From: bieksza@erols.com Subject: [Consim-l] Nordkapp Solo Replay Season determination came up with a mild Fall (October) -- no extraordinary weather conditions. Pre-game reinforcement rolls brought good news for NATO: both the British Commando Brigade and the Allied Mobile Force would be available. Arrival of the Canadians would be Game-Turn 9 (one turn better than last time) but the arrival of the U.S. Marines would still be "later" rather than "earlier." The Soviet strategy was much the same as last time: one motorized rifle division to sweep thourgh Norway starting at Pechenga and the other to pass through Finland crossing the border near Tromso. However, first-turn use of the long-range assets was handled much better this time. The airborne division was almost entirely converted to Light status so that the full division could be airlifted in a single wave. Three battalions dropped on the airfield at Andoya and eliminated the garrison at no cost. The rest of the division dropped on the airfield at Evenes. The one battalion still mechanized then doubled back to attack the port of Harstad in conjunction with an amphibious assault by two naval infantry battalions. (The third landed at Alta to seize the airfield unopposed.) Here, too, the defender was eliminated at no cost. The significance of the port was that two Heavy battalions shipped from Murmansk could land. (A third unit failed to make it.) The Soviets attacked up the peninsula towards Narvik, but they may have missed the opportunity to remove the Allied Mobile Force stockpile in hex 1037. The AMF's sudden appearance blocked off the base of the peninsula, yet a British unit could be spared to hold the road into Finland. Thereafter the Soviets went into a period of defense, during which attempts were made to airlift the paratroopers' equipment. Some was lost to interception but eventually four battalions returned to Heavy status. The 45th MRD successfully occupied Kirkenes in the opening turn, but a Norwegian unit mobilized (Heavy) on the road just beyond. It was removed at heavy loss to the 45th. Thus the division didn't make its first attack near the next objective, Banak, until Game-Turn 5. Unfortunately, by that time the defenses had been built up. Norwegian pre-positioned equipment locations were selected randomly (as a way of preserving uncertainty) and in both turns the location was Banak. And on Game-Turn 4 British and Norwegian helicopters were safely escorted there with more units. The 45th doggedly attacked but took heavy losses. It had to be helped by a group splitting off from the 111th MRD as it passed through Karasjok. The airfield wasn't occupied until the final turn. All that remained of the 45th, apart from two mech infantry bns. with the paratroopers, were two tank bns., two mechanized bns., and the divisional artillery! The 54th MRD moved through Finland, which allowed transit rights. (Sweden chose neutrality.) As it approached the Norwegian border it was repeatedly the victim of enemy air interdiction. Its first attack, on Game-Turn 4, also marked the first use of chemicals and was one of the rare occasions of Soviet ground support. (Air activity had been so intense NATO had nothing left to intercept the Su-17's.) The defenders weren't eliminated until Game-Turn 6, even with the arrival of the helicopter-borne troops from Pechenga. But once the roadblock was removed the 54th, supplied again thanks to non-flying weather, began to roll. On Game-Turn 8 advance after combat put a battalion in contact with the defenders at the Bardufoss airfield! Two U.S. Marine battalions then landed at Tromso, so the Soviets clearly weren't going to divert any forces in that direction. To bolster the defense of Bardufoss, then, NATO replaced some of the defenders facing the Soviet paratroopers with the Marine mech. inf. bn. that landed at Narvik. The released force moved to Bardufoss to squeeze the unit adjacent to the airfield with a Surprise Attack. The attack had maximum odds ... but the die roll was a disasterous "1." That weakened the defense so much that the Soviets occupied the objective with advance after combat in the next turn. At the same time the Soviet force long bottled up near Narvik successfully attacked across a river; advance after combat cut the supply line to the few NATO units able to respond to the airfield's capture. But that proved to be crucial, for it blocked the Canadians landing at Narvik from attacking toward the airfield. On the final turn the Soviets surrounded the objective with troops so that no direct attack could be made on it with the exception of one out-of-supply commando unit. The objective was safe. There were still two last-second attempts to influence the victory conditions. On the Soviet side, the two naval infantry units at Harstad went to sea intending to conduct an amphibious assault at Bodo. But the Canadian recon unit got ther first. On the NATO side Norwegian and USMC helicopters brought troops to Evenes. (NATO didn't have to advance after combat, just eliminate or retreat the defenders so that the hex was no longer Soviet-occupied.) But that attack failed. The Soviets thus occupied six airfields for 25 Victory Points -- just enough for a Marginal Victory. The air war wasn't as furious as last itme. (Only one aircraft counter went in the dead pile up to the final turn.,) The Soviets realized that by sending out aircraft for ground support they invited NATO interception which, if successful, meant a greatly augmented defense strength in the battle. So the Soviets mostly refrained from ground attacks and enemy airpower was unable to intervene defensively. Another unusual aspect was that the early capture of four airfields meant that occasionally a NATO squadron had to sit out a turn due to lack of bases, but this had minimal impact. _______________________________________________ Consim-l mailing list Consim-l@mailman.halisp.net http://mailman.halisp.net/mailman/listinfo/consim-l