The final stages of the Syrian Campaigfn

[LUCASWILLEN05]

Looking at the campaign map provided with the game I was thinking about how NATO concludes the campaignafter the initial border battles. I see the possibility of a double envelopment of Damascus aimed at encircling the city prior to the final assault. The Southern prong would be formed of US and UK heavy armoured divisions attacking into the Dar'a area and swinging north across some of the old battlefields of the Yom Kippur war, some of which could well be fought over again. Given that there are several Syrian tank and mechanized divisions in this area there would almost certainly be a few days of big tank battles in this sector after which surviving Syrian units would be falling back either into Lebanon or towards Damascus. Much the same situation to the North and West of Damascus with US HEavy Divisions being joined by US Marines and NATO forces (mostly German and Canadian with another major tank battle somewhere just north of the city. There would probably be a major action around Damascus International Airport and the other major airfields around the city.

The final assault on Damascus could take several forms. Either a direct assault on the city, particularly if the Syrian Army was comprehensively beaten and largely destroyed in the above tank battles. If not then there would have to be a choice between storming the city of laying siege to it

Syrian forces falling back into Lebanon could well be pursued into Lebanon, almost certainly leading to a clash with Hezbollah.

I think there are plenty of possible scenario options here.

Luke

[Paper Tiger]

There's still so much that can be done with this game, isn't there? It's a bit of a shame that the WW2 title has proven to be so addictive for me as I was planning on passing on it and doing three short-ish campaigns instead using forces that I haven't used yet, namely a US Heavy Mech unit, a US Stryker unit and a Brit Light Infantry unit. It might be quite a while before I get round to doing any of this though. I can see me doing them at some point though.

[LUCASWILLEN05]

Also more possibilities covering the early battles of the campaign where the Syrian air force might play a small role. Of course, one interesting possibility might be to say that the Syrian air force was originally thought to be destroyed early in the campaign but actually fooled NATO intelligence analysts because they used dummy aircraft combined with a few real ones while most of the real planes hid in hardened bunkers. As NATO forces begin to close in on Damascus and the above tank battles begin the Syrians pull of an "Air Tet" which should give NATO commanders some worrying moments...

The US Marines, possibly supported by Canadian and German units will also need to mop up those Syrian units around Latakia who might be joined by some scattered armored units who have fallen backfrom the area around Aleppo and Hama

Currently working on a battle for Latakia International but very early days on this. Mainly using Syrian Reservists with some static tank platoons. These may be joined by some Syrian regular army tank units, Also using the AAA capability made available in the NATO module.. The Allied forces will come from the US Marines. The attack will take place at night as I think this is the option US commanders would prefer although I could do a daylight scenario at some point.

Luke

[Alan8325]

Also more possibilities covering the early battles of the campaign where the Syrian air force might play a small role. Of course, one interesting possibility might be to say that the Syrian air force was originally thought to be destroyed early in the campaign but actually fooled NATO intelligence analysts because they used dummy aircraft combined with a few real ones while most of the real planes hid in hardened bunkers. As NATO forces begin to close in on Damascus and the above tank battles begin the Syrians pull of an "Air Tet" which should give NATO commanders some worrying moments...

Even later on in the war some interesting scenarios could come up with Syrian attack helicopters, which do not need airfields to operate, coming out of hiding from some obscure warehouse to take part in the battle. You could be on your way towards your objective with a platoon of Abrams when halfway through the scenario, the enemy happens to get reinforcements in the form of a couple of Hinds. Surprise!

[SD Smack]

Currently working on a battle for Latakia International

If you have not gotten to far in the design of the map I made a map of the airport awhile ago and put it on the repository (I know shameless promotion) but just a suggetion take or leave it.

I agree that there is a lot left in CMSF to be produced from talented designers out there. Its awesome and some what a shame that CMBN is coming out so soon as it will shift focus to WWII and away from CMSF.

But it is what it is....

MAP

Steve-o

[Dietrich]

As it happens, I'm currently working up a scenario that takes place at Latakia International on the very first day of the war: USMC infantry from the 22nd MEU (SOC) are tasked with capturing the airport so it can be used for bringing in supplies, follow-on forces, etc. I'm using SD Smack's excellent map. (Thanks very much for making it, Steve-o. )

According to "canon", the USMC contingent lands at Hamidiyah and from there advances east to Hims and then south to Damascus. But is that the axis of advance for all the USMC forces involved in the invasion of Syria? Would perhaps another MEU be tasked with securing Latakia on account of its port facilities? If, say, the 22nd MEU is tasked with securing Latakia, wouldn't it be reasonable to reckon that part of the MEU (or perhaps some other unit attached to it) ought to concurrently capture the airport southeast of Latakia? As far as I know, Latakia International is the most suitable such facility in the USMC's AO.

Another thing that I've been puzzled about in seeking to gain a sense of the Coalition strategic plan (the axes of advance, the objectives thereof, etc.) is the eponymous Task Force Thunder. The "canon" campaign doesn't specify what units make up the elements of the composite Heavy/Stryker TF. Would the TF force be comprised of elements of an HBCT reinforced by corresponding elements of an SBCT, thus forming a brigade-sized composite? The Dutch campaign states that the Royal Netherlands Army contingent joins up at Dayr az-Zawr with elements of the US 3rd ID. Would an entire BCT of the 3rd ID be sent along Highway 4 from Al Bukamal to Dayr az-Zawr? Would TF Thunder perhaps be made up of part of one of the 3rd ID's other BCTs, rather than from a whole other division?

