A Land War in Asia Scenarios

[Airborne Rifles]

Hey All!

I have been working on a group of scenarios dealing with a general war between China and surrounding nations taking place in the near future. Here is the description:

"Background: Following an economic near-collapse in the mid 2010s, a desperate China invades Taiwan in 2019 to forestall domestic unrest. After a bloody campaign against the Taiwanese and intervening US Marines, the Chinese conquer the island. An embarrassed and bloodied United States, along with their alarmed allies, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, impose a naval blockade against China. Cut off from vital raw materials in Africa and the Middle East, China seeks to take them from a wary Russia. The Russian Federation prepares to defend itself in the Far East, causing the war to begin earlier than either side had intended. Neither side is as prepared as they would like."

The first scenario, "Trading Space," deals with the Chinese thrust towards Vladivostok.

This is the first scenario I have ever submitted so comments are welcome!

Thanks to everyone here for making this great game incredible and continually improving it!

[Imp]

You must have read my mind was looking at China as my next theatre, Asia is a melting pot of reasonable tech forces. Taiwan, Japan S.Korea Malaysia USMC to name a few would give China a run for her money to.
I will for sure give this a go in a week or 2 & look forward to more.
Not sure on this but if you want forces to be semi realistic Russian Eastern Command tends to use tracked vehicles not BTRs due to the rough going.
Look at area round Mongolia its harsh or swamps I think & most of it is devoid of anything something like 3 highways & railways cross the borders.

[Imp]

Okay shouldn't comment without at least looking, I couldn't resist. Resisted starting as the situation looks fluid so will require some thought. From looking at how I am deployed I would guess this has good replay potential.
This may need some play testing & special victory conditions, based on how many forces you exit.
Fighting withdrawal is in my book one of the hardest things to do well, so I would expect quite high loss ratio.
Also some of the bridges are stone I would suggest making them all wooden.
May also wish to create a different set of stats for the engineers demo charges that have a better chance of destroying bridges, not a certainty.
Some or all could carry a placed charge, best switched off at start possibly.
Suggest increase the property that destroys bridges & reduce the others, AP I am guessing.
So high AP low HEkill & warehead
Reasoning is a placed charge if done correctly should direct its energy at the target, any blast that goes elsewhere is wasted energy so it should be minimal.
Hence small blast radius, a good demolition is contained & relatively quite as all the energy is absorbed by the structure.

[Oche]

I DL it and fired it up just to take a peek, by the looks of the map i must congratulate you for an outstanding job with the map making which is half way of the scenario design. I hope you enjoy scenario design as much as I and others do, it can be tiresome but IMHO very rewarding. Hats off and thank you for your efforts, keep up the good work.:clap: :up:

This one and others i'm saving for PBEM :fire:

I myself have a couple of new "secret" scenario series projects under development and testing them, as well as have other projects on the horizon (besides my uploaded scenario series) ;)

[Airborne Rifles]

Thanks for the feedback so far and the kind words! Oche, I do enjoy the map design very much (I'm a geographer by education) and I spend the majority of my time there.

Imp, I have an updated version of 'Trading Space' with wooden bridges waiting for any other feedback to upload. I don't know that I feel quite competent to go in and modify weapon stats just yet. I will have to teach myself a bit more first.

In the meantime, here is another one, 'Buying Time.' It will eventually be third in this series, but I'm still working on #2.

Again, feedback is appreciated. I'm rather proud of this one, I think it presents the defender some interesting dilemmas, and I think it could be good played from the attacker's side, too, but I haven't tried that yet.

[Imp]

I had a quick play with weapon stats & making something that has a high chance of destroying a bridge is not straightforward. I have a feeling warhead size may be the mayor factor.
I increased warhead to 30 & reduced all the other values & that seems a good starting point.
Despite high warhead size HE kill of 3 meant it seemed to have no effect on adjacent units.

[Airborne Rifles]

Here is my latest scenario, one for the Chinese side this time: Breakthrough at Ussuryisk!

