Northern Fury 9.5: Here Comes the Cavalry - a CMANO AAR

Started by Airborne Rifles, January 05, 2017, 08:51:18 PM

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Airborne Rifles

Quote from: mirth on January 16, 2017, 10:55:58 AM
The Great Icelandic Turkey Shoot.

So it was. Read on for the conclusion:

The next three hours passed uneventfully in the air, but under water the ASW screens of the two carriers, which were now nearing each other as they angled towards the Icelandic coast, detected, localized, and sank a Victor I-class sub whose crew had the bad luck to find themselves in the patch of ocean where the battle groups were converging. By sixteen hundred hours, the American deck crews were once again spotting their fighters onto the carriers' catapults, and for the third time that day the American squadrons winged into the sky.

During the previous sweep, the technicians aboard the ES-3B Shadow ELINT aircraft had noted the locations of the SA-20 batteries on the southwest peninsula and at Hornafjordur. The locations of these defensive systems screened the airfields from attack, but their positioning also left a gap in SAM coverage along the coastline that would allow the Americans to penetrate the airspace over Iceland between Keflavik and Hornafjordur. Shooting that gap, the American pilots could make straight for Akureyri on the island's north coast, which was the home of the last intact Soviet squadrons in Iceland.

The American squadrons spread out into successive waves as they flew north. As the formations of F-14s and F/A-18s approached the coast west of Hornafjordur, a few Soviet pilots rose grimly in their MiG-23s from the airfield at that coastal town. Half a dozen Sparrow-armed Tomcats from Eisenhower broke off to deal with this threat. The rest of the formation continued north, soon going feet dry over the rugged south coast and continuing on towards Akureyri.

The Americans were now over the rugged interior of Iceland, and this was a threat that the Soviets, even given their depleted strength, could not ignore. The fighter regiment at Akureyri had been maintaining a strong CAP over the north coast, if for no other reason than to protect the A-50 Mainstay AWACS and An-12 EW aircraft flying there. It was these support aircraft that were the real target for the Americans' last fighter sweep of the day, if they could reach them. If not, they would have to settle for bagging whatever fighter pilots rose to defend the bigger birds.

The Americans easily swept aside or drove off the few Floggers coming from Hornafjordur while the bulk of the combined air wings began to engage the Soviet fighter regiment burning south from Akureyri. Sparrow and AMRAAM missiles shot out from the American formation, arcing northwards towards the desperate Russians, who pushed their machines frantically to close with the Americans. Their efforts were for naught. The American weapons tore hole after hole in the Soviet ranks until, finally, there was nothing left flying over Iceland that bore a red star. The pilots from the two American carriers had won complete mastery over the skies of Iceland.

The Soviet fliers had achieved one success by their self-sacrifice, however. In destroying the MiG-23 regiment from Akureyri, the Americans had been unable to pursue the Soviet AWACS and EW aircraft north. Striking Fleet Atlantic had imposed a restriction on the carriers' fighter sweeps that there were to be no operations north of the sixty-five degree northing line. This was so as not to interfere with some vital special operations missions occurring to the north of Iceland. Now, this restriction saved the crews of the Soviet A-50s and An-12s, who would otherwise have been easy prey for the unchallenged American fighters.

Instead, after circling over Iceland's snowy interior, the triumphant American squadrons turned south, flying back out over the Atlantic along the same seem between SA-20 batteries that they had used to get in. No Soviet aircraft rose to pursue. If any Russian fighters were left, they had finally decided to practice the better part of valor.

The sky was darkening at eighteen hundred hours as the last American Tomcat flew south across the sixty-two degree line, leaving behind them a shattered Soviet air force in Iceland. Nearly two hundred Soviet fighters had been shot down in twenty-four hours of combat, to a mere eleven on the American side. On top of that, the American task forces and submarines had combined to sink six Soviet nuclear submarines. The two carrier groups, now within easy mutually supporting distance, had turned back south to link up with replenishment ships, whose crews would re-stock the flattops magazines for the next day's missions.

For the Soviets, the night would bring no rest. As the last US Navy fighters disappeared off the Russian radar screens, to the east the US Air Force was mustering a massive strike from bases in Canada and Greenland to smash the Soviet SAM defenses and begin to pave the way for the Marines to recapture Iceland.

Sir Slash

Take that you bunch of Commie Iceland Invaders! Great read AR.  O0
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

Commander Cody

Another great one!  :notworthy:

Can't wait to see what the boys in blue do next.

Cheers,
CC

Airborne Rifles

Thanks for reading CC. This was a blast to play. I hope to get to the next one soon.

JasonPratt

AMERICAN BIAS, OMG PLZ NERF!  >:D

As always a splendid write-up. Gut-wrenching for Team Redskis. I suppose there are scenarios in CMANO (not this set presumably) where the player takes the OpForce (maybe mp), but how would that even work?  :timeout: :wow: "You are given command of air defense over Iceland to keep it for the Soviet state; two US Navy carrier groups en route, plus land based air. Remember, the Soviet state does not endorse religion, but God help you."
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Airborne Rifles

Quote from: JasonPratt on February 20, 2017, 05:23:07 PM
Remember, the Soviet state does not endorse religion, but God help
you.

Ha! In Soviet Russia, God doesn't believe in you!

So, I definitively gamed the AI in this one by pulling the Soviet fighters out from behind their SAM defenses, which are very formidable. The next scenario, Anteaters Revenge, has the USAF taking on those defenses, and I'm still trying to craft a plan for how penetrate battalions of S-400s without crippling losses. If the Russian fighters stay within the protective envelope of these SAM systems, this would be a very tough nut to crack indeed, even with two full CVBG air wings.

Sir Slash

"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.