Northern Inferno is unleashed!

October 22, 2015 · Posted in Command, Northern Inferno · Comment

Now available on Matrix Games and Steam!

Tags: no tags

The scenarios of Northern Inferno

October 20, 2015 · Posted in Command, Northern Inferno · Comment

As you probably know by now, Northern Inferno is coming this Thursday as part of the massive v1.09 update. The first DLC pack for Command, NI is also important as its standalone nature allows players to purchase and enjoy it regardless of whether they already own CMANO or not.

Let’s peruse the 15 scenarios that comprise this epic WW3 campaign. Each scenario can be played either as part of the campaign (in which case reaching a certain “pass score” is necessary in order to advance to the next scenario) or in standalone mode like all other CMANO scenarios.

Here is the list:

Opening Moves: Soviet submarines are rushing across the Norwegian Sea, heading for the Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) gap, doorway to the Atlantic. NATO naval forces mobilize to stem the tide.

Goblin on the doorstep: Amidst the growing crisis, the British strategic nuclear submarine HMS Revenge is putting out to sea. Soviet strategic doctrine dictates targeting and destroying these invaluable assets as soon as possible during a crisis or war. It’s a long way out to the safety of deep water…

The Fast and the Furious: The war is spreading. A powerful Soviet amphibious force is heading towards northern Norway, screened by multiple squadrons of missile fast-attack craft. With the bulk of NATO’s Atlantic forces already committed elsewhere, what can Norway do to blunt the invasion?

Barents Sea Boomers: After absorbing punch after punch, NATO swings to the offensive by applying one of the key tenets of the 1980’s Maritime Strategy: Hunt down and attempt to sink the Soviet strategic submarines (SSBNs) inside their protective bastions.

Beware of the Badger: Norway has been invaded. The US and UK are rushing heavy amphibious forces to support the bulwark in the north. But the Soviet Naval Aviation’s missile-armed bombers roam over the Norwegian Sea. Will enough reinforcements reach Norway to matter?

The Grey Ghost from the East Coast: Taking a page out of the WW2 Kriegsmarine playbook, the Soviet Navy is sending its Sverdlov heavy cruisers down the Denmark strait, bypassing the battered Icelandic defences, in hopes of further straining NATO’s overburdened Atlantic screen. Standing in their way is a USN surface group centered around the Newport News, the US Navy’s last heavy-gun cruiser. Can the “Grey Ghost” and her cohorts crash the Sverdlov raiding party?

The Mighty O: Iceland has been heavily bombarded and then seized by Soviet forces. Soon, Soviet naval bombers will be able to operate from the polar island’s airbases, striking at will all over the Atlantic. For NATO, this is unacceptable – and the carrier Oriskany will spearhead the operation to shut Iceland down.

Damn The Torpedoes: A large, vital NATO convoy is approaching Europe with cargo and container ships as well as oil tankers. The Soviet Union has warned NATO that any further overseas reinforcement of Europe “will dramatically escalate the situation”. The Red Banner Fleet’s submarine force is gunning for the convoy en masse. How many will survive to reach the French coast?

Fox Two: The Soviet bomber force is down for maintenance and re-arming, preparing for a big raid, and NATO intel suggests that the British Isles, so far unscathed from the carnage in continental Europe, are on the top of the target list. The Royal Air Force (RAF) is withdrawing from Norway and consolidating to protect the UK mainland. What will be the price of protecting the Crown?

An Eye for an Eye: RAF bases have been hit with nuclear weapons. NATO does not want to escalate to all-out nuclear war, but Britain must respond in kind. The Ark Royal carrier group and its Buccaneer low-level strike aircraft will strike at the heart of Soviet Naval Aviation.

Fire and Brimstone: The Saratoga and JFK carrier groups are tied down off the coast of Norway, supporting a desperate NATO holding action against advancing Soviet armor. This makes them perfect targets for Soviet missile bombers. Tactical nuclear weapons release has been granted. The all-out “bombers vs. carriers” battle that both sides have been rehearsing for over 20 years is about to explode.

Hunter or Hunted: Both sides in the massive conflict are beginning to show signs of exhaustion. NATO carrier groups have been heavily damaged and forced to withdraw towards the GIUK gap, leaving subs and aircraft as the primary offensive assets. To bolster its own battered surface forces, the Soviet Navy is hurriedly commissioning and putting to sea the Kiev, its first real aircraft carrier. A trio of NATO nuclear submarines are hastily assembled to form the welcoming committee.

Deliverance: The Soviet occupation of Iceland has been a constant problem for NATO planners. Soviet forces on the island have been repeatedly harassed but never truly neutralized. NATO now feels confident enough to seriously attempt to seize control of the island back. Multiple carrier groups and support forces, including the amphibious-modified USS Iowa, are converging on Iceland. But the Soviets will not hand over their most important outpost without a fight.

Needle in a Hay Stack: BothSoviet and NATO strategic nuclear forces are being brought to a high state of readiness. The United States is now at DEFCON 2. Peace talks are at a stalemate after an attempted assassination on the US ambassador in Geneva. Unidentified submarines have been sighted off the coast of Nova Scotia. If Soviet submarines can roam in these waters, the US will be under constant threat of a sudden decapitation nuclear strike.

Fail Safe: Amidst a terrible nuclear crisis, multiple cells of SAC B-52 bombers, armed with nuclear weapons, are reaching their “point of no return” locations over the Artic circle. Soviet strategic forces and air defences alike are in the highest alert level. Fingers rest on nuclear triggers. Can global thermonuclear war be averted?

