Command Modern Operations : Megadeth, the video game

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everydayfalls: Aug 23, 2016

I am super interested to see what you do with the strike planner. I tried it out when it first released but I couldn�t get the escorts to work properly so it was a bit adhoc.

Also of note is they changed the way air launched missiles work, now instead of a continuous impulse over the life of the missile you get a big burn at the beginning and then it uses kinetic energy to reach the target. ie falling. The change means that missiles at max range are trivial to dodge/shoot down. How have you adjusted your roe to compensate?

Here�s to hoping your under strength CAG can pull it together!

# ? Mar 10, 2023 04:06

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# ? May 5, 2024 20:09

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

Sir DonkeyPunch posted:

This might be a limitation of the game, but is there a reason we don�t have any sat coverage to tell us where the Russian surface fleet is?

We do have satellites, I'll dig into them on the next post.

everydayfalls posted:

I am super interested to see what you do with the strike planner. I tried it out when it first released but I couldn�t get the escorts to work properly so it was a bit adhoc.

Also of note is they changed the way air launched missiles work, now instead of a continuous impulse over the life of the missile you get a big burn at the beginning and then it uses kinetic energy to reach the target. ie falling. The change means that missiles at max range are trivial to dodge/shoot down. How have you adjusted your roe to compensate?

Here�s to hoping your under strength CAG can pull it together!

I really like the strike planner, the Tiny update added so much spice to the game, but the strike planner has to take the cake. I find it much more rewarding to plan a proper strike than to launch, and tweak everything. It should be really cool to see coordinated strikes all kicking off around the same time.

We'll dig into the missile situation later once we get some CAP up. There's been some turbo-nerdery on the Matrix forums delving into missile kinematics so I've got a few good base lines.

# ? Mar 10, 2023 13:13

habeasdorkus: Nov 3, 2013; Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.

What's our rules of engagement in this scenario? Can we start popping the Russians as soon as we see em?

# ? Mar 10, 2023 14:59

Davin Valkri: Apr 8, 2011; Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

habeasdorkus posted:

What's our rules of engagement in this scenario? Can we start popping the Russians as soon as we see em?

Our COD hasn't arrived yet, and our current orders appear to be "Find the submarine, but otherwise just keep the Russian assets on the Big Board". So, no, I don't think we want to be the ones who shoot first here.

# ? Mar 10, 2023 15:26

habeasdorkus: Nov 3, 2013; Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.

That's what I figured. We really need to find their sub, and probably convoy up our surface assets so we have overlapping ASM and ASW defenses.

# ? Mar 10, 2023 15:29

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

habeasdorkus posted:

What's our rules of engagement in this scenario? Can we start popping the Russians as soon as we see em?

Davin is correct. For the moment we have approximately an hour while we wait for the COD Osprey to land. It's actually nice as it gives us a moment to get things staged without being pants on head busy.

# ? Mar 10, 2023 16:59

Mokotow: Apr 16, 2012

That Gorshkov FFG can be a pain the butt. It�s fairly modern, has a good radar and is chock full of AA and ASW missiles.

# ? Mar 10, 2023 23:55

Arrath: Apr 14, 2011

Mokotow posted:

That Gorshkov FFG can be a pain the butt. It�s fairly modern, has a good radar and is chock full of AA and ASW missiles.

Can we distract it with a drone?

# ? Mar 11, 2023 00:03

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

0200Z

Our Lightnings are loading up. We will have a 4 ship of AIM-120D slingers led by Gradenko, a 4 ship of AGM-88G's led by Popete, and a 4 ship of StormBreakers led by Serpentis. The AA loadout will be ready in 3 hours with the remainder in 6 hours.

Our only aircraft ready to roll are VFA-31 Tomcatters. We have a 4 ship of F-18E's, we'll keep them ready and watch for a need, not sure we need them in the air just yet. We'll do some more looking into loadouts at the end of this post.

As far as satellites go, we have the HAWK-A and HAWK-B. They can pick up emitters, about it. These are not super-spy satellite that can read your drivers license from space. We have moderate high clouds so an optical satellite wouldn't get us much satisfaction anyways.

We have these guys coming from all over. Allied jets that are transporting troops in, and evacuees out. So, depending on what the COD says, we may have to ensure these things get on the ground without eating an SA-10. Which, given the rate that 777 is moving, we won't have aircraft ready to SEAD, so, they might be kind of screwed.

Our Hornet E's have a shitload of options for loadouts. We have 4 with A2A loadouts, so I'm going to do the remaining 6 in strike groups of 3.

"Max Pain Anti-ISIS"

10 JDAM's, and a range of 425 nm. I like it, but it doesn't give us much time on station.

This one looks pretty good for CAS, 6 JAGM, 2 JDAM's, 2 LJDAM's, and a nice FLIR pod. All with a 560nm strike range. We'll take it!

The second three will get GBU-32 JDAM's, the 4 per loadout.

Our F/A--18F's also need fitting. Half are going to get LRASM's. This gives us a dozen long range anti-ship missiles. I have a hunch that we'll need to kill that Kirov, and this is how we'll do it. Arrath is leading this flight in VFA-87 - Golden Warriors.

