Sgt.Squarehead

@LongLeftFlank In your hypothetical scenario you put great faith in the Taiwanese air force being present after the fight begins.....It's my understanding that virtually the whole of Taiwan falls under the coverage of a pair of S-400 batteries, and then there's the PLAAF. Nothing in the Taiwanese inventory is going to face off four dozen J-16s backed up by half a dozen J-16Ds.....Nothing! We know the Chinese can easily put that number of aircraft over the island, they did it about a fortnight back. The US aren't in much of a position to help either.....It recently responded to various Chinese shenanigans with a mighty patrol of four F-16s (apparently Wild Weasels fitted out as interceptors, presumably because that's the only sort of F-16 that could even hope to survive in the local A2AD environment) and it required four tankers to get them there: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2021/04/16/it-took-four-aerial-tankers-to-drag-four-us-air-force-f-16s-to-the-south-china-sea-and-thats-a-problem/?sh=37994ed57bc6

The latter, combined with a wall of jamming just prior to launch.....Simplest way to overcome even the best point defence system is to overwhelm it, a container-ship full of cruise missiles would do the trick nicely. PS - China (allegedly) have their own supersonic cruise missiles of course: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/sale-china’s-mach-3-anti-ship-missile-11763 Could be a case of form following function, but that surely is a very familiar shape. PS - Have bit of gratuitous, vertical cold-launched supersonic cruise missile porn:

That's about typical for Red air with a TRP.....However on both occasions it seemed to arrive sooner (& on both occasions I failed to notice exactly when as I had my headphones off). I have to do some more work on the scenario and will then test it again, so I'll be sure to make a note of the exact timings.

Dude.....FFS!

It's the combination of drones & stand-off loitering munitions that seems to be making the difference.....That said, they've never been tried against a properly integrated air defence sytem. While Pantsir S2 seemed to struggle with them in Syria, Tor M2 was reportedly quite effective (if perhaps a bit expensive).

While I'm not typically terribly fond of the source, this article seems plausible: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/how-china-could-test-us-commitment-taiwan-195759

Top layer of containers packing a mixture of 3M54 Kalibr & P-800 Oniks (I'm sure the Russians would be happy to sell them).....By the time you detect the launch signature the P-800s are already taking out your radars, command & control centres etc. Then the Kalibrs arrive. The mother of all VLS arrays:

Join The Imperial Guard! Renowned for their unfailing bravery: & their unlimited optimism?

@IanL I'm wondering if there may be a bug with the indicated time of arrival of Red aircraft with a TRP in CM:SF2? As I mentioned earlier, they were indicated as being due to arrive in 28 minutes, but they seemed to turn up a LOT sooner.....However I was so engrossed I didn't check. I've called them in again on one of the TRPs, so I'll see how long they actually take this time.

With BHIAF A-1 Skyraiders screaming overhead, the heroic survivors of Southwind Command resume the assault, taking out a communist bunker position: Meanwhile on the opposite side of the map, the cavalry has arrived: Will be needing a tester for this in due course, it all seems to be functioning as desired now (Red radios excepted of course).....Possibly now just a little bit too easy as it stands, but I'll only really make my mind up about that once I've captured all the objectives! PS - @37mm It was definitely worth using Hind-Ds (Air Support, Heavy) for these particular Skyraiders.....The 250kg bombs are epic: I think I like 'Operation Mardi Gras' again now!

I'm really enjoying the original version, I'm thirty turns in and so far only four rounds have been fired.....All spotting rounds from what I believe is an 82mm Mortar targetting OP-1. My lads are having it away on their toes, hopefully they'll get clear before the stonk arrives! We've got a pretty good view of the German positions and are beginning to set up our own (there were a few C2 issues to begin with as various units waited for their parent formations to arrive). Thus far I'm having a lot of fun. I'll send you a PM with a link to my current save.

I've just started the original.....Should I download the newer one or do you still want some feedback on the original version? TBH that happens to me quite a lot (in testing at any rate).

That does sound very interesting (especially that huge map).

The Akinci looks a very capable system: https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2021/10/the-275-kilometer-sniper-rifle.html

Yup, I'm settling in on a deck-chair with my field glasses.....This is about to get shooty!

I was under the impression that this was the primary objective.....Now I've looked back it all looks a lot less worrying! I might take a look at the scenario in Preview Mode in the editor, so I can get a proper feel for the terrain.....Promise not to look at the '85s'!

Cheers dude.....Cool to have the option. After a bit of squabbling and some buddy aid these units could wind up with all manner of interesting weapons.

As the ever-wise @LongLeftFlank has already suggested, 'H&E' is probably your best option for modelling the terrain at present, but the technology in CM:SF2 is a little lacking for a conflict set post-2021. PS - @LongLeftFlank I love your hypothetical invasion scenario, especially the container ship.....Those things can conceal all manner of unpleasantness:

That road heading north east off the centre of the map.....I forsee T-34/85s coming down it! Ever since you suggested he might have a whole company of tanks I've been worrying about their continued non-appearance.....If he's got that many, he's definitely holding them back to clobber you with them en-masse and the road seems the easiest way to route them into the battle. How visible is that road from your current/projected positions? EDIT - Just looked back at the initial posts.....Big map! Which is probably good news as there are plenty more places those tanks could be (the cropped map had rather confused me).

It's the way that you often frame your images with foliage that made me think of it.....We're kinda big on foliage in 'H&E'.

Do you play any of the modern titles? I'd love to see some of your images of 'H&E'.

What's the issue with the roads (& other bits)? Happy to discuss via PM if there's anything I might help with. PS - Would it be possible to port this map to CM:SF2.....I could have a lot of fun with it!

Looking forward to 'em, as others have said you are doing a fine job with this AAR and the tension is definitely building.....It feels like we're still in the prelude phase right now, but the main event seems fairly imminent!

@kohlenklau I'm a huge fan of your Finnish mod too.

TOC's a hoot! Testing it was where I got my new signature!