Red Storm Rising

Soviet maritime reconnaissance vaiant of Tupolev Tu-16 (Badger)
Soviet maritime reconnaissance vaiant of Tupolev Tu-16 (Badger)

The Introduction

Red Storm RisingTom Clancy wrote Red Storm Rising sometime ago, it was first published in 1987. At this time, in our reality, Reagan was still President and the Soviet Union was a force to be reckoned with. The book covers a non-nuclear Soviet attack on NATO. This is a non-Jack Ryan novel, and demonstrates Clancy’s early techno-thriller style which set the scene for many other novels. He co-wrote it with Larry Bond, who in his own capacity has also written many interesting techno-thrillers.

The Scenarios

One major aspect of the book is attacks on allied convoys in the Atlantic by Soviet Bombers from Soviet Naval Aviation.

Both scenarios, based on excerpts from the book, can be easily played out using the FoxTwo rules. The book contains a wealth of other scenario ideas for aerial gamers (and there is a host of stuff for naval and land gamers as well).

It is probably best played twice, with players swapping sides, and comparing results to determine a winner.

The Ferry Flight

This scenario, pitches USAF F15 Eagle fighters in transit from the mainland United States to Europe intercepting Tu-16 Badger bombers returning from attacking a convoy.

The US forces consists of four F15 Eagle fighters, each is armed with a single sidewinder missile and the usual 20mm cannon. They also have extra fuel tanks to enable them to make the transatlantic flight.

Image by skeeze from Pixabay

The Soviet forces consist of twelve Tu-16 Badger bombers returning to base. They are armed with seven 23mm cannon

The objective of the Americans is to destroy as many Badgers as they can.

The Cat’s Pouncing

Soviet Naval Aviation launched a massive raid on a convoy, initially using Badgers to launch AS5 Kelt missiles with modified transponders to mimic Backfire bombers. This ruse worked and F14 Tomcats from USS Nimitz launched their AIM-54 Phoenix missiles at what they thought were bombers. It was soon discovered that the US forces had been hoodwinked.

Following on from the Badgers were real TU-22M Backfire bombers armed with AS6 Kingfish missiles. The Tomcats went in, to intercept the bombers before they had a chance to fire their deadly missiles.

The US force consists of two F14 Tomcats from the USS Nimitz. They are armed with one 20mm cannon, two AIM-7 Sparrow missiles and two AIM-9 Sidewinders. The four AIM-54 Phoenix missiles were fired at the Kelt AS missiles which were masquerading as Backfire bombers…

The Soviet force consists of Eight Tu-22M Backfire bombers. They are armed with two AS6 Kingfish missiles and 2 twin 23mm cannon.

The Soviet bomber start at the north edge of the table, once they reach the southern edge of the table, they must fire their missiles and evade the Tomcats. The Tomcats should attempt to intercept the Backfires before they have a chance to fire their Kingfish missiles.

The objective of the Americans is to destroy as many Backfires as they can, preferably before they can launch their Kingfish missiles.