Of the other 2 will get the AGM-179 CAS loadout as per above. This gives us a lot of flexibility once the F-35's have silenced the SAM threat. 4 will get A2A loadouts, except this time as heavies with 6 X AIM-120D each.

There we go! Time to get the clock rolling and see what develops. The COD flight is 175 nm out from the USS Goon Ford.

VP-8 Fighting Tigers #1 gets an confirmation on two of our 4 contacts. The one in the north is a Macae Class Patrol vessel which has 40mm Bofors and some lovely radar. The boat in the south is a Super Dvora MKII, and is equally lovely. The two in the middle are running commercial radars and are likely civilian.

By 0202 we have our ASW MH-60's up. I'm not expecting anything yet, but who knows?

Our first air contact rises from Quatro de Fevereiro Airport and appears to be a maritime patrol vessel. A second MPA takes off, this one an F.27-200MAR. Both of these are unarmed, but have long range radars.

This is worth pointing out, our P-8's carry a glide torpedo with a 40 nautical mile range. :eyepop:

The good news, we found the Russians. The bad news, they are just over the horizon from our Marines. On a parallel course. poo poo. The only thing we can do for now is keep the Newport hauling rear end. This presents an interesting conundrum.

Our P-8 has found a lot more ships. About half are unfriendly, the other half are civilian shipping.

The Newport is hauling rear end, it seems we have the same destination as the Russian battle fleet. I know there's a Marine on the Newport giving the finger to a ship he can't see over the horizon. Godspeed Marine. Godspeed.

The P-8 gets an emitter in Luanda somewhere. A Tin Shield A. The important thing here is it's associated with either an SA-10 GRUMBLE or an SA-20 GARGOYLE. One is party time, the other one is definite party time. This is a search radar, it finds targets. There's another radar, not emitting (yet) that is fire control. Killing this one would be great, but killing both would be exceptional. This will be high priority once the party starts. I adjust my P-8 path to stay outside of radar range.

0246 : COD Osprey lands.

A French transport departs and our 777 is headed in for a landing. We're still waiting for the briefing. Eventually the briefing begins...

quote:

A briefing team has arrived on the latest COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) run from Ascension Island and is assembling in your flag quarters. The team consists of a senior intelligence officer from the CNO�s office (Chief of Naval Operations), a State Department representative, a two person CIA team and someone from the NIO (National Intelligence Office). After some preliminary greetings the briefers begin.

The death of the Angolan President was almost certainly not an accident. State Department believes that the advertised announcement was to be a renunciation of trade agreements with Russia. CIA disagrees on that point but affirms that the Russians would not be happy with the President's statement, whatever it was. Although no firm evidence exists, the assassination was probably sponsored by Russian proxies.

Angolan military forces are firmly under the control of the defence minister who has taken up the interim leadership of the country. Lacking clear direction, status-quo arrangements with Russia remain in place. The defence minister�s family have disappeared, and he is probably under some form of coercion.

The governing party is formed from the MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) which originates from the Communist Party and has strong Russian, Cuban and Eastern European ties. They have been in power since 1980 and have essentially controlled the city of Luanda since independence from Portugal in 1975. After the second civil war ended in 2008 they had nearly absolute power in the country. Popular militias are raising in the Luanda area to support the government.

UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) was at one point supported by the US but that backing was withdrawn, causing them to lose the second civil war and any hope of coming into power. They now hate the US almost as much as they hate the government in Luanda. UNITA are mobilizing forces in rural areas, mostly in the south and central part of the country.

FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola) is another competing political party which gained its support from Western Europe, the US and South Africa. Loss of this support in the 1970s caused them to lose the first civil war and they have held only minor support since then. FNLA militias are forming in the slums outside Luanda.

At least six other groups or organizations are forming in protest to the government, but these are unlikely to stand for long before merging with one of the larger movements. In any case, few if any are friendly to the US or Europe.
Russia has been providing technical and training assistance to the Angolan military for decades, this has increased substantially over the past two years. The Angolan military is likely to operate in support or even in conjunction with Russian forces.

The US has very few friends on the ground in Angola, particularly in Luanda. The Embassy has been under a siege by protesters for the past 48 hours, particularly in daylight but bonfires surround the grounds throughout the night.
British and French forces have secured the new international airport outside the city. The Angolan military seem content with this at the moment but there have been several attacks by civil militias. Evacuation flights to Europe, Asia, the Americas and other parts of Africa are departing frequently. About 14,000 people have departed so far and the operation is forecast to continue for another three days.

The old airport in downtown Luanda, Quatro de Fevereiro Airport is firmly in government and Russian hands. No evacuations have been allowed from here, frustrating many since this airport is located in the heart of the embassy district, however all flights except Angolan military operations have been grounded. The Russians have announced that they will send 10,000 �Peacekeepers�, which we assume will arrive here � but nothing has come of that so far. Russian air defence units are stationed here but no Russian aircraft that we are aware of.

The Angolan military is a mixed bag of capabilities, readiness levels are generally low, particularly for army units. Although the air force and navy are likely loyal to the government, some army formations are reportedly suffering from desertion, defection or outright abandonment.

