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EUBanana -> AAR : Women and Children First (6/30/2006 5:57:16 AM)
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I'm not an old hand at this game so after a few attempts to work out the interface and how its done, this was my first "proper" game.
Only Women and Children was the scenario - in short, the British evacuation of Hong Kong after a Chinese invasion. I'm playing the Brits. Starting assets were two frigates (a Type 23 and a Type 22 Batch 3) and two destroyers (the Brit AA destroyers with Sea Darts and not much else) guarding a convoy, a whole bunch of cruise liners and tankers at Hong Kong. For whatever reason, those four surface ships have no helicopters, which proves quite a drawback later on.
HMS Triumph, Trafalgar class SSN, is not too far away, about a hundred miles east of HK or so.
British air power is pretty absent, Hong Kong is bare, but I got some Nimrods, E-3s and Tornados at Naha, which is a damn long way away.
The CHinese have one airbase north east along the coast from HK aways, and unknown naval assets.
So, we set off. Everybody is observing passive ENCOM so we're as sneaky as possible. The frigates lead the convoy, the destroyers are on the northern edge on AA picket duty about 15 miles out from the vulnerables. Plan is to head south of Taiwan and then double around to Naha, rather than sail up the Chinese coast, which seems to be begging for death.
HMS Triumph is sent first and a Nimrod is scrambled to do recon on the straits south of Taiwan, as it looks like thats the choke point. While they are vectoring in that direction a whole bunch of Chin aircraft sortie but far to the northeast of the convoy and not threatening it in any way.
When my Nimrod gets in range just south of Taiwan, lo, a submarine contact is discovered, a Kilo-class. It's a sneaky little ***** so it resists my ASW attempts. My Nimrod ends up dropping a few sonobuoys and running away, as the Chinese scramble fighters from the mainland to try and engage it. But! they must be at max range or thereabouts as soon they have to turn back, and then my Nimrod doubles back. This happens a good half a dozen times. Eventually the Kilo is buried underneath a mass of sonobouys, and then the Stingray torpedoes follow. It takes a good four to kill the thing as they keep missing... but kill it they eventually do. All shows blank after a quick further patrol, and its dangerous with these Chin fighters, so the Nimrod goes home.
Time passes. The Chinese air sortieing quiets down a bit. My E-3 east of Taiwan spots Chinese naval units along the coast, so just as well I didn't go that way. I'm just congratulating myself on a job well done when HMS Triumph, now at the area where the Nimrod was battling, finds another contact which the ASW a/c must have missed, a Han class SSN.
I try and scramble my Nimrod again as its still a fair way away, but for some weird code reason it won't take off! Apparently the erks are on a break or something, but the bottom line is, the Han has to be dealt with by my naval assets.
Triumph sneaks up on the Chinese Han without too much problem. By now the convoy is drawing near, must be about 80 miles west of Triumph, so I wanna make sure the strait is clear so the convoy can go through. And then another problem! the water is apparently too shallow for Triumph to get too close, the strait is apparently off limits to subs (even trying to go on the surface doesn't work apparently). I fire off a couple of Spearfishes at a decent range but both miss the Han, and the Chinese sub retreats a bit, out of easy passive sonar listening range, so the screen goes a bit blank aside from a very vague contact.
So, decisions. Triumph can't deal with it apparently, and the convoy is near. I sling Triumph onto active sonar, to pinpoint the Han, which Triumph manages to do. Its way out of torpedo range - mutually, fortunately. Triumph sits back and acts as spotter.
I detach my two frigates from the convoy and form a mini SAG with them, two frigates line abreast, and they burn rubber at flank speed towards the Han, wanting to make sure the tankers are nowhere near the thing. Locating it isnt a problem as Triumph has it well lit up from further back. The frigates get in range and let rip with baby torpedoes, Mk46s and Mk50s, the things the choppers normally carry. Needless to say the sub has noticed these flank speed frigates so it fires a volley of torpedoes back - the frigates about turn and flank speed away! All torpedoes miss. The frigates about face again for another pass, and this time the Han is stupid and comes straight at them. There's another mutual volley - the frigates about face again and the Chinese torpedoes miss, but the Chinese sub keeps on a-coming, and gets three baby torps in the face. (it takes all three to kill it as well...).
Victory! the frigates return to the convoy and resume station ahead.
...and thats about it really. The convoy cruises past the strait unmolested, the rest of the Chinese units too far away to catch.
Now my convoy is on the far side of Taiwan and all seems peachy. And its late RL, so I save the game and hit the sack! However, there looks to more to come, as those Chinese naval units are nosing around the northern end of Taiwan, and might possibly be able to intercept me.
(And maybe theres another sub...)
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