War Gaming the Air Ops During the 2006 Lebanon War with HPS's "War over the Mideast"

The game: HPS's "War over the Mideast"

The mission: Attack Hezbollah concentrations in Lebanon

From the game's scenario description.

The 2006 Lebanon War was a 33-day military conflict between Hezbollah paramilitary forces Lebanon and Israel. Conflict started on 12 July 2006 The conflict began when Hezbollah militants fired rockets at Israeli border towns and terminated on 14 August 2006.

Israel responded with massive airstrikes on civilian towns and infrastructure targets throughout Lebanon.  The airstrikes were coupled with a ground invasion of southern Lebanon where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) engaged Hezbollah militants, who resisted using unconventional warfare techniques from hardened positions. After the ceasefire, some parts of Southern Lebanon remained uninhabitable due to unexploded cluster bomblets.

 When you load this scenario, it appears like the whole affair is going to be a turkey shoot. However, the mission objectives are quite demanding. Moreover, depending what you do with your Israeli aircraft, the Syrian Air Force gets really nervous and scrambles interceptors right away.

I can see Syria from here! The blue area on the right is a no fly-zone (yeah right, like flying over Lebanon was not no enough to piss off other Arab countries). Click the image to expand it.

See the red triangles coming from Syria? Interceptors! Click on the image to expand it.

Back to the drawing board here. I have to plan for air superiority. Who would have thought that attacking terrorists would need that?

Cheers,

Good War Gaming Times Ahead: Schwerpunkt's "Middle East 1946-2006"

Last night, at the Wargamer.com forums, Ron Dockal posted a list of scenarios of his upcoming war game "Middle East 1946-2006".

1. Israeli War of Independence, to 1st Truce
2. Israeli War of Independence, to 2nd Truce
3. Israeli War of Independence, to Armistice
4. Sinai Campaign 1956
5. Six Day War 1967
6. Yom Kippur War 1973 - Sinai
7. Yom Kippur War 1973 - Golan
8. Yom Kippur War 1973
9. Israeli War with Lebanon 1982
10. Iran - Iraq War, Iraq Invades Sep 1980
11. Iran-Iraq War, Susangerd Jan 1981
12. Iran-Iraq War, Abadan Sep 1981
13. Iran-Iraq War, Operation Jerusalem Way, Nov 1981
14. Iran-Iraq War, Operation Undeniable Victory, Mar 1982
15. Iran-Iraq War, Operation Jerusalem, Apr 1982
16. Iran-Iraq War, Iran Invades Iraq, Jul 1982
17. Iran-Iraq War, Target Basra, Feb 1984
18. Iran-Iraq War, Iran Captures Faw Peninsula, Feb 1986
19. Iran-Iraq War, Last Attempt at Basra, Dec 1986
20. Iran-Iraq War, Iraq Recaptures Faw Peninsula, April 1988
21.  Desert Storm 1991
22.  Cobra II 2003
23.  What If Scenario Builds
24.  Middle East 2010 (will contain the most current OOB in the public domain)

Some screenshots of this game are available here.

I always liked and played Schwerpunkt games. Even when in general I tend to dismiss war games designed with a philosophy of "replicating the board game experience" (what the hell is that supposed to mean? Building motorcycles with saddles and bad shocks so they bump your rear like a horse?).

The games from Schwerpunkt have an AI that will retreat if the odds are bad or if they are to be turned/outflanked. They also have a scale that allows you to play an entire, army-group level operation in a couple of hours.

So, my hat goes off to you, Ron. I'd pay full price for just the "Desert Storm" and "Cobra II" scenarios alone.

And I am very happy that every once and then you can read something war-gamish at the Wargamer.com. Now they can go back to the usual dragons, elfs and science fiction chatter. :)

Cheers,

"Why We Fight Now", a Documentary About The Green Berets and the War on Terror

This film is getting some moderate attention in the US media. Featured here the first part, please go to Youtube.com to see the whole film divided in 6 parts.