[LUCASWILLEN05]

If you have not gotten to far in the design of the map I made a map of the airport awhile ago and put it on the repository (I know shameless promotion) but just a suggetion take or leave it.

I agree that there is a lot left in CMSF to be produced from talented designers out there. Its awesome and some what a shame that CMBN is coming out so soon as it will shift focus to WWII and away from CMSF.

But it is what it is....

MAP

Steve-o

Thanks Steve. Actually tat is the map I am using. Excellent map by the way. Just wondering whether you have any plans to do a "massive" version up to the full 4000 x 4000 meter version at some point. For the purpose of this scenario I will assume that Dietrich's first day attack scenario was a US failure and a second attack was mounted a few days later.

In my scenario the airfield is defended by a battalion of militia and a battalion of reserve infantry, a few static T-55s and a company of T-72s. I will be using plenty of bunkers and probably minefields. The Syrians will be reinforced

by additional mechanized forces and perhaps even some air power (as Alan suggests)for a proper tank battle. US will have a Marine tank company which I may decide to bring on as a reinforcement later in the battle.

Also giving some thought to those big tank battles around Damascus...

Luke

Luke

[SD Smack]

You guys are quite welcome!!! Thats what I put it up there for and im happy people are getting some use out of it. As for a full scale 4K x 4K map....that would be awesome. However (yup here comes my excuse) when I started the original map I started in the middle with no real thought of making a huge map. Then a fellow member asked me if I could make a larger map. So I did, and thats when I realized that I messed it up. Ideally if I were to do it all over again, I would put the airport at the far northern point and then procede south filling in the details. But as it turns out I placed it in the center and there is no way to shift the map so as to make more space in one direction or the other.

Both of you guys' scenarios sound great! Reminds me of Baghdad International in 03 or Kuwait International in 91.

Steve-o

[LUCASWILLEN05]

You guys are quite welcome!!! Thats what I put it up there for and im happy people are getting some use out of it. As for a full scale 4K x 4K map....that would be awesome. However (yup here comes my excuse) when I started the original map I started in the middle with no real thought of making a huge map. Then a fellow member asked me if I could make a larger map. So I did, and thats when I realized that I messed it up. Ideally if I were to do it all over again, I would put the airport at the far northern point and then procede south filling in the details. But as it turns out I placed it in the center and there is no way to shift the map so as to make more space in one direction or the other.

Both of you guys' scenarios sound great! Reminds me of Baghdad International in 03 or Kuwait International in 91.

Steve-o

You might be able to do another one from scratch though this would be a lot of work. Could be useful for anyone who wants to do a really large battle, possibly a major tank battle around the whole area with surviving elements of Syrian 10th Mechanized division falling back from Aleppo or perhaps after a failed counter attack against the Marine bridgehead earlier in the campaign or, as a possible alternative some reservist armoured forces trapped in the area which is what I am assuming in my current scenario design.

And yes, Kuwait International in particular was an inspiration. Something similar might be done for Damascus International Airport as I am sure there would be a major battle here during the final stages of the Syrian Campaign. Maybe someone is doing a map of this area. If so a 4000 x 4000 meter map would be ideal.:cool:

Luke

[SD Smack]

If I recall correctly, its been awhile since I played the Marine campaign, but I seem to recal in the briefing that another Marine unit (2/7 Marines?) captured Tartus. Coalition forces needed a deep water port to allow supplies to flow more freely. Anyway the campaign obviously doesn't show this but a northward push by Marines could meet up with German forces moving south from Aleppo. The mountains would be a significant obstical. Numerous campaign ideas could be derived from this....Marines moving over the mountains to assits NATO forces in central Syria. German forces pushing through the mountains to help attack Latakia. I think the Khab Valley (directly east of Latakia past the mountains) would be a tank battle paradise.

As for the map, I looked into increasing the existing size of the airfield map (officiall it is Bassal Al Assad international Airport the ICAO identifier is OSLK) but my computer didnt appreciate it. I got that pesky memory leak thing that some of George MCs maps and the Pooh map does....then I went to just shooting stuff up.....think I need to work on my focus to start building maps!!

Also on a side note, I looked at Damascus International and well the entire airfield itself will not fit on a CMSF map. Looking at it I think the best way to skin that cat would be to build a small portion of the east side of the airport and the rest be open desert and the villages that are around it. Or one could build a mini campaign and incorporate the entire airport in seperate battles. This would take some time but could be done. Not sure how to make it flow between one battle to the next but Im sure it could be done.

Anyway, just a few thoughts.

Steve-o

[LUCASWILLEN05]

There is the possibility of elements of 10th Mech or 4th Mech being used to counter attack the Marine bridgehead at Tartus (more possible scenarios) with some elements falling back on LAtakia while others retreat towards Zaydal. There is another road over the mountains from Masyat to Banyas which could be usable by the Syrians for a while.

Use of German or Canadian forces in the Battle of Latakia in addition could be interesting as suggested. Certainly additional infantry could well be needed for any urban battles although, once the suburbs and airfields have been secured Latakia itself could be left to wither on the vine unless you needed an extra port facility for supplies.

On Damascus International I like the ideas you mentioned though another option would be to map the majority of the airport itself on a 4000 x 4000. This could be part of a campaign game covering the wider action as it develops over a couple of days or be an individual scenario in its own right. Syrian forces would likely be remnants of 10th Mech, 4th Mech, the Republican Guard, 6th Armoured, Special Forces. You might have US Marines, German and Canadian units potentially available as reinforcements along with the US regular army being involved in this battle. a A campaign game could well be the best way of portraying at least some pars of this large scal operation making full use of the available map size and scenario time available.