I think this presents some challenging decisions for the attacking Chinese player and should be a lot of fun.

Again, comments and criticisms are welcome!

[Airborne Rifles]

Here is the fourth scenario of the series. This one is designed for the Chinese side but is playable as the Russians as well. I think this one would make a good PBEM as well.

As always, comments and critiques are welcome.

[Paulus_PAK]

After all is it possible to destroy those bridges with engineer satchel charges (in Trading Space)? So far I'm unable to do so. Although it seems that Chinese thrusts can be stalled.

[Imp]

After all is it possible to destroy those bridges with engineer satchel charges (in Trading Space)? So far I'm unable to do so. Although it seems that Chinese thrusts can be stalled.

Possible but unlikely.

[Airborne Rifles]

After all is it possible to destroy those bridges with engineer satchel charges (in Trading Space)? So far I'm unable to do so. Although it seems that Chinese thrusts can be stalled.

My apologies! For some reason I thought I'd already posted the updated version of the scenario with wooden bridges that are definitely destructible by satchel charges. Imp had pointed this issue out shortly after I posted it and for some reason I thought I had changed it already. Anyway, here is the updated file. Thanks for playing it and for the feedback. I have another one in the pipeline but RL is slowing me down. Should be up soon.

[Airborne Rifles]

Hello all, here is the next scenario in my A Land War in Asia Scenario. This is probably the first one where I spent more time on the scenario itself rather than the map (and I spent a long time on the map). It's long since the forces are infantry heavy and I wanted to ensure there was time for the assaulting player to achieve their objectives. I think I've worked out most of the bugs on how the AI plays the scenario using VPs and waypoints, but if you play it and something seems odd please let me know. Anyway, this closes out the 'Vladivostock story arc' portion of these scenarios (at least for now ;)). I have lots of ideas for more in the same conflict but I need to balance three kids and a job too! Here's the scenario description:


The Chinese invasion of the Russian Far East has begun! Three incursions, aimed at Birobidzhan, Ussuriysk, and Valdivostok attempt to fragment the Russian defenses and isolate Khabarovsk.

The battered Russian Far Eastern forces have largely withdrawn into the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, trying desperately to maintain a defense of the vital port of Vladivostock, Russian's primary Pacific port and naval base. Both the Russian and Chinese forces have been depleted in the fighting around Ussuryisk and during the long Russian withdrawal south to the port. Now, within what the international media has dubbed the "Vladivostock Perimeter," the remaining Russian formations need time to reorganize, refit, and secure the strong defensive line across the neck of the peninsula. The Chinese are doing their best to deny them this respite, but they are facing problems of their own. Winter weather has come with a vengeance to the Far East, snarling logistics for their armies advancing through the rough mountainous and marshy terrain. More ominously, the Americans, eager to avenge their embarrassment in Taiwan, have offered their assistance to Russia in the conflict. Two carrier battle groups along with the Russian Pacific fleet have ensured air supremacy in the skies over Vladivostock and US Navy aircraft are interdicting supplies and reinforcements headed to the front. A USMC MEU is en route to bolster the defenses of the city and units of the Russian Baltic, Black Sea and Northern fleets are transiting the Panama Canal with reinforcements from European Russia. Will they arrive in time?

The only fresh Russian forces readily available for the defense of the Vladivostock perimeter are a mix of elements of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade and reserve units hastily called up and organized. They will have to hold the line long enough for the fought-out units further south in the city to reorganize themselves. In scenes reminiscent of the Great Patriotic War, the civilian population of the city has been called out to dog fortifications through the hotel district along the coast north of the city. Will it be enough to stem the Chinese onslaught?

The Chinese know that time is against them. They must seize Vladivostock to secure the Pacific flank of their invasion of Siberia against American intervention. Their troops are worn out as well and they have been unable to concentrate as large a force as they had hoped for the final assault. They opt to play to the historical strengths of the Chinese infantry soldier. As a blizzard sweeps out of Siberia and reduces visibility to less than 100 meters, the PLA infantry and armor move into their assault positions.

