

                             GIUKAF01

			"Ming the Merciless"

     	           by AL Ferrari HARPOON BBS#69@7851

	Twas the night before Christmas and all through the ship not a
creature was stirring not even a blip.  As a gentle December snowfall 
slowly covered the ship Admiral Minglovich leaned against the rail of
the Slava, his eyes searching out over the icy moonlit waters of the
North Sea in the direction he thought the Kirovs would be coming from.
He was called Ming the Merciless by crew and enemy alike for his nasty
habit of continuously firing upon burning ships whose fate was already
apparent. It is not known if he was aiming to kill the evacuating men
or if he was just a pyromaniac who loved the noise and color of the
spectacular explosions.

	The 67 year old Admiral commanded from a Slava class cruiser.
He said it was so he could direct battles better from out in front of
the main body, but it is rumored by his crew that he just wanted to be
closer to the ripping percussion of each missile hit. He knew the Kirovs
would be joining him before he awoke in the morning....ready for the
Christmas Day mission to begin. The American carrier he thought, would
be full of fat homesick boys thinking of anything but war after the
big Christmas dinner. He scowled at the thought of a religious holiday.
The only real God was Mars, the God of War. Who was this Jesus claiming
to rise from the dead anyway, it was obvious to Admiral Minglovich that
he never met the business end of a Shipwreck missile.

	The only thing Admiral Minglovich hated worse that religion
was aircraft carriers, all aircraft carriers but especially American
aircraft carriers. He thought they were just a heresy to their naval
doctrine. What pride is there in killing an enemy 500 miles away. One
that cannot possibly retaliate. Now his country was only a few months
away from having it`s first multipurpose aircraft carrier, the Tbilisi,
fully operational.

	How could they do it, how could they turn the Soviet Navy over
to the Air Force? The new naval SU-27 and MIG 29 & 31's were not even
going to be trusted to the navy Yak pilots. The Kremlin decided that
Air Force pilots should fly on the initial carrier. Admiral Minglovich
thought, what does his navy need a barnstorming flying circus for
anyway, we have done just fine without them for 80 years.

	There have been big changes in the Kremlin since the new market
economy was established in 1990. The soft politicians in Moskow, Admiral
Minglovich thought were caught up in the traditional capitalist game of
"keeping up with the Joneselov's". If the Americans had them then we
must have them, the mere thought of this mentality made him mad. At what
cost, in place of 3 Kirovs or 7 Slavas?  The rubles he concluded, could
be better spent to build usefull combat ships and Oscer class submarines.

	They were going to ruin his navy and he couldn't take it. If only
the Kremlin could be shown that aircraft carriers were unnecessary wastes
of money, they might stop this foolishness. If an American carrier could
be sunk by a surface group he thought, that would show them that they
are not the unstopable juggernauts that they claim. But the orders from
headquarters precluded direct confrontation with the U.S. forces. If the
plan was implemented perfectly he could accomplish the objective with
little direct engagement, should the opportunity present itself though
a decision would have to be made,...the mission or the miracle?  After
all what was really more important, one assignment or the future of
entire Soviet Navy?  Since the war began this was the first time that
Admiral Minglovich would go to sleep without a definite plan in mind.


SCENARIO NOTES:
This scenario was designed to be played by the NATO side only and
to be played multiple times. There are many more variables 
than usual: starting points,groups, units within groups, and 4 or 5 
alternative paths for each group. Each ends in different actions or 
attacks that can result in different victory conditions being met for
the Soviets. Some scenarios will start with an immediate contact and
others will start with forces fairly far apart. It might be necessary 
to turn off the SUBS ARE TOO DEEP and the SHIPS ARE RUNNING AGROUND 
options in some scenarios depending on the alternative starting points
and/or different paths that can occur. Try to start without the full
load of weapons because it's not the start of the war. It is possible
 that nuclear release may be granted.


BACKGROUND: The Soviets have had success in Europe and in Norway but
have not moved out of the Norwegian Sea. The Soviets have convinced
Iceland to sign a tready with them so Iceland will not release their
forces to your command. NATO predicts that the Soviets will turn on
the naive Icelanders and destroy the base at Keflavik before they
can rejoin the NATO alliance. The Pentagon and Cabinet have decided
that the best way to keep the Soviets out of the gap and allow NATO
convoys to operate safely, is to hurt the Soviets financially so badly
that they will not risk losing the expensive ships that are so hard
for the weak Soviet economy to build.


INTELLIGENCE: Reports show 2 new Kirov class battle cruisers heading
to join a suface action group. The Soviets control Norway and its
airbases. Intelligence reports that they will mount all their air
strikes from their largest base (probably to the north) and use the
other bases for patrols and reconnaissance missions. It might be
necessary to neutralize the base that the air strikes are coming from.
There are believed to be enemy subs in the gap. Headquaters has put
some subs in your control that were hiding in the area. The British
are tied down in the south defending their homeland from forces in
Europe.



ORDERS:  Sink the Kirovs. The Kirovs and other capital ships along
with any Oscur class subs are your primary objective. Also protect
Keflavek from attack. Secondly destroy the main air base if it does
not risk jeopardizing your primary objective. Don't lose the carrier.


MINIMUN VICTORY CONDITIONS:  Sink the Kirovs and protect Keflavek
and the carrier group from damage.

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