Tags: no tags

WW3 duels, Thud Ridge, COIN raids and Donetsk Airport: Ten new CMANO scenarios available

October 3, 2015 · Posted in Command · Comment

Miguel Molina has posted a new revision of the community scenario pack, the compendium of Command scenarios crafted by the user community. The new release contains ten brand-new scenarios:

Attack Sub Duel Off Hokkaido, 2003: This scenario assumes that tensions have increased between Japan and Russia. Japanese Coast Guard vessels have fired on Russian fishing boats that have strayed into Japanese territorial waters. Russia has threatened to attack Japanese shipping in retaliation. The submarine Harushio has been ordered to support a surface group transiting to Nagasaki. Russian attacks are highly likely.
First Battle of Donetsk Airport, 2014: On May 16, 2014 the Ukrainian government started an anti-terrorist operation against pro-Russian insurgents in the Donetsk Oblast in early April 2014. Pro-Russian protesters and insurgents affiliated with the DPR captured and occupied numerous government buildings, towns, and territories in the region. In Donetsk city itself, many government buildings were under separatist control. During the morning of May 26, pro-Russian insurgents captured the terminal buildings of Donetsk International Airport, and demanded the withdrawal of government forces from the area. Soon after, Ukraine issued an ultimatum to the insurgents, demanding they surrender immediately. This was rejected, causing paratroopers to launch an assault on the airport, accompanied by airstrikes against insurgent positions.
Here, There And Everywhere, 1965: On July 24, 1965 an F-4C flying CAP over North Vietnam was shot down by a Russian-supplied SA-2 missile. This was the first attack by SAMs on US aircraft and the shootdown took Washington by surprise. A reprisal raid was decided. On July 27 a large raid of F-105s was launched against the sites and nearby barracks where the SAM crews were living. The costliest yet day of the Vietnam air war was about to unroll.
Northern Fury #9.1 – Eisenhower Moves North, 1994: Entering the sixth day of WW3, 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 Enterprise CVBG spent two difficult days blunting an attempt by the Red Banner Northern Fleet to interdict the sea lanes, she is now retiring, as are the major Soviet surface units, to replenish. Now, as Enterprise steams south, the USS Eisenhower, after three days of hard fighting in the Mediterranean, has passed through the pillars of Hercules and is heading north. She and the Carl Vinson CVBG will strike at Soviet forces around Iceland three days from now.
Northern Fury #3 – Dagger To The Heart, 1994: A quiet Sunday morning in New York Harbour, it’s cold and windy and the main topic of conversation at the Sandy Hook, New Jersey Coast Guard Station is the ongoing fiasco at the Olympics…
Scenario Editor Tutorial – Adding Weapons, 2015: Unlike other Command scenarios, this is intended to be played in scenario-editor mode. In this scenario, the player will add aircraft to an airfield, arm the aircraft, and then shoot down an easy target.
Uncle Mark’s Tutorials #4 – Boston Guards the Denmark Strait, 1985: Hostilities have broken out in Europe. The war is only a few days old, but there has been limited use of chemical and tactical nuclear weapons, and American vessels have been cleared to use nuclear depth charges against enemy submarines. You are in command of the American nuclear attack submarine Boston. You have been assigned to patrol the Denmark Strait, which lies between Iceland and Greenland. Controlling the Denmark Strait would be vital in any conflict between NATO and the Soviet Union (or, today, Russia) as it connects the Norwegian Sea with the rest of the Atlantic Ocean.
Uncle Mark’s Tutorials #5 – Motozintla Incursion, 2015: Existing tensions between Mexico and Guatemala have increased in recent months. Matters came to a head when Mexican forces fired on a Guatemalan fishing boat that had strayed into Mexico’s territorial waters. Accounts of the attack vary, but it appears that the fishing boat had initially refused to surrender to Mexican forces and had attempted to flee back into international waters. However, many believe the level of force used by Mexico was excessive. With Mexico’s military already spread thin trying to keep the drug cartels under control, there is concern that Guatemala will launch some kind of punitive expedition. This scenario is designed to give players practice with air power vs. ground forces situations, on a low-intensity conflict.
Waller Takes Charge, 1955: Hostilities erupted between NATO and the Soviet Union in 1955. The war is less than one day old, and both sides have taken terrific losses in the Mediterranean. It falls to the American destroyer Waller and forces attached to her to seize control of the waters south of Crete.
War of the Thirty-Fives, 2021: The Kurds have finally secured independence, and a windfall of now-rising oil prices and the investment opportunities that have come with formal recognition have allowed their (not entirely unjustifiably) paranoid leaders to embark on the kind of military overbuildup that has not been seen for a while. Among this buildup is a new air force, built from the ground up. With Western purchases coming with far too many strings attached, they have obtained a massive number of the most advanced Fulcrum variant, the MiG-35. Unfortunately, the Kurdish political problem has continued in Turkey, with emboldened Kurdish fighters in that country’s east increasingly using their neighbor as a sanctuary. Clashes are an unfortunate routine. Now Ankara seeks to break the stalemate by using their finally-ready fifth generation stealth F-35s. But stealth or not, superior technology or not, the Kurdish government is prepared to defend its territorial integrity….

Some of the above scenarios use the most recent version (v440) of the Command databases, which are included with the v1.09 RC11 (B746) update. We therefore recommend downloading and applying this update before using the new scenarios. Alternatively, players can hold for the official release of the v1.09 update which is approaching fast.

As always, the community scenario pack is available for download at the WarfareSims download section: http://www.warfaresims.com/?page_id=1876

Tags: no tags