Northern Fury 5: Bardufoss Blues - a CMANO AAR

Started by Airborne Rifles, September 20, 2015, 10:07:24 PM

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Freyland

Quote from: Airborne Rifles on September 28, 2015, 01:11:42 PM
There's Norway to top that one.

Plus he contributed!  That's tacit approval right there!  C:-)

MetalDog

It is Grogheads after all.  It's kind of a tradition around here.
And the One Song to Rule Them All is Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones


"If its a Balrog, I don't think you get an option to not consent......." - bob

Sir Slash

Could be worse. Somebody could say, (.)(.)'s.
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

Airborne Rifles

So...I had to reload the scenario from an earlier save after what I thought was a glitch. This had some interesting effects, namely that the diesel sub Utsira managed to evade the Soviet ASW helos and break contact towards the landward most Soviet SAG, and the second salvo of torpedoes fired by both the Kilo and the frigate Stavanger missed their targets. Both ships survived and have lost contact with each other. Otherwise, everything in the previous updates remains the same. So, read on...

The massive formation of close to forty Soviet fighters, at least half dangerous Su-27s and Mig-29s, proceeded across the Finnish wedge towards the airspace over the Lyngen position. The drubbing that the Norwegian, Dutch, and American pilots had dealt to the first Russian fighter sweep had been heard by the second wave's pilots in snippets of frantic radio chatter over the thirty minutes that that air battle had lasted. What came over their radio nets next was the stunned reports of the surviving Mig-23 pilots who were retreating towards Banak. This was causing confusion among the second wave, whose mission was to set up a CAP over the Lyngen position and Bardufoss, not to fight their way in. THAT had been the task given to the first wave. The second wave's pilots hadn't planned for the eventuality that the first wave would be so utterly defeated, and their organization and formation began to erode. Even so, the NATO fighters in the air were desperately short on ordnance and the ground crews at Bardufoss, Evenes, and Bodo were working feverishly to get more fighters off the ground.

As the Soviet formation crossed northern Finland, the first two American F-15s took off from Bodo. The pilots punched their afterburners and rocketed north. These were followed by four more F-15s that rose from Bardufoss, along with an AMRAAM-armed Norwegian F-16. As these seven aircraft formed into a line abreast heading east, more F-16s, both Dutch and Norwegian, began to rise from Bardufoss and Evenes. The NATO ground crews had done their part, and they now turned their efforts to reading the next aircraft for the remaining weary pilots. The battle for the airspace over Bardufoss now at least would be won or lost in their air.

The NATO fliers had the advantage of direction from an E-3 AWACS turning racetracks over central Norway and of an EW aircraft providing jamming support. The Soviet A-50 AWACS aircraft, so prominent in the previous day's fighting were conspicuously absent today, and the Soviet pilots were suffering from a lack of knowledge about what was ahead of them. The controllers on the NATO AWACS fed information to the F-15 pilots who oriented their battle line towards the front of the approaching Soviet fighter column. Seven Allied fighters closed with forty Soviet ones, though the pilots of several additional flights of 16s were punching their afterburners to catch up.

The pilots of the American F-15s had been approaching with their radars off, receiving guidance from the controllers on the AWACS. Now, fifteen miles in front of the oncoming Soviet fighter stream, the Eagle drivers flipped on their radars and began selecting targets. In seconds they began to ripple fire AMRAAMs as fast as targets could be illuminated and engaged. The Soviet pilots, already confused and flying into the unknown, were caught completely by surprise by this deadly assault. Their formation, already wavering, fell apart as individual pilots broke ranks to evade.

The American missiles dove and ripped into the Soviet column shattering plane after plane and taking a particularly heavy toll of the first-rate Mig-29s and Su-27s which were at the front of the Soviet formation. Behind the AMRAAMs came American F-15s and Dutch and Norwegian F-16s boring in on afterburner. These tore into the surviving Russians, launching Sidewinders as fast as they could bring a twisting Soviet jet into their sights. It was a slaughter. The NATO jets tore through the tattered Soviet formation as red-starred fighters exploded, burned, or simply fell broken through the scattered clouds below. In minutes the battle was over. It had been an unmitigated disaster for the Russian air force. The NATO fighters, after annihilating the leading Migs and Sukois, had turned on the following Mig-23s and smashed them as well.

