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Command at Sea, 1994

NF 9.3 Command at Sea
18 Feb 94

Afternoon on the fifth day of a new global war between East and West, the situation is starting to stabilize. The ground war in Europe is still undecided but NATO forces in CENTAG (Central Army Group) have blunted the main Soviet advance somewhat, while the air war over Germany has seen the loss of hundreds of NATO aircraft. Conflicts in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean have stabilized in NATO’s favour, both the Panama and Suez Canals remain open and navigable. In the Pacific; Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are virtually isolated but 7th Fleet is mustering and will make a push with four CVBGs and the New Jersey in a couple days.

The situation in the North Atlantic remains desperate. The rapid capture of North Norway and Iceland have allowed the Soviets to surge almost 100 submarines into the Atlantic. The USS Enterprise CVBG spent two difficult days blunting an attempt by the Red Banner Northern Fleet to interdict the sea lanes, she is now preparing to retire for re-supply and re-organization, as are the major Soviet surface units. The USS Carl Vinson CVBG is moving up to relieve the Enterprise.

The USS Eisenhower, after three days of hard fighting in the Mediterranean, has passed through the Pillars of Hercules and is heading north. She will join the USS Carl Vinson CVBG to strike at Soviet forces around Iceland in three days.

This scenario is playable by either WP or NATO:

As the NATO player you must maneuver and protect the USS Mount Whitney as it transports the Commander of the US 2nd Fleet (NATO’s CINCLANT) to a patrol area off the Azores.

As the WP player you have multiple submarines and valuable intelligence indicating that a ‘High Value Target’ is arriving in your patrol area.

Designer’s Notes:

This is the 12th scenario of a 25-30 scenario campaign, and is slightly out of sync with the preceding two larger scenarios ‘Eisenhower moves North’ and ‘Changing of the Guard’, the three overlap in time (as does 9.4 Sub Surge) and were originally meant to be played as one scenario; however, both game and player capacity drove the design decision to split them apart. The time overlap does not affect game play and has minimal impact on story sequencing, but as this is a much smaller scenario and very much a supporting activity it fits nicely in this slot.

See the Northern Fury background document for further insight on the background and happenings so far. The key nuggets
· Cold War continued, no thaw in relations. Germany still divided, WP still alive and doing very well.
· The 3rd World war started 13 Feb. The Warsaw Pact forces led by the Soviet Union attacked NATO and other nations on a global scale, the main blow was in Western Europe fighting erupted in the Pacific, Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa. India has declared a separate war with Pakistan, North Korea attacked Southwards in an apparently independent move and Argentina is threatening the Falklands again (but has not attacked).

In earlier scenarios to this battle set, you found that the defences in North Norway have collapsed, the Soviet Northern Fleet has put to sea, and Soviet submarines have inflicted damage along the US Eastern seaboard, Iceland is now in Soviet hands, and an attempt has been made to interdict the Sea and Air Lines of Communications between North America and Europe. NATO is manoeuvring its CVBGs and other forces to establish Global Sea Control.

• You should turn 'special messages' ON.
• Please respect the initial ready times for aircraft, this represents designed delays that both balance the scenario and paint the picture of the ongoing conflict.
• Points are allotted or deducted for losses, and for major NATO units reaching the assigned assembly areas.