The Russian position is precarious. They must defend two vital pieces of terrain. One is the east-west running DeFriis-Patrokl-o-Russkyi highway. This is the last remaining road north of Vladivostock proper that allows the Russians to move reserves from one coast of the peninsula to the other. Troublingly, at its west end is the DeFriis Peninsula bridge, a massive structure spanning the Amur Bay, and the opposite end of the bridge is in Chinese hands. Not wanting to sacrifice this multi-billion-dollar piece of infrastructure, the authorities in Moscow have refused to allow it to be destroyed for defensive purposes, and it remains as an avenue, albeit an risky one, into the Russian flank. The second piece of vital terrain the Russians must defend is the pumping station on the western side of the now frozen-over Pionerskoye reservoir that is the last remaining source of fresh water for the city. If either of these fall into Chinese hands the position of the defenders will be untenable.

Tovarich Colonel, take control of the western Vladivostock defenses! Our frontline troops report signs of an impending Chinise attack on our trenches but this damned blizzard has prevented us or our American allies from getting any good aerial intelligence. Your force is a mix of elite naval infantry and untested reservists. We will send you what support we can as our army units in the city reorganize, but don't expect much any time soon. The American Marines are attempting to disembark down south in the port at this moment and have promised to rush units forward as soon as they form. They are also trying to fly in some of their artillery but again the weather is playing hell with their air operations. They have aircraft overhead with GPS guided bombs but their observers can't see anything to call in the strikes. However, our fleet in Amur Bay will provide you gunfire support and the Americans have promised to send two of their destroyers into the bay to add their guns as well. You must hold the line this day! One more day and we can make this peninsula a fortress!

Special victory conditions: if the battle ends with the Chinese player in control of the pumping station or any part of the DeFriis-Patrokl-o-Russkyi highway, this should be considered a decisive defeat for the Russian player.

[Airborne Rifles]

Just to reemphasize, I'm a relatively inexperienced scenario designer, so any feedback on these is very welcome. I tend towards bigger battles and try to good research on the real world OOBs. I use Google Earth to do the maps. I'll try to post a map showing the how all these scenarios fit into the larger campaign.

[SaS TrooP]

Just finished Vladivostok battle. Took me a while as it was long.

Here it is:
295:1202
4:0
3:13
9:11
7:49

18744:3412

OK, generally my impressions are scenario was really good, though Chinese attack was extremely weak. I did not use USMC Company at all, just tanks and aircraft (both only because I did not want to shift my Russian units). First Naval inf company eliminated, second suffered slight losses. Same goes with both reserve companies, while one of these did not even see combat.

My plan was simple: I hammered down my entire perimeter on first defence line and shifted my 3 T-72s to the front, to cover the bridge. It took them more than 30 turns to do anything after most of my warships were getting empty. My TI equipped recon also helped a lot. Remains of Chinese wave were later easily repelled on second line, where attack was really weak.
Stuff went a little bit more crazy at the lake. I nearly lost it at the very end, but my T-90s won the battle there as Chinese also had bloody nose at this point.
My only fail was I used 155mm+ artillery on that DeFriis bridge forgetting how heavy ordnance I am implementing. Part of the structure was damaged (2 hexes torn into water), but at the end of the day this bridge was crossable and secure.

I like your scenarios and I love your maps. My only request is to limit US presence as it is rather improbable and - for christ sake - keep on making scens with bloody Americans, they are not needed everywhere.

Thank you.

[Airborne Rifles]

Thanks for the feedback SaS TrooP! I agree on the weakness of the Chinese assault. I had a lot of trouble trying to set up their force mix so that they could overrun the first line of trenches and then mount a determined attack against the second line. I think in a PBEM game a human opponent could make it very difficult for the Russian defender, but with such a long scenario the only way I could see to make the the Chinese attack tougher was to give them LOTS of MBTs, and I didn't want to do that.