The American, Dutch, and Norwegian pilots found themselves bursting through what had been the back of the Soviet column to clear skies. As they turned to reenter the fight it began to become clear that there were no more Soviets to fight. The Russian second wave had been destroyed completely without the loss of a single NATO aircraft. The pilots turned back for the sky over the Lyngen position to await further attacks as the controllers began sending those pilots who were low on missiles back to base to rearm. So confident was the battle captain aboard the AWACs after the unlikely victory that he vectored two reinforcing F-15 from Bodo out over the Norwegian Sea to hunt Soviet ASW helicopters with the long-ranged AMRAAMs.

Out to sea the Soviet naval deployments were becoming clear. Closest in to the coast and heading south were two surface action groups of four warships, each consisting of a Krivak frigate, an Udaloy, a Sovremeny, and a Kresta-class cruiser. Further to west was the Kiev task group, with another task group centered on the carrier Kuznetsov far out to sea. These groups were all advancing roughly abreast, sweeping the ocean ahead of them. Behind them the AWACS' radar was beginning to pick up returns from what could only be the approaching amphibious group that had be sighted by Trafalgar in the Barents sea yesterday.

The NATO submarines were particularly well positioned to intercept these forces, but it would take a great deal of skill by the sub's captains to get past the powerful Russian ASW screens to attack the carriers and amphibs. Killing some to the screens' helicopters would at least help, though the American jets would have to stay outside the engagement envelope of the effective Russian naval SAM systems. Complicating things further was a CAP of Su-33 fighters flying from Kuznetzov. The Soviet naval offensive would clearly be a tough nut to crack, if it could be cracked at all.     

Airborne Rifles

After evading the Soviet ASW helicopters the Norwegian 210-class diesel sub Utsira had broken contact towards the oncoming Soviet surface action group. The captain had taken his boat deep to evade the Russian aircraft, and his positions astride the course of the Soviet ships allowed him to keep his sub moving at barely above steerageway to keep noise to a minimum. The Soviet formation was shaped like an inverted letter Y, with the group's Sovremeny-class destroyer and an older Kashin-Mod-class destroyer taking the lead and either leg of the Y, followed by a Kresta and an Udaloy in column. Utsira's captain set his slow course so that he would split the distance between the two lead destroyers. He planned quietly slip into the center of the Soviet formation before launching his attack and then using the ensuing chaos to egress.

To the northeast, another challenge to the NATO pilots patrolling the skies over the Lyngen position was developing. The Finns were launching another wave of fighters, this time a mix of Mig-21s and Drakens, while sorties of Mig-27 ground attack fighters were making sorties from Banak and proceeding southwest at low altitude. The NATO pilots were once again low on missiles after annihilating the second wave of Soviet air superiority fighter, and the controllers in the AWACS were not eager to put their outnumbered aircraft into a gun fight with nimble Mig-21s. Additionally, NATO fliers had to divide their attention between the Finnish fighters approaching at 40,000 feet and the Soviet raiders coming in at treetop level over the broken and mountainous Norwegian terrain, meaning one aircraft could pilot could not divide his attention between two threats.

In the end, the NATO Falcon drivers split up, Dutch aircraft going south to meet the oncoming Finns, and Norwegians going north to hunt down the low level attack jets. The Dutch pilots met the inexperienced Finns with volleys of their remaining Sidewinders before the fight devolved into a turning furball of twisting and turning F-16s and Mig-21s. The experience of the battle-hardened NATO pilots quickly told, and Finnish Migs and Drakens began to fall again through the clouds, joined by a lone flaming Falcon. The battle was quickly over, with the surviving Finnish pilots turning and punching their afterburners to escape.

