippine Air Force had no operational jet fighters and its Navy had not acquired SAM- or SSM-armed ships.
Insurgents and terrorist groups made good use of the stricken military and, by 2008, the Philippines opened discussions with China, Japan, and Korea on military and economic cooperation. The Philippines' closest neighbours, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Brunei, perceived a repeat of the WWII invasion threat from the north and each decided to widen their spheres of influence.
Author: Freek Schepers
Serpent's Island [ANW]Starting from 1878 back when the Treaty of Berlin offered it to Romania and until today, this piece of rock has played various roles that have reflected the interests of the countries in the region. After being a simple location for a lighthouse used for guiding navigation, it became a strategic point for the USSR, the latter annexing it in 1948 through a simple handing over minute, out of the desire to complete its control of the Danube by taking advantage of the military and strategic context of that time. After the fall of the Soviet Empire when it became part of Ukraine, the latter being USSR's successor state, the island has changed its nature and even its importance, with its statute now having major implications in establishing and delimitating [sic] Romania's and Ukraine's territorial seas and continental shelf. And those implications stem from the perspective and goal of exploiting the area's reserves of more than ten million tones of oil and 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
The basic treaty between the two countries, a treaty that Romania signed on June 2, 1997 under pressure to fulfil the border stability criteria needed to join NATO, has re-opened the issue in the context of subsequent border delimitation [sic] negotiations.
SOURCE:
http://www.nineoclock.ro (March 4, 2009)
"World Court draws border between Romania, Ukraine"
The International Court of Justice has drawn the boundary between Ukraine and Romania in the Black Sea, striking a compromise in the longstanding argument.
The court discounted arguments and maps presented by both countries and drew a maritime boundary between the rival claims.
At stake is access to billions of cubic meters of natural gas and an estimated 10 million tons of oil, but it was unclear how the new line would divide those resources.
Romania said it got 79% of its claim. But Ukraine's deputy foreign minister Oleksandr Kupchyshyn said both parties were satisfied with the judgment, which he called a wise compromise.
The decision Tuesday by the court, the U.N.'s highest judicial body, is final and binding on both sides.
SOURCE: USA Today (March 4, 2009)
"State raid on Ukraine gas HQ raises fears of energy crisis"
Fears of a new European energy crisis were mounting on Wednesday after masked gunmen from Ukraine's intelligence agency stormed the headquarters of the state gas company in a raid that could throw relations with Russia back into crisis.
[snip]
Millions of European consumers were left without gas for the first two weeks of this year after Russia severed supplies to Ukraine over a payment dispute that observers said involved political wrangling. Ukraine acts as a conduit for 80 per cent of Russian gas bound for Europe.
SOURCE: Adrian Blomfield, Daily Telegraph
(March 4, 2009)
"I...drink...your...milkshake. I drink it up!"
Daniel Plainview, "There will be Blood", Miramax films, 2007
Author: Herman Hum
Shetland SquabbleAs fish populations collapsed around the world due to overfishing, nations began to come into conflict. Some nations were not overly careful about whether or no they strayed into some other nation's fisheries or territorial waters.
In the last few months, Norwegian fishing boats have violated British waters. The British government intends to send a strong message. The British task commander is ordered to capture or sink Norwegian fishing boats found north of the Shetland Islands. The task force is currently south of the Shetland Islands.
Author: Herman Hum in collaboration with Mark Gellis
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