Test scenario: COPE TAUFAN 2014-1

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Command: Modern Operations series >> Mods and Scenarios >> Test scenario: COPE TAUFAN 2014-1

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Test scenario: COPE TAUFAN 2014-1 - 3/26/2016 4:55:04 AM

rjlee

Posts: 37
Joined: 9/28/2013
Status: offline

Tested with CMANO v1.10.

As Asian air forces continue to modernize their equipment, the "COPE" series of international military exercises conducted by the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) has captured the attention of analysts worldwide as a showcase and testing ground for fifth (and "near-fifth") generation airpower. One of these was COPE TAUFAN 2014, a biennial game hosted by the Royal Malaysian Air Force, beginning on June 6 and running for a full two weeks. This was the first time that the F-22 Raptor appeared in Southeast Asia, and at this event it would fight alongside (and against) the RMAF's exotic Su-30MKM Flanker-Gs and MiG-29N Fulcrums. The notional "war" involved a threat to the Malaysian peninsula from the sea, with Americans and Malaysians taking turns as invaders and defenders.

This scenario depicts a diverse and chaotic large-force-employment mission event during the exercise, later described to the press as involving "eight USAF F-15s intercepting two RMAF C-130s and a USAF C-17 which were escorted by four RMAF Su-30MKMs, six USAF F-22s, two RMAF MiG-29s, and two RMAF F-18s." It is designed to be played as BLUFOR (the F-15 defenders).

For their first overseas joint exercise, the Massachusetts Air National Guard has brought along eight of the most modern and deadly F-15C Eagles in the force, recently upgraded with the new APG-63(V)3 AESA radar. They will stage out of RMAF Butterworth, and will be fully supported by the RMAF ground-based air surveillance and tracking radar network. BLUFOR's primary objective is to prevent the transport aircraft (which are carrying special operations forces) from landing at RMAF Kuantan in the southeast peninsula.

As is typical for wargames of this sort, the F-22s opposing them will be operating under severely restricted rules of engagement: for this event, AIM-120 shots at ranges exceeding 10 miles are prohibited. In addition, to test the expensive new Ground Master radar in the Malaysian air defense network, some of the F-22s will be carrying their weapons externally and will suffer the resulting increase in radar cross-section. However, the Malaysian Su-30s, MiG-29s, and F/A-18s will not be operating under any special restrictions, and will shoot at maximum range at any confirmed hostile. The OPFOR transit package is generally expected to move in a large escort box with F-22s working with Su-30s in an "eyeball-shooter" arrangement, but OPFOR has enough jets available to generate some surprises.

This scenario comes with three (3) pre-planned BLUFOR air defense plans that deploy the F-15 elements to different patrol stations throughout the exercise area. These pre-planned options are executed by the player through the "Special Actions" menu. Alternatively, the player may reject all of the provided options and instead construct a custom strategy or assume manual control.

BLUFOR receives 3 points for each F-22 kill, 1 point for each non-F-22 fighter kill, and 15 points for each transport. It loses 2 points for each F-15 lost. If OPFOR incurs too many escort losses, the transports will abort their mission and bug out to the east. BLUFOR receives 25 points for forcing such a mission abort. OPFOR is airborne at exercise start, and the event runs for a maximum of four hours before terminating at 13:00 local (06:00Z).

EVENT ORDER OF BATTLE
Callsign Type Unit Side
LETHAL 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x 8 x F-15C (APG-63(V)3) 131 FS, 104 FW, MA Air National Guard BLUFOR
HOKU 1x, 2x, 3x 6 x F-22A 199 FS, 154 Wing, HI Air National Guard OPFOR
COBRA 1x, 2x 4 x Su-30MKM No. 11 Sqn, Royal Malaysian Air Force OPFOR
BAT 1x 2 x MiG-29N No. 17 Sqn, Royal Malaysian Air Force OPFOR
LIPAN 1x 2 x F/A-18D No. 18 Sqn, Royal Malaysian Air Force OPFOR
CLOUD 3x 2 x C-130H No. 20 Sqn, Royal Malaysian Air Force OPFOR
FROZEN 11 1 x C-17A 517 AS, 3d Wing, USAF OPFOR

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Post #: 1

RE: Test scenario: COPE TAUFAN 2014-1 - 3/29/2016 11:40:08 PM

Rory Noonan

Posts: 2816
Joined: 12/18/2014
From: Brooklyn, NY
Status: offline

I had a quick play through; got whooped (I just let things run and watched for the most part).

Very, very impressive scenario. This really capitalises on the new features and is what I think the future of CMANO looks like. Thank you.

(in reply to rjlee)

Post #: 2

RE: Test scenario: COPE TAUFAN 2014-1 - 3/30/2016 11:43:34 PM

Coiler12

Posts: 1203
Joined: 10/13/2013
Status: offline

Did an automatic setup, and got an "average" result-lost all my F-15s, but took out 12 enemy fighters and forced the transport to turn back (reminds me of Savo Island somehow).

Very good scenario.

(in reply to Rory Noonan)

Post #: 3

RE: Test scenario: COPE TAUFAN 2014-1 - 3/31/2016 2:21:53 AM

rjlee

Posts: 37
Joined: 9/28/2013
Status: offline

Thanks for the feedback -- much appreciated.

I wanted to balance the scenario so that the computer could use the automatic setups for acceptable results. In my playtest runthroughs, I've found some setups are better than others, but in general the computer can manage an average (or even a minor victory) maybe half of the time. That seems OK to me, since I think it's a bit gamey to turn reasonable plans (which I think the default setups represent) into suicide runs just for the sake of a challenge.

Of course, it's no fun to push two buttons to win, either. What I've found that the preset plans cannot reliably do is to actually kill the transports. I've only been able to do it by luring the escorts out of place with one section and attacking from another direction, which is maybe the expectation I should set for advanced players. Perhaps I need to reduce the points awarded for scaring off the transports and weight actual transport kills more heavily, or maybe make the transports a little less chicken (adding another fighter kill or two to the "run away" trigger).

The other possibility is to more heavily penalize the loss of F-15s. I'm a little hesitant to do that because this fracas tends to produce a bloodletting, and I don't know what's within the realm of reason. However, if you had to kill at least one transport but preserve at least 4 F-15s, this could be quite a different exercise.

(in reply to Coiler12)

Post #: 4

RE: Test scenario: COPE TAUFAN 2014-1 - 4/1/2016 12:11:52 AM

MichaelJCuozzo

Posts: 118
Joined: 8/14/2014
Status: offline

First off, I just want to say that I drove Eagles with the 104th from mid-'14 until the beginning of this year. I have seen the debriefings from Cope Taufan '14. I cannot talk much about how realistic this scenario is compared to the exercise, however, this is a very well crafted and realistic scenario.

I like the way you employed the -22s. When I was active duty I spent some time driving the -22 too, and knowing my enemy intimately in this case, I was caught with my pants down. I'll try it again and let you know how it goes.

(in reply to rjlee)

Post #: 5