Further north, the Norwegians were struggling to intercept numerous pairs of Mig-27s as they infiltrated through deep mountain valleys towards Bardufoss. They managed to down or turn back most of the raiders, but one pair burst through and bore down on the airfield. The 40mm Bofors guns defending the field opened up at the low flying jets as they streaked over the tarmac and released their ordnance. Green bombs fell off the Russians' wings and slammed into the taxiway. Earth and pavement were heaved into the air as the Migs streaked away and turned back into the rugged snow-covered mountains. Almost before the dust had settled bulldozers were speeding out to smoothe away the damage done by the Russian bombs. The two Migs made good their escape as the NATO pilots continued to joust with the other Soviet and Finnish intruders.

At sea the Utsira's captain had maneuvered his sub into position in the middle of the landward most Soviet SAG. With the throbbing screws of the Russian ships all around him, he ordered his boat to ascend and make its attack run. This was where the small 210-class sub's eight torpedo tubes would show their worth. When the Utsira ascended through 100 meters the captain gave the order and the whole ship shuddered eight times as two torpedoes were launched at each of the four southward moving Russian ships.

The Russian reaction was swift and violent. The two leading destroyers each launch torpedoes towards the point from which their sonarmen reported numerous torpedoes radiating outward. Simultaneously, RBU anti-submarine mortars began to cough from all four ships, sending bomblets towards the diving and accelerating Norwegian submarine. Despite the volume of fire, the Utsira's captain managed to avoid damage and dive his boat deep as his own weapons sped towards the Soviet ships as bomblets roiled the water around them. Then the chief sonarman reported deeper, larger explosions.

The first Soviet ship to die was the group's flagship, the Kresta-II class cruiser. The first Norwegian torpedo struck her bow and crumpled the entire front of this ship. Moments later the second weapon passed underneath the wrecked bow and detonated directly under the keel. As the column of water subsided the Russian cruiser groaned and then broke in half. The two parts quickly sank, leaving few survivors.

The next casualty was the Kashin, followed quickly by the Udaloy. The former capsized after two torpedoes plowed into her port side, while the latter lost all power and began to settle by the stern. The Sovremeny managed to evade the first enemy weapon, but the second bored in and detonated under her stern, lifting it out of the water and slamming it back down. The destroyer quickly began to settle by the stern until her bow lifted out of the water and the whole ship slid backwards with crew members jumping into the icy waves.

Unfortunatley for the Utsira, just before the last torpedo had detonated under the Russian Sovremeny, the enemy ship's crew had launched one last lucky salvo of RBU mortars. These straddled the fleeing subs position with one bomb actually striking the boat just behind the sail. Water flooded the control room as the pressure hull failed, and the Utsira and her crew joined the wreckage of the Russian SAG on the bottom after one of the most violent and deadly naval engagements of the war.

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.

Airborne Rifles

Quote from: Sir Slash on October 12, 2015, 10:43:33 PM
R.I.P. Brave Nords.

Indeed. I was sure they had escaped when the Sovremeny got wasted.

mirth

"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

Commander Cody

Great AAR, as I mentioned on the Matrix forum. I have the game on my hard drive, but have been doing a couple of other Matrix games more recently. Time to get back into CMANO.

I was expecting to see Finnish F-18s following the Russian strike, which would have made things slightly more challenging for NATO, but checked Wikipedia and indeed the Finnish Air Force didn't start getting those birds until 1995.

Cheers,
CC

Crossroads

Quote from: Commander Cody on October 14, 2015, 12:18:21 AM
Great AAR, as I mentioned on the Matrix forum. I have the game on my hard drive, but have been doing a couple of other Matrix games more recently. Time to get back into CMANO.

I was expecting to see Finnish F-18s following the Russian strike, which would have made things slightly more challenging for NATO, but checked Wikipedia and indeed the Finnish Air Force didn't start getting those birds until 1995.

Cheers,
CC

Greetings from Finland! This is correct, the order was made in 1992 and the delivery took place bw 1995-2000, first ones arriving from US then the latter being assembled locally.

Here, we only joined Soviets because they promised we could attack and take over Sweden. That would have been swede.
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Airborne Rifles

Yes, Gunner98, the scenario designer, has done a ton of research into the OOBs of the belligerents. In this alternate history 1994 where the Soviet Union did not collapse in 1992 I think it doubtful that the US would have sold F-18s to Finland in the first place?