I'm guessing this film will generate some moderate friction between the US special operations forces. The many special forces branches in the US are currently competing for funding and the film appears to be putting forward the idea that the Green Berets are specially apt for fighting insurgencies.

Cheers,

DCS A-10C, Hands on Look at SimHQ

Oh man, the A-10C simulator from Eagle Dynamics has gotten me all excited now!

In this SimHQ feature, "Cat" describes her first hand experience with the simulator. Great article!

I'm very excited about this (bold is mine):

But wait: there's more. How would you like to see an AI tactical ground controller that will mark targets for you with smoke and give you a full 9-line brief? I saw it, guys. Artificial intelligence for wingmen is enhanced over what we've seen in the past, and you have more commands than ever before.

It seems like Eagle Dynamics is putting their act together about the ground component of the simulation. Given the nature of the missions of the A-10C (thinking of close air support here), it's almost a no brainer. In DCS-Black Shark, the missing tactical air control (either ground or air based) is a glaring omission.

Good times coming up!

Cheers,

The Soviet 65th Army at Parichi, 1944

I've been reading about the massive, multi-front Soviet offensive on Belorussia during the summer of 1944. Mainly from these two books:



HPS Simulations offers Minsk 44, an equally massive PC war game that allows you to command either the German or Soviet armies during those trying weeks. The amount of historical detail in this (and any other of the Panzer Campaign series) war game is simply astounding.

Minsk 44 has a particular scenario that features the opening moves of the Soviet 65th Army at Parichi.

The Parichi scenario in Minsk 44. The entire Soviet 65th Army is shown as brown and redish icons. The grey icons are the German units. I'm playing this with fog of war enabled, so only the German units that are seen by the Russians are represented. Click the image for an expanded view.

I've played this scenario a couple several times as the Soviets. I would ussually put the main effort on the northern half of the 65th Army's sector, right on the road that goes to Parichi. If you see the game screen shot above, the southern half of the sector features more restrictive terrain.

The surprising thing is that in real life the Soviet 65th Army used that very restrictive terrain in the southern part of its assigned sector. Take a look at the map below.

This map is from Glant's Belorussia 1944, ebook version. Note the 65th Army's sector denoted as "65A" and how it advanced into German-held territory very much ignoring Parichi. Click the image for an expanded view.

Indeed, Parichi was taken by the Russians way long into the offensive. I've been puzzled about this for a while: why the 65th Army wouldn't advance straight into Parichi and rather use the poor terrain south of this city to advance? Maybe the maps in the Minsk 44 war game are miss-representing the terrain?

I don't know the definitive answer to that. But something is certain: the 65th and the 28th Soviet Armies (see 28A in the map above) leaned on each other for the offensive. In that way the main effort of the whole front was actually near the sector limits between both Armies.

Cheers,

Halt Security (Part 3), an ArmA 2 Tactical Vignette

Tense minutes. Waiting.

Contact ... east ... enemy infantry armed with RPGs!

Right after that, chaos. My mind is racing and the only thing I can bring myself to is to orient the AAV's grenade launcher towards the enemy. I can hear fire team 2 (the one in the east and closest to the enemy contact) firing their weapons. Should I pull back other fire team from the perimeter in support of fire team 2?

The map interface offers an easy way to target enemy formations. Here I'm orienting the AAV to the enemy contact. Click the image to expand it.

The enemy team bugs out but re-appears on fire team's 2 flank. Gah! I should have pulled fire team 2 back.

You have to admit that, warts and all, the AI of ArmA 2 is one of the best out there. In this picture, the bugged out and tried to sneak taking advantage of the woods. Click the image to expand it.

Fortunately the AAV appears to be taking care of them.

The AAV shooting at the sneaky enemy infantry. I am looking southwest.