Navy: There are 6-8 patrol craft are operating from Luanda. At most these carry machine guns and small cannon (20-25mm) and only pose a threat to unarmed vessels.

Air Force:
8-10 Su-30 based at Lubango. These have had significant attention from Russian �advisors� and may in fact be flown by Russian contract pilots. These are, by far, the most potent threat deployed by Angola.
12-14 Mig-23ML based at Huambo. These date from the Soviet era and are suffering from poor maintenance. They have been used almost exclusively in the ground attack role for the past 20 years.
6-10 A-29 Super Tucano based at Luanda. They are relatively new and flown regularly in counter insurgency ground attack tasks. The pilots are capable in that role.
Several reconnaissance and maritime patrol aircraft are based at Luanda. A Fokker 27 purchased through Argentina but originally Dutch. A Venezuelan C-212, Spanish C-295 and Brazilian Embraer round out the fleet. All unarmed but have decent sensors.

Army: Although the army is approximately 100,000 strong, we expect that less than 15,000 will be ready for operations on short notice. The units in Luanda consist of about half that number and are the best trained, best equipped and most loyal; but are unlikely to conduct any major operations on less than 48 hours notice. We are monitoring their communications networks and will be able to provide at least 6 hours notice of any activity.

The representative from the State Department now hands you a folder closed with the seal of POTUS (President of the United States), and counter-signed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The three-page document inside contains some detail, but he verbally summarizes:

POTUS has every intention of keeping the US Embassy in Luanda open. A closure of the facility will be seen globally as a Russian �win� and a slap in the face of US and western efforts to punish Russia. Our assessment is that the Embassy security force will need immediate reinforcement.

The British, French, German and other embassies will also remain open, but they have their own contingency plans.

The evacuation of non-combatants from the international airport must continue unabated.

Your tactical orders to deliver the Marine reinforcement to the embassy remain extant; however, that action is very likely to cause an escalation with Angola and/or Russia.

Angola has lodged protests in the past about US drone flights, they have threatened to shoot them down if they continue as well as other actions which they have not specified. However you have authority to overfly Angola to gather intelligence if neede to protect US or allied lives.

The developing civil war is of no concern to you as long as it does not interfere with your operations of the safety of the US Embassy or International Airport.

Do not initiate hostilities but protect the embassy, the international airport and your own forces.

Should hostilities break out with Angola, prosecute them with vigour by eliminating any threats while keeping a close rein on collateral damage. International pressure will rapidly increase so speed is critical. It is likely we will need to cease hostilities within 24-36 hours.

Should hostilities break out with Russia, you must act decisively and rapidly. Demonstrate our superiority conclusively, but given the gravity of any escalation, POTUS will be required to intervene very quickly and call for a ceasefire, probably within 12-18 hours. Make the most of this opportunity.

The CNO representative informs you that the USS Mississippi has had a major equipment casualty and one of her torpedo tubes as well as one of her countermeasure launchers are off-line and may require repair in port. Due to her compromised status, the CNO has requested that she be used conservatively, the mystique and reputation of the US Submarine force would be damaged should she be lost

It is paramount that, if fighting occurs, the US shows the world that it is able to exert unrivaled and overpowering force, but a force that is handled with restraint and judgment. Losses must be kept to an absolute minimum while inflicting decisive and irrefutable damage to the Russians. Their military and international reputation has taken a beating recently, if it comes to fighting, we must come out on top, and be seen to decisively dominate the Russians.

You know that a team of journalists and film crews arrived on the COD as well. Washington is obviously leveraging this opportunity to highlight the value of the billions spent on both the USS Ford itself and on the F-35 and other aircraft she carries.

Immediate task, get Marines to Luanda. Problem the MV 22B has a range of 245nm, so Davin will need to get a tanker (or two) up to support this whirly bird.

# ? Mar 11, 2023 02:37

Arrath: Apr 14, 2011

So the Marines are short on fuel and shadowed by the Russians. That's not ideal.

A bunch of spitballing follows:

Do the Marines have the fuel to sprint to rendezvous with the oiler and some surface assets for protection, while also getting them in range for flights to reinforce the embassy?

Or should we aim to match the speed of the Russians and not change the situation, without burning fuel and needing a vulnerable time to transfer stores?

Can we set a screen of Burkes between the Ford and the Russians as forward missile defense, with my flight of ASM F-18s ready behind them, to bring the heat should the Russians escalate? Without compromising the ASW protection of the Ford?

Would launching the F-18s itself be an escalation?

Arrath fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Mar 11, 2023

# ? Mar 11, 2023 03:22

Davin Valkri: Apr 8, 2011; Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

I suspect the tanker drone will have to go up with an escort.

I'm also curious, in a meta sense, what kind of crazy inciting event is going to happen that is going to put us into conflict with Angola and Russia. Like how in the Under African Skies scenario the French task force launches a half-cocked attack on the Chinese oil platforms, leading to the Chinese counterattack sinking the French and also making them hostile to you. Maybe Yooper's right that that 777 is going to eat a SAM.