Airborne Rifles

Though the loss of the Utsira was bitter, the complete destruction of the landward-most Russian SAG suddenly opened up possibilities for the NATO forces to set the conditions to go on the offensive at sea. The controllers on the AWACS had watched with mounting excitement as the electronic signatures and radar returns from the four Russian ships disappeared one by one. This excitement was compounded when the captain of the older Kobben-class diesel submarine Kinn, operating some distance south of the Utsira's patrol area, came to communication depth and reported he had detected, tracked, and eventually sunk a Soviet Foxtrot-class diesel boat. This, combined with the damage inflicted on the Kilo further north, seemed to indicate a severe weakening of the Soviet fleet's eastern flank.

Quick planning was conducted by the staff at AFNN, and they presented a plan to the theater commander to focus their anti-surface efforts on the one Soviet group that could both be engaged decisively and whose destruction would upset whatever plans the Soviets had for the Norwegian Sea: the amphibious group trailing the three surviving Soviet surface groups. This force was possessed of a strong escort, but it was nonetheless weaker than that of the Kuznetsov or the Kiev-class carrier (probably the Admiral Gorshkov, since the Kiev had been identified earlier in the day north of Jan Mayen).

ELF messages went out to the nuclear submarines USS Annapolis and HMS Talent, which were stalking the Kuznetsov and Gorshkov groups respectively. The two subs duly came to communication depth and their captains grudgingly received instructions to break off contact with the Soviet carriers and skirt the enemy screens to proceed north. They were instructed to come to communication depth at a pre-determined time to attempt a combined missile attack on the amphibious group's escorts with their combined eight Harpoon missiles. The subs would then close and do what damage they could with torpedoes. The missile attack would hopefully weaken the group's screen enough for AFNN's commander to play the two Aces he was keeping up his sleeve: two squadrons of F-5As at Andoya and Bodo configured for an anti-surface strike, and the four groups of missile boats currently sheltering in the Lofoten Islands.

In the meantime the NATO cap over the Lyngen position continued to fend off low-level Soviet raids by Mig-27s. Most of the enemy flights coming in at low level were either shot down or turned back, but one enemy flight managed to evade interception and burst through to the Norwegian naval base at Olavsvern. The pilots of the two attack jets released their bombs and baked for home. The six bombs tumbled down and exploded outside the blast doors of the massive complex burrowed into the mountain flank of a fjord. Damage to the actual facilities was minimal, and the two raiders were bounced by Dutch F-16s on their egress. A third Finnish wave, weaker than the previous two, was also turned back with heavy loss.

The success of NATO airpower over the Lyngen position allowed COMAFNN to execute the first part of his staff's plan to smash the Soviet amphibious group. A pair of F-15s had already been sent out to hunt Soviet ASW helicopters but had been kept at bay by the air defenses of the landward SAG. When this group suddenly disappeared, its ASW helicopters were left suddenly without any top cover. Even worse for the Russians was the fact that the amphibious group's commander had dispatched several of his escorts' helicopters to assist in the hunt for the now-dead Utsira. These all became easy prey for the American interceptors who dove on the defenseless choppers and remorselessly downed them one by one.

Once these were destroyed the Eagle drivers dropped down to low level and streaked in towards the next Soviet surface group, the other SAG. The two pilots used AMRAAMs to destroy the helicopter screen for this group as well. The American fighters were inexorably caving in the ASW defenses of the Soviet east flank as the Annapolis and Talent dove and adjusted course to approach the amphibs from the west and south. COMAFNN began to feel a glimmer of confidence about his plan to foil the Soviet designs in his theater.     

mirth

"45 minutes of pooping Tribbles being juggled by a drunken Horta would be better than Season 1 of TNG." - SirAndrewD

"you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire" - Bawb

"Can't 'un' until you 'pre', son." - Gus

Sir Slash

Yeah, they better get their Swimfluggels ready.
"Take a look at that". Sgt. Wilkerson-- CMBN. His last words after spotting a German tank on the other side of a hedgerow.

bob48

Bloody hell. This is nail biting stuff and no mistake.
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