****SPOILERS FOLLOW****

What I was trying to do was force the Russian player to have to choose to commit their reserves to three crisis areas: the second line of trenches under attack by mechanized forces after the Chinese infantry overrun the first line, the attack across the DeFriis bridge, and later the reservoir pumping station, hopefully with the USMC company coming in at the most desperate moment of the battle. I was at least glad to hear about the drama at the reservoir at the end of your game so at least that played as designed. Maybe if I take away the T-90 reinforcements and the Marine's tanks and air support? It seems the platoon of T-72s I've given the Russians make their defense too strong for the Chines AI player, so maybe I should have those come in as reinforcements later in place of the T-90s? I think a human opponent would probably do a much better job of consolidating after capturing the first line of trenches and then launching a strong coordinated attack on the second, and I didn't want to make the Chinese too strong for a PBEM match, but I could have the balance wrong for that as well.

Thanks for the encouragement! I have several more scenarios for this series in the pipeline (without Americans!) though the Americans will make more appearances later (along with some other Pacific Rim forces). My justification is that they are already at war with China over Taiwan on the one hand and trying to keep the Russian from going nuclear against China on the other. I enjoy the process, especially the map making since I'm a geographer by education.

[Airborne Rifles]

If anyone is interested in the 'story arc' of these scenarios, here is a map from Google Earth showing how they all fit together. Red arrows are the major Chinese incursions, green boxes are the outlines of the terrain I used for the maps.

I'll be shifting focus further north for the next few scenarios, so stay tuned :)

[SaS TrooP]

Important: Chinese IVFs attacking from the north went crazy in the end and tried to make their way though water. Chinese lost like 10-12 IFVs during duck shot.
Limiting the reinforcements may be key to success. Or simply rise the attackers numbers. Not particularly MBTs, rather regular infantry going after the reserves. Generally, I believe chinese reserves are way too weak and underequipped as of 2020. Russians seems not to have that problem (RPG-29s in each section, all 5,45mm based - which is probably by this year).
Yet, check VERY CAREFULLY observation equipment of some units. Chinese can indeed see only for 150 metres, while Russians don't. If we have blizzard - as it is said in the briefing - optics such as 1P29 or PSOs will not help that much. I believe you could decrease Russian forces visibility to about 5 (if any) - this may allow chinese attacker to approach closed protected. I am not also that sure how TIs should behave during blizzard, but they were used in '91 with success. So this equipment should most likely stay untouched. Chinese forces (even regulars) seem to lack of any advanced optics rising vision modifier in unit's screen.

[Airborne Rifles]

Thanks SaS Troop. I will look at the visibility ratings and adjust. I should be able to post a revised scenario in a few days. Thanks for the feedback!

[Airborne Rifles]

By the way SaS TrooP, how did you employ the Spetznaz platoon in the scenario? I'm curious if you found them useful in the way I envisioned.

[SaS TrooP]

Actually I had no practical idea for them. They were used to cause further damage and delay of Chinese forces between 1st and 2nd line. Thats for one platoon. Second one remained in reserve for entire battle. I did not deploy them on enemy's rear for mortar hunting and stuff. But they managed to hurt a few tanks and kill few dozens of inf before being overrun.

[Airborne Rifles]

OK, here is the re-balanced Vladivostock scenario. Based on SaS TrooP's feedback, here are the changes I've made:

-removed the on-map platoon of Russian tanks, the USMC tank platoon, and the USN air support.

-reduced the visibility rating of every unit on the board to 0 (except those units equipped with TI) to better simulate the blizzard conditions.

-added a strip on impassable terrain to much of the coastline so hopefully the AI IFVs won't wander into the ocean.

I haven't had time yet to play this version all the way through, but I think this will go a long way towards making the Chinese AI assault more of a challenge to stop.

I'm well into the map for the next scenario. Hopefully that one will be up in the next week or so.

[Airborne Rifles]

I noted a few more mistakes in the previous upload. Please use this one instead. Thanks!