# ? Mar 11, 2023 05:50

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

Davin Valkri posted:

I suspect the tanker drone will have to go up with an escort.

I'm also curious, in a meta sense, what kind of crazy inciting event is going to happen that is going to put us into conflict with Angola and Russia. Like how in the Under African Skies scenario the French task force launches a half-cocked attack on the Chinese oil platforms, leading to the Chinese counterattack sinking the French and also making them hostile to you. Maybe Yooper's right that that 777 is going to eat a SAM.

If we can keep the drone out of radar range then the Angolan's shouldn't even know it's there. Now once the Osprey gets near shore, then we may have to get an escort up.

For those that have CMO, and haven't tried it yet, Under African Skies is an exceptional scenario and worth a playthrough.

# ? Mar 11, 2023 13:38

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

Now that the brief is done it's time to get those Marines moving.

We've got a Fuel Zone set up just outside of radar range. We'll evaluate the situation once the Osprey gets closer and decide if we need an escort. There's no hiding that big, huge, enormous Osprey.

Technical note, we can now color reference points and define "zones" inside of them. Hopefully this will keep things organized and not be a list of three thousand points with names like RP-65533 and RP-1328348.

This is our MQ-25. It can reach up to 580 knots and has a radar signature of a large bird. Our osprey in comparison has the radar signature of a billboard.

A German Airbus takes off from Luanda, and our 777 is on approach. Another Angolan MPA has taken off from Luanda.

Our 777 made it! I guess we'll be the one to kick the ant hill.

Davin is up! We'll get the Osprey moving shortly.

The MPA has either changed course, or is going in to take a better look at the McFaul.

David flies within 4nm of the MPA. Imagine calling that out "Sir, I see a UFO out my window."

The Newport has a shadow. The Russians are now moving at 30 knots. We're gaining on them, but barely. We have to kick it up to FLANK speed just to clear that area.

And there's our situation at 0500Z, the sun is just rising over Angola. The drone and Davin will meet up soon. Our RQ-180 is about to be over Luanda where we'll let it chill until needed. I've adjusted the CSG path a bit to avoid the MPA. The biggest worry I have is the Russian strike group by the Newport, but I'm not sure we can do much right now.

# ? Mar 11, 2023 14:47

MrYenko: Jun 18, 2012; #2 isn't ALWAYS bad...

What are the surface unit EMCON settings? Dark and quiet? Are our P-8s emitting, or just sniffing?

# ? Mar 11, 2023 15:07

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

MrYenko posted:

What are the surface unit EMCON settings? Dark and quiet? Are our P-8s emitting, or just sniffing?

Surface units are all cold and dark. The Hawkeye is our emitting. Our P-8 is active as is our MQ-4. I'm undecided on our RQ-180, it has radar and we may take a peak once we're in range of Luanda. Otherwise we'll have to dip under the clouds and I'm not sure I'm cool with that.

# ? Mar 11, 2023 15:44

Sir DonkeyPunch: Mar 23, 2007; I didn't hear no bell

The Russians are gonna try to interdict the drat Newport!

# ? Mar 11, 2023 17:46

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

0500Z

All of our A2A aircraft are ready on the Ford. I'm still undecided on sending an escort with the Osprey. On one hand it can swat down any of those SU-30's, but on the other they will be operating in a heavy SAM zone.

Welp, there's a lot of poo poo on the ground in Luanda. This is from the ground scanning radar on that RQ-180. We'll have to drop under the clouds to identify anything, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet.

We resolve two of our contacts as SA-22's. This is a low altitude threat, but could wreck our Osprey in a heartbeat.

The Osprey is a bit early on station so we have it head to meet the MQ-25.

That RQ-180 has resolved almost everything... there is a shitload of Pantsirs. Lots. And a double shitload of trailer mounted quad gun 14.5mm AA. And 57mm's. And mechanized infantry. And... our SA-10B battery. I pop under the clouds and don't pick up any additional targets. I shut off the radars and go back to loitering up high.

Speaking of Grumbles. We have a Tin Shield in Luanda, which makes sense given the situation. But why is there one down in Lubango?

Fueling is commencing! Then we'll move on to the LZ. :ohdear:

Our P-8 is bingo. I'm going to send up another one to try and find that sub.

36 nm out. That Osprey has be sweating a bit... And that should say 0600Z...

The Newport is slowly making some distance, I'm hoping we can back off once out of radar range. This next hour should be interesting.

# ? Mar 11, 2023 22:37

habeasdorkus: Nov 3, 2013; Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.

I'm worried for that Osprey.

# ? Mar 11, 2023 23:04

bibliosabreur: Oct 21, 2017

Well, if they decide to announce hostilities on us by downing the Osprey there is very little we can do about it. Anyone with a KPV or Strela-2 can swat it if they so wanted.

Also, :woop:

Yooper thread! I still have the old Hayard Gunnes t-shirt (and so does my fiancee). That was a ride.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 00:51

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

We have two main aerial threats. One, the MIG-23 is a venerable war horse of the cold war and is not one I'm terribly worried about. The other is the SU-30 and poses much more of a threat.

