Played as Peru first and won within minutes thanks to rushing a few Mirage
2000s north with Exocets. Not much of a challenge. Decided to try with Ecuador
instead; much more interesting!
Launched Jaguars to eliminate the Peruvian air base before its planes could
locate my convoy. Iron bombs made short work of the hangar and A/C Revetments, but 2
Jaguars were lost during their egress - one to SAMs and one to a Mirage 2000. Two
hostile Mirages were airborne before the air base could be shut down, but 4 friendly
Mirages had already been scrambled to deal with them and any helicopters that might be
in the air for recon. Both hostiles were downed, followed by the helicopters, for
the loss of one friendly Mirage, but not before the southern naval group comprising a
corvette and a couple of missile boats was located. A couple of minutes and a few
Otomats later and the group was at the bottom of the Pacific, having failed to fire a
shot.
With the Peruvian Air Force out of the way, it was time to deal with the Navy.
The convoy was racing for the Pacific, ready to begin a coastal crawl round to the
reference points, with the northern naval group rushing south to cover it and
the sub Shyri moving to intercept a hostile naval group. Mirage recon flights
identified the group as containing two modern frigates, one old destroyer and one old gun cruiser.
Ten A-37 Dragonflies were sitting on the tarmac waiting for a mission, 6 with
Rockeyes and 4 with iron bombs. With the frigates being the biggest threat to my surface
forces, the Rockeye-equipped planes were despatched to deal with them, while the iron
bomb-equipped ones were sent to sink the cruiser and destroyer. The raid was
largely a success with both frigates sunk for the loss of 2 Dragonflies and the
cruiser and destroyer both heavily damaged. Shortly afterwards they were finished off
by torpedoes from the Shyri who was then directed east to help cover the convoy.
Meanwhile, a three-ship flotilla had been identified as a missile boat group and
was being harrassed by gunfire from Mirages. After four passes, they were well on their way
to having their fires extinguished by the cold cold waters found on the bed of the
Pacific. This left only the three strong southern Peruvian naval group as a threat
(and any submarines that might possibly be out there), which was now racing north. With
the Air Force many hours away from providing assistance, it was left to the Shyri
and northern naval group to deal with the threat. Wary of possible sub activity,
the northern group was attempting to screen the convoy, leaving Shyri to engage the
threat. Unfortunately, at 25 knots, it closed to missile range and opened up on
the northern group as Shyri was still amneuvering into firing position. The first
sign of the missile attack was a series of explosions sending all but the Galapagos
beneath the waves. Sending radars active, she managed to loose her Exocets before a
further series of explosions silences her permanently. The shots, however, were good,
sinking onw Peruvian frigate and damaging a destroyer. As Shyri raced in at full
speed and the convoy fled north, a torpedo exchange left the seas clear of the
Peruvian navy, but at the cost of the Shyri.
Several hours later, the convoy crept past the reference points, praying that
no sub had heard its passage.
Scenario completed!
A tough little scenario that sees the Ecuadorians heavily outgunned and
outranged.It seems imperative that the air base be knocked out instantly, otherwise you'll
have Mirage 2000s with Exocets chasing your convoy around, which would be a bad
thing.
by Stephen Mills
Tried A Naval Border War from the Ecuador side. I always think of
this one as a tough scenario as Ecuador seems to have the odds very
much stacked against them. To be truthful I gave up as within a
relatively few minutes most of my fighters were shot down, my entire
Navy had sunk and one of the merchants was already destroyed.
I can't make my mind up about the neutral shipping in this one. I
think it makes it a lot harder for Ecuador as you need to classify
targets fast, I found many of my ships didn't get to fire in time.
Its actually an interesting area for a scn, but I find this
particular scenario pretty one sided. Would be interested to hear
how others fared at it?