[Airborne Rifles]

All right, here is my latest addition to this series. This is a tough one, but very fun, I think. Here's the briefing:

"The Chinese strategy for cutting the Trans-Siberian Railroad west of Khabarovsk is to cross the Amur River south of Birobidzhan in the Jewish Autonamous Oblast and then drive north to cut the line at that town. Two crossings are planned, one at the bridge at Leninskoye and the other a diversionary river crossing at Amurzet. The Russian commander in this sector, however, is an aggressive and resourceful tactician. Further complicating the invasion is the difficult terrain and logistical constraints of northern Manchuria and Siberia. This will not be an easy campaign for the Chinese forces.

The Chinese set-back at Leninskoye on the first day of the war immediately upends the strategy for seizing Birobidzhan. The diversionary crossing at Amurzet becomes far more important, and the Chinese begin funneling reinforcements there. However, the Amurzet crossing is not without its own problems. There is no bridge at Amurzet so a pontoon bridge must be thrown across once the opposite bank is secure. Furthermore, logistical problems delayed the crossing that was supposed to take place during darkness into the morning hours. Now the Chinese must cross the broad river in daylight, exposed to whatever the Russians can throw at them, and the Russians are sending reinforcements as well from Leninskoye. If the Russians can defeat this second attempt to bridge the Amur, the Chinese strategy west of Khabarovsk may collapse.

Colonel, your failure to cross the river during last night's darkness will cost the lives of many of your men and may damage the strategy of all of China! You must cross the river and secure the town as a bridgehead so we can construct our pontoon bridge and restart our drive on the Tran-Siberian Railroad. Further delay is not acceptable. Your IFVs and amphibious tanks are prepared for fording operations. The local ferries and barges we have commandeered are at your disposal. We are sending you some heavy armor to reinforce your assault, but they are still on the road. Do not wait for them! We know that a Russian rifle company was flown in to the airstrip north of the town during the night to reinforce the police and border guard forces here. Our aerial reconnaissance has also sighted a strong Russian armored column approaching from the north-east from Leninskoye. Their forward reconnaissance elements may already be in Amurzet. The Russians are contesting our command of the air as well, so your air support will be limited.

Take control of your forces and cross the river. Your main objectives are the ferry terminal and the grain wharf that will be the termini for our bridges. After that, secure the rest of the town and the airfield to the north. Be prepared to repulse the coming Russian counterattack. If you fail, our entire strategy in Siberia may be in jeopardy."

In this scenario the Chinese player must find a good balance between and maintaining tactical principles such as dispersion and concealment while crossing the river. Do not expect to get across without casualties. The Russian counterattack will also be unforgiving, so do not simply assume that you can send all of your forces to seize the center of the town. Watch your flanks on the opposite bank! Also, pay attention to the different carry capacities of the ferries and barges. They are very different even though they are represented by the same symbol on the map.

I have another scenario in progress for the Leninskoye battle which takes place a few hours before this one to the east, so stay tuned. I'll post a map as I did with the Vladivostock sub-series of how all this fits together once I've completed this sub-series of scenarios.

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.

[SaS TrooP]

And made my finish. I really like your scenarios.
Made a strong marginal victory. Beginning was a suck, Russian MiG clustered my infantry while they were loading on the barges and caused like 40 casualties. My supporting MGs failed to do anything. It was until second company made it unscratched and spilled all over, hitting Russians from the flank. I had issues with that Russian mech column, but I gave them some ground and struck from the flanks.
Scenario I say is well balanced, just little note: Border Guards are one of the best formations in most armies, trained to initially delay the enemy before main armies will load munitions and regroup outside garrisons. I believe border guards should not be reserve infantry but rather something more elite.
Also, check for spelling, there are some errors such as "Wharehouse". I found nothing else to report, waiting for more!

[Airborne Rifles]

Thanks SaS TrooP, I'm really glad you're enjoying them. Thanks for the pointer about the border guards, I guess I was thinking of them as US border patrol, a bad comparison. I'm planning to use a border guard formation along the lines you suggested in my next scenario.