From a loadout standpoint it's pretty limited to dumb bombs, rockets, and cluster munitions. Any of these will wreck the Ford, but it is extraordinarily unlikely they would live that long. What they do have is the AA-10 Alamo. This missile is a definite threat, especially paired with a few hostiles and some MIG-23's as missile sponges.

Oddly enough the Osprey makes it to the LZ. ( I didn't get a pop up, so I investigated in the editor and saw we did trigger an action saying we had made it, we also received points for it. So I'm going to send that Osprey back to the Newport)

And poo poo. FINLA rebels are attacking the embassy. I'm going to divert the RQ-180 back north. My recon of the south has found a fairly dense network of Spoon Rest (SA-2 SAM) sites.

We've got almost two hours until any aircraft are ready with A2G ordnance, so for the moment we will have to hope the ground forces can hold.

3 knots. That's slow. 413 ft deep, that's really deep for a whale or biologic. It is also just above the layer... I've got the P-8 headed that way to investigate. I change the WRA to TIGHT from FREE. Now they will find the sub without instakilling it.

Ahh, oh well. At least we didn't torpedo a school of fish. Pretty wild that the Mississippi picked that up, 53 nm out.

Interesting, Grumio picks up a rotary bogey coming up from the Russian group.

Now three.

By 0700 the Osprey is headed back to the Newport. The RQ-180 is scanning Luanda, we're only seeing one technical outside of town that is hostile. There's a lot of unfriendly people down there though.

One more hour until we have any A2G loadouts ready.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 01:11

PurpleXVI: Oct 30, 2011; Spewing insults, pissing off all your neighbors, betraying your allies, backing out of treaties and accords, and generally screwing over the global environment?
ALL PART OF MY BRILLIANT STRATEGY!

The best way to keep track of where Russian naval assets are is to make sure they don't move, so just put them on the bottom of the sea where they'll stay put.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 01:17

habeasdorkus: Nov 3, 2013; Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.

just let me know when I can use my sick as hell VLS to whack them Ruskies, Admiral.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 01:40

bibliosabreur: Oct 21, 2017

Unlike a certain other high-profile Russian warship, the assumption is that this one has a functioning air defense suite and competent sailors, so we'll probably need more than two Harpoon-equivalents.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 02:13

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

habeasdorkus posted:

just let me know when I can use my sick as hell VLS to whack them Ruskies, Admiral.

Soon! Though TLAM's can't hit the Russian ships, but we'll have plenty of targets I think.

Speaking of targets, we'll need to fairly well sanitize Luanda so those civilian jets can get through. This is going to mean a HARM strike on the SA-10 and TLAM's on the Pantsirs. I'm not sure if we need to knock out the AAA though.

Skooma gives VP8 #1 a wave as he heads towards his station.

The Osprey lands on the Newport and will be ready for another round in two hours. Though not sure if it's needed.

0759 finds 3 civilian jets loading up with a French transport landing. Literally hours until some of these folks are cleared out. And we've got three more coming in, a C-17 and two other NATO transports. Ugh. Hurry the gently caress up people.

quote:

The Embassy in Luanda is reporting that large crowds are gathering in a park 200 meters to the east. There are currently several hundred, but if the pattern from the last few days continues it will swell to several thousand by noon. The heat of the afternoon will thin the crowd somewhat, but it will redouble as dusk approaches. Last evening there were an estimated 15-20,000 outside the gates, this has been growing daily. They have established a platform for speakers who lead anti-American chants and songs using a loudspeaker system. Although mainly peaceful, they become more unruly as the evening approaches with gangs taking over after the main group disperses.

Chief of security at the Embassy is urgently requesting reinforcement as soon as possible.

Well, 20,000 people is a hell of a protest. The embassy is currently defended by a platoon of Marines, 4 HMMWV's, and three guard towers. This is going to be a problem. But we have an interesting solution.

QUESTION

We have an EC-130J who will sooth the local populace, but piss off the people in charge. Do we deploy it? I don't think we have a good option to deal with 25,000 angry Angolans. The Newport should arrive off Luanda right around dusk as a counterpoint option.

Oh, and our strikers are ready.

:getin:

Yooper fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Mar 12, 2023

# ? Mar 12, 2023 02:21

habeasdorkus: Nov 3, 2013; Royalty is a continuous shitposting motion.

I'm mildly against it. That's the type of thing that sounds brilliant but could easily backfire and end up pissing off the mob even more - if not immediately then when they realize what's happened.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 02:24

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

So I just realized we were supposed to load the marines as cargo on the Osprey, and then unload them in Luanda. I saw Loadout - 24 Marines, and didn't realize that meant we could load up to 24 Marines. My bad. Interestingly enough we still got points for flying the Osprey into the zone... it was just empty. Next run, in two hours, will have actual Marines as actual Cargo.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 02:38

Dandywalken: Feb 11, 2014

Im the EC-130, and Im broadcasting St Anger

# ? Mar 12, 2023 04:57

gradenko_2000: Oct 5, 2010; HELL SERPENT; Lipstick Apathy

not that you asked, but I am in favor of deploying the EC-130J Shitposter

# ? Mar 12, 2023 05:22

everydayfalls: Aug 23, 2016

Can you deploy it outside the Sam net? Seems like it�s going to attract fighters from Angola so it should have some fighter buddies.