Now I am taking fire. What the hell, how the enemy survived the 40mm grenade barrage? I am hit, damn! I move towards some trees trying to get a grasp to what the hell is happening.

This is what's happening.

I move towards the remanants of the AAV. The enemy is already in the village, so close to us. Where the hell is fire team 1? They were supposed to guard the approaches from the village!

As fast and furious as it developed, the firefight halts to an end. The silence now is eerie. I move towards fire team 1 position at the south of the village.

A dead insurgent at the edge of the village.

An AAV crewman, KIA. I really hate to say a zap number on the radio.

The final tally is 18 insurgents dead or wounded. As for us:

• One AAV crewman KIA
• Fire team 1, one Marine dead
• Fire team 2, one Marine KIA, one Marine wounded
• Fire team 3, no casualties
• Catastrophic loss of an AAV
  

I contact company HQ for MEDEVAC/casualty evacuation and get a message that we should expect a couple of M1s coming our way.

I send fire team 1 to link up with the M1s.

Cheers,

Halt Security (Part 2), an ArmA 2 Tactical Vignette

The terrible threat here are RPGs. With a maximum range of 1,000 meters, a single one can blow up the AAV with relative ease.

Ideally I would set up a security perimeter that puts the bad guys' RPGs out of range. Given the nature of the terrain at our location, increasing the diameter of a security would mean leaving each fire team without mutual support.

After walking through the surroundings and checking for fields of fire, I settle for the following arrangement.

A hasty security perimeter to protect the AAV with my Marine Squad. We were moving south. Click the image to expand it.

Fire team 1 orients north and controls any enemy forces approaching from the village and terrain NW and NE from our position.

Fire team 2 orients west and deploys in the reverse slope of the hill on our right flank so it can take advantage of the supporting fires from the AAV's grenade launcher.

On second thought, the dreaded forest in our left flank is not that much of threat. To get a clear shot, the insurgents would have to close with the AAV. Fire team 3 orients east and deploys within the forest, a few meters from the AAV.

The AAV grenade launcher orients south and controls the road. That dude over there better get busy with the track, things are going to get hot.

To be continued ...

Cheers,

Halt Security (Part 1), an ArmA 2 Tactical Vignette

The lone Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) where my Marine Squad and I are riding has been trailing behind our parent platoon because of mechanical issues.

Now it has just thrown a track. It is an estimated forty to sixty minutes before the AAV crew can repair the track or somebody can come and help us. We are immobile.

I order my Marines to dismount and what I see is less than encouraging.


Thick forest to our left and a relatively steep slope to our right. Somebody can sneak through the forest at our left and take a shot at us. Or they can use the crest of the hill to our right as cover to do the same thing ...

The civilians in the village behind us have gathered to watch our misery. They are making up for the missed opportunity to see the full Lima Company when it passed through the village during their sleep. All of the sudden, they bug out in all haste. I bet some bozo at the village must have used his cell phone to call any of the insurgent bands that control these lands from the shadows.


I order the AAV commander to contact the Platoon, deliver a SITREP and ask for help.

We need to establish a security perimeter around the immobile AAV. The insurgents can take it out with a single RPG shot.

To be continued ...

Cheers,

"HistWar: Les Grognards" Demo is Out!

The demo for "HistWar: Les Grognards" is out.

The graphics and color palette reminds me a lot of "Combat Mission Beyond Overlord". Oh, the irony!

Some cavalry squadron ... somewhere ... doing something ... Where's the manual? I'm gonna need it.

Note where I have the cursor: this game has friendly fog of war! I'm impressed.

More impressions at a later time.

Cheers,

Cheering for the developer of "HistWar Les Grognards"

HistWar Les Grognards is a tactical/grand-tactical 3D Napoleonic war game. A demo has been promised for tomorrow 10:00 AM (Paris time). Cheering up for you, JMM! :)

EDIT: you may notice Battlefront.com's logo after the video. Battlefront dropped HistWar from their line of products a short time ago.

Cheers,