I'm most of the way done with the map for my next scenario, so I should have a new one to post within the week if my schedule cooperates.

"Wharehouse," ha, Freudian slip?

[Airborne Rifles]

By the way SaS_TrooP, when I ran through my testing of the scenario I had good success using the UAVs to spot the Russians across the river and then use my supporting MGs to suppress them.

New scenario almost completing testing. Packaging and posting by this weekend, hopefully.

[Airborne Rifles]

Here's the next one (although this battle takes place a few hours before the Amurzet battle). Here's the mission briefing:

"The Amur River Bridge Project near the city of Leninskoye is the only bridge spanning the Amur river between Khabarovsk and the Mongolian border. The P455 highway runs through Leninskoye and from there straight north to Birobidzhan. This makes the bridge a key and predictable target of any Chinese invasion of Siberia. Realizing this, the Chinese execute a surprise crossing of the Amur River bridge on the night of 8-9 October with forces in place, achieving strategic surprise in their invasion. Heavy reinforcements are en route by rail to continue the offensive. The Russian forces in the area, however, have been training for just this situation. As dawn breaks and the fog clears in the marshy Siberian countryside, the sounds of engines and rumble of artillery predict that battle is about to be joined.

Tovarich Colonel, last night the Chinese crossed the Amur without warning over the bridge project and established a perimeter around Nizhneleniskoye. Our border guard forces did well, withdrawing from their outpost and into Leninskoye proper as we had planned, reporting on enemy movements. They've established defenses in the town and report signs that the Chinese may try to take it. Make no mistake however, the Chinese are going to mount a strong attack northwest from the bridge to try to advance rapidly on Birobidzhan. They can have no other strategy. As we've anticipated, this puts our own base at risk, and we've already maintained our HQ there for too long. Displace your HQ and logistical elements as soon as possible to a safer location before they draw attention.

Colonel, our Brigade has trained for this fight long and hard. You know your mission. Your combat troops have already deployed away from our base. Hold the Chinese as best you can at our base complex and in Leninskoye, and counterattack the Chinese at a weak point in their perimeter. It is essential that we gain a position of over watch on the bridge to prevent Chinese reinforcements from crossing the river. As we’ve discussed, the best position for this is the Chinese cliffs south of Nizhneleninskoye. Our signal intercepts reveal strong Chinese forces are de-training right not at their rail terminal across the river, so you must hurry. I’ve given you our brigade’s tank destroyer sub-units for this task. Once you've established enfilade on the bridge, do your best to get into Nizhneleninskoye and wreck the Chinese logistics. We won’t be able to hold here for long, but if we can upset the enemy timetable we can buy time for our own reinforcements to arrive at Birobidzhan from European Russia. Your attack, unfortunately, will be weaker than we had hoped because I was forced to dispatch a column to Amurzet during the night as it appears the Chinese may attempt a crossing there as well.

You have your orders Colonel. We’ve been training for just this situation and if we handle our men right, the Chinese will never know what hit them."

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. I spent a lot of time testing to get the Chinese AI forces to act how I wanted. I think I was pretty successful.

[SaS TrooP]

Sorry, I was and I still am quite busy recently, but I will get on it ASAP.

[Airborne Rifles]

No rush, I've got the next one in the pipeline. Thanks for your interest and feedback!

[SaS TrooP]

OK, got it done, I had busy November.
Made marginal at Leninskoye, it was really hard fight, seeing them having nice equipment advantage over me. Hard to really say anything else, I enjoyed this particular scenario less than previous ones, but maybe it is some sort of random feeling.
Keep up the good work, I am ready for more.

[Airborne Rifles]

Thanks! Sorry for the slow response, Ive been on vacation. I can understand why this one might not be as enjoyable. There's a lot going on at different points of the map. I have to remember when I'm play testing that I know the solution that I've planned for the human player.

My next one is much simpler, and the one after that should be very interesting too. Hopefully I'll post it next week sometime. Thanks again for the feedback and for playing the scenarios.