One thing that annoyed me when I was running through the �Nicaragua missile crisis � scenario is you could watch the enemy pull into a threatening posture and not do anything to dissuade them from firing on you. Lost a couple of P8s that way.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 06:21

Davin Valkri: Apr 8, 2011; Maybe you're weighing the moral pros and cons but let me assure you that OH MY GOD
SHOOT ME IN THE GODDAMNED FACE
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

Do we have spare airframes available to escort the EC-130J? It kind of feels like we're approaching task saturation as it is.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 06:31

PurpleXVI: Oct 30, 2011; Spewing insults, pissing off all your neighbors, betraying your allies, backing out of treaties and accords, and generally screwing over the global environment?
ALL PART OF MY BRILLIANT STRATEGY!

Dandywalken posted:

Im the EC-130, and Im broadcasting St Anger

Do you want a riot?

# ? Mar 12, 2023 10:09

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

We're going to wait and see on the EC-130J. If anything we need to get to our holding area otherwise we won't have any legs over target.

In roughly six hours we'll have the Ford on station. That area should be quite well sanitized of potential goblins. I'd like to see the actual goblin and stay on top of it.

The Newport is chugging along, just ahead of the Russian battle group. In just over an hour we'll send the next batch of marines.

This will be our next loadout, marines and mortars. After that maybe snipers and marines?

Skooma is on station. We have ~ 139 sono buoys. They will likely disappear faster than we'd like.

poo poo, another SITEP just came in.

quote:

Situation Report: 0800Z 1 June 2026

A civil war is now raging throughout the countryside, Luanda itself is still largely peaceful, but clashes between Government troops and various armed organizations are occurring in most cities and towns outside the capital. Confirmed events:

An Army Battalion in the Caiundo area (South central Angola) has defected en-mass to support the UNITA forces. Most of their armored vehicles appear unserviceable at the movement.

A major attack by militia of some type was defeated by Government troops near the airbase of Huambo/Nova Lisboa (Central Angola). The base remains operational

There is an out-of-control fire raging in the fuel depot at Namibe port (South Angola)

Several skirmishes have taken place in eastern Angola, presumably between UNITA and Government forces, but that is unclear at the moment

A major battle broke out just south of Luanda earlier this morning. A military base was attacked by FNLA militias. Troops loyal to the government were assisted by other local militias and both FNLA and government militia units were engaged by
UNITA force using indirect fire and mobile forces on �Technical� vehicles. The base remains in government hands.

A transport aircraft (An-12) departing Catumbela (West central Angola) crashed and was possibly shot down by MANPADS

Anticipate that these reports will be issued every 8 hours until operations are concluded.

Our first combat bogey appeared over the embassy, a Super Tucano. This little guy has a short range, light weapon load, but is capable. I don't think they are shooting at us. Yet. It is doing low altitude laps over the embassy...

We get intermittent contact it is orbiting in the Luanda area. I'm not sure what it's doing. Flight crews are on standby.

What in the actual gently caress.

quote:

Sir, we�ve been tracking a Russian merchant tanker, the Sadid, for some time now. It was last detected 12 hours ago at lat -3.2724/ long -2.069, on a course of ~105*, speed 15knts. Destination is probably Luanda.

State department has requested that we intercept this vessel, board it, and divert it to a neutral port for inspection. 2nd Fleet confirms that all the proper authorities are in place but warns that this will really be tweaking the nose of the Russians. The French have an agreement with C�te d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and have offered to deliver an EU inspection team to Abidjan by tomorrow morning.

Note: Should you decide to accept this mission, fly a helicopter (MH-60S, MH-60R, MV-22B or CMV-22B) to within 500 meters of the target ship, there is no need to unload troops or cargo. It will change to NATO control and divert to Abidjan. Boarding the ship will earn you victory points but will severely irritate the Russians, possibly causing them to react aggressively.

If you decide not to accept this task, you may wish to put a No-Navigation zone around the ship (relative RPs) to avoid accidently triggering the event.

This ship was last reported approximately 550 nm north of the Ford. Now it is likely just behind the Russian fleet. Our Osprey can make the trip, it could need a fuel top up on the way back though. My main concern is the Newport, it's still well within angry Russian range. I'm going to divert our MQ-4C west a bit to identify the Sadid, but I think we jeopardize the total mission if the Newport eats a bunch of SSM's.

Floggers pop up just south of Luanda. Four total.

Great. Tensions are rising. We are still 200 miles out from our station. I'd like to get F-35's up, but then we start burning up our flight time. It will take just over an hour for an F-35 to reach Luanda, it will burn up about 1/4 of it's fuel giving us an hour on station, maybe? Then to top off fuel we have have to divert 200 miles west. We're going to wait and see what these Floggers do, it's too late to get on station right now.

4 more just behind the first group. They could be just civil warring it and not shooting the embassy?

Our marines at the embassy pick up the MIG-23's. They are at 500ft AGL...

And they pass by? The next four come in and do a run over the Embassy as well. Talk about some serious posturing. 10 minutes later they all gently caress off somewhere down south.

And now the Russians are reforming? They are no longer in hot pursuit of the Newport.

Skooma dropped an AN/SSQ-77B VLAD sonobuoy and immediately got a ping. We resolve the goblin to -407 ft. Minutes pass. The uncertainty shrinks. Is this our sub?

Fish.

I've noticed a troubling path. One, the Russians have turned and are on a direct course for the Ford. Two, the Angolan P-95A MPA is also on a direct bearing towards the Ford. One would be interesting, two means we've been sniffed out. I'm going to let Skooma finish sonobuoying through the oiler holding area and then divert south. I think that sub has a sonar contact on us.

Maybe it was coincidence? I divert the Ford slightly north to attempt to avoid the sensor cone of the MPA. I think it'll still clip us though.

Our Osprey takes off with an "actual" load of marines.

We find what I think is the Sadid. We're going to ignore it. Also of interest, the Russians are changing course away from us.

Another goblin! It too turns out to be biologics. I add another P-8 to the patrol and tell it to launch, I'd really like to find this sub.

It's on like Donkey Kong! Someone is shooting at NATO forces at the international airport. No idea who.

Our marines are disembarking! Just in time too. The NATO forces manage to knock back the attackers. A few more technicals appear but are dealt with quickly.

Skooma finds more fish. Things are eerily quiet, it must be the mid day heat.

1200Z finds us moving into position. In two hours the Ford will be on station. In 4 hours the Lewis will be on station. More marines will be headed to reinforce the embassy.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 23:22

PurpleXVI: Oct 30, 2011; Spewing insults, pissing off all your neighbors, betraying your allies, backing out of treaties and accords, and generally screwing over the global environment?
ALL PART OF MY BRILLIANT STRATEGY!

What if the fish are FSB agents? No one says a whale can't be on the payroll of the Russian government.

# ? Mar 12, 2023 23:54

Sir DonkeyPunch: Mar 23, 2007; I didn't hear no bell

Things are popping off in Angola

# ? Mar 13, 2023 02:21

Lady Jaybird: Jan 23, 2014; to ride eternal, shiny and chrome

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2022

Is it still possible to be slotted in somewhere? I don't care where. I just like to be included.

# ? Mar 13, 2023 16:56

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

dervinosdoom posted:

Is it still possible to be slotted in somewhere? I don't care where. I just like to be included.

Hell yah it is! We'll find you a slot as a Growler pilot.

I'm going to update CMO to the new beta, the game is now 64 bit and includes a new map rendering scheme (among other things). Worst case scenario it eats our save and we start fresh. Best case we run faster and the map loads quicker.

# ? Mar 13, 2023 22:19

sniper4625: Sep 26, 2009; Loyal to the hEnd

Would also love to re-enlist. Glad to see a new thread.

# ? Mar 13, 2023 22:34

PurpleXVI: Oct 30, 2011; Spewing insults, pissing off all your neighbors, betraying your allies, backing out of treaties and accords, and generally screwing over the global environment?
ALL PART OF MY BRILLIANT STRATEGY!

Oh, yeah, if there's till space to get slotted in somewhere, throw me in the mix as well, no particular request. I look forward to getting blown out of the sky by Russians or sunk to the bottom of the sea by the dastardly fish.

# ? Mar 13, 2023 23:21

Yooper: Apr 30, 2012

1200Z to

quote:

Situation Report: 1200Z 1 June 2026

Fighting between various factions raging throughout the country: Confirmed events

Refugee streams forming at border crossings into Namibia and less so into Zambia. Democratic Republic of Congo has closed its boarder however small boat traffic on the Congo River makes that difficult.

Large fires have broken out in several of the slum areas around Luanda as various factions vie for control of these areas. Violent recruiting drives are reported amongst the population.

The Army has called out its mobilization reserves, however, uptake is expected to be low.

Cell phone video of fighting is flooding the internet. It is too early to verify it or pinpoint location, but the sheer volume indicates that violence is widespread.

Limited street fighting between government militia and FNLA has taken place in downtown Luanda.

This all points to something bad coming, and soon.

I learned that our MQ-25's don't hold a lot of fuel. I staged one as a "maybe" and realized I forgot to tell the AEW aircraft not to use it. So one E-2 drank all the gas. Welp.

quote:

Another urgent call from the Embassy has arrived. A sniper has been taking shots at the guards, one is wounded and several windows along the upper floor have been smashed. The security force has not engaged as they do not have positive ID on a target but are actively trying to identify one.

The crowds have not reacted and probably don�t realize that shots have been fired over the noise of their chanting. There are already over 10,000 protesters in the street, mostly to the north and east of the main gate (eastern side of the compound). The Angolan police remain outside the main gate, there are about a dozen of them now but their commander is not confident that his troops motivation will last if the crowd becomes violent.

Welp. I'm going to send the RQ-180 closer and drop below the clouds and see what we can see.

We drop down and don't see anything but unfriendlies. Our sniper and crowd is lost in the city.

Another batch of marines are at the embassy.

quote:

Sir, HUMINT reports that a sizable FNLA attack force is assembling NE of the International Airport.

Well, there it is. We need to bring some strikers into the fray. I'm really unhappy having to send aircraft through with those SA-10's still up. Time to use our F-35's in a standoff role. Serpentis! Grab your wing man, you are headed up first.

This is embarassing, the 81mm mortar team wiped out the hostiles. We'll still keep Serpentis inbound.

Serpentis takes up station just west of Luanda out of Grumble range.

There they are, our Flanker friends. Our RQ-180 has picked them up via ELINT. Blaring away with an active radar at that range isn't terribly smart. But, given the situation what else can they do?

Serpentis turns on his radar for a peak. The AESA probably doesn't appear on the 70's era RWR (radar warning receiver). Those Flankers have no idea.

Eventually they turn around and leave. I think they were headed for the RQ-180, but once I turned off the radar they boogied.

quote:

Update from the Embassy, the crowds have not dispersed in the afternoon heat as expected, they continue to grow. The speakers and rhetoric are becoming more aggressive and there have been several volleys of rocks thrown at the outer walls, ineffectively.

The sniper was located, engaged, and terminated. Incoming rifle fire has stopped.

The Angolan police have thinned out, there are only three remaining at their post outside the gate.

Chief of security is requesting any help you can provide, specifically ISTAR, more ground troops and on call air strikes (which has your legal advisor twitching).

Hmm, ISTAR, is that our RQ-180 in this case? We have, at the least, a pair of F-35's observing as well. I'll drop the RQ-180 down for a quick peak.

Oh boy, here we go.

Excellent! Time to slow the Ford down and stake out our claim.

quote:

Situation Report: 1600Z 1 June 2026

Violence across Angola is widespread and unpredictable due to the number of factions involved. At least five or six different groups are claiming the right to either lead the country or separate:

The MPLA remain in control of the government in Luanda, much of the armed force remain loyal and are supported by several armed militia groups, the Former Defence Minister is now calling himself the President.

The FNLA are attempting to seize control of the areas surrounding Luanda and some key points within the city. At least two army battalions (unknow size or status) have joined them, providing heavy weapons and some leadership.

UNITA has formed a government based in the city of Luena, (East, central Angola). Three provincial governors, several army units, some boarder guard forces and police districts have declared support for this faction.

The province of Cabinda, which is physically separated from the rest of Angola by the Congo River and the Democratic Republic of Congo, has sent an envoy to the UN tabling its intent to become a country on its own. At least one army unit has joined this movement but fighting in the provincial capital indicates that this is not universally accepted.

A group with at least four names, based in the province of Namibe (coastal area bordering Namibia in the south), have declared that they wish to separate from Angola and become part of Namibia. Namibia has not commented.

A splinter group from the FNLA have joined with some militia groups thought to be supportive of the government and have attacked an FNLA This group may become a sixth major faction, centered primarily in Luanda.

What a poo poo show.

Two Flankers are on an intercept for our Osprey. I have an F-35 that the Flankers do not know about. My orders are not to initiate hostilities.

My orders on this task are Do not initiate hostilities but protect the embassy, the international airport and your own forces.

Do not... but protect my own forces. And now I have a predicament. If I light up those Flankers then the Grumble will thwack my Osprey. If the Angolans wanted to fire, they could just use the Grumble, why send the planes? In the past this was posturing. So we're going to watch and wait. If they launch, then we launch.

Holy poo poo. I swear, every damned time you are about to initiate an op, someone needs fuel.

The Flankers chase after the Osprey, they are well within attack range. Posturing?

Finally, after chasing the Osprey out to sea, they turn tail and return to southern Angola.

quote:

The Embassy is under imminent threat of attack, there are several hundred-armed protesters in the crowd, many with FNLA flags. Additionally, there are reports of several thousand unarmed protesters fleeing the area. The Angolan police have completely abandoned their post at the front gate.

Chief of Security has raised the security status within the Embassy compound to RED. He requests immediate assistance in any way you can.

Serpentis and his parter are taking on fuel now and will resume positioning shortly.

quote:

Shots fired at the Embassy, Marine defenders are engaging targets as they are able

poo poo, we keep getting nailed and my drone can't seem to find them until they are on top of us. The embassy burns as RPG's strike it left and right. Our marines knock out the attackers, but not before the damage is done.

I'm going to call the EC-130J out.

Gonna be a hell of a party at the UN later this year.

# ? Mar 13, 2023 23:40

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# ? May 5, 2024 20:09

PurpleXVI: Oct 30, 2011; Spewing insults, pissing off all your neighbors, betraying your allies, backing out of treaties and accords, and generally screwing over the global environment?
ALL PART OF MY BRILLIANT STRATEGY!

quote:

Chief of security is requesting any help you can provide, specifically ISTAR, more ground troops and on call air strikes (which has your legal advisor twitching).

Air strikes... at the protesters?

That would be one hell of a move. I hope he means at militias trying to mess with the ground troops.

# ? Mar 13, 2023 23:49

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Command Modern Operations : Megadeth, the video game

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