COMMAND: Northern Inferno Scenario 3: The Fast and the Furious

Introduction
The Soviets have mobilised numerous motorized rifle divisions, artillery divisions, and an airborne division, which have been positioned to ensure rapid assaults towards critical objectives in northern Norway.

These have been backed up by an amphibious group, which has now been spotted about 140 nautical miles off the coast of Norway, heading directly for the Banak area.

Powerful Northern Fleet fast-attack craft squadrons have sortied from their bases and sailed into the Norwegian Sea 12 hours ago, screening ahead of the amphibious group.

Can Banak be saved?

COMMAND: Northern Inferno Scenario 2: Goblin on the Doorstep

Introduction
With the outbreak of hostilities 7 days ago, the British ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) HMS Revenge has just completed a quick turn around, and is proceeding out of Faslane Naval Base to get back to sea.

Fully loaded with Polaris A-3 SLBMs, she has now been tasked to resume her nuclear deterrent patrol close to UK waters but still in range of her assigned targets.

Intel suggests that her passage to her patrol area may be compromised, as numerous COMINT intercepts have made reference to Soviet diesel and nuclear-powered submarines close in to the western UK coast; no doubt trying to corner and sink the Revenge before she makes it out to open sea.

The UK's independent strategic nuclear force must be protected at all costs. To this end all other assets, hardware and men alike, are expendable.

COMMAND: Northern Inferno Scenario 1: Opening Moves

This is the first AAR for COMMAND: Modern Naval/Air Operations: Northern Inferno.

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NATO vs WARSAW PACT
August-October 1975
While shadowing a Soviet Echo II in the Gibraltar Straits, the Frigate HMS Ashanti was sunk with heavy loss of life. In London, the Prime Minister laid the blame for the incident squarely on the Soviet shoulders and has asked the Soviet Premier for an apology and appropriate reparations.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Politburo has accused the Royal Navy of dangerous violations of international maritime law, and has labelled the incident as "tragic but unavoidable". Both sides have placed their naval forces on full alert.

In the Norwegian Sea, STANAVFORLANT (Standing Naval Force Atlantic) has sailed from Faslane and taken a war footing in vicinity of Jan Mayen Island, and assumed an ASW posture. Shortly after receiving news of the Gibraltar incident, all NATO Forces have assumed the Second Degree of Readiness and are now preparing for war!

COMMAND: Northern Inferno

I have been a fan of the game COMMAND: Modern Naval/Air Operations since it was released in 2013. In addition to the scenarios provided with the original sim and others created by the community, now there are two sets of DLC, Northern Inferno detailed a set of Cold War scenarios in 1975, and Chains of War, a conflict in the Far East in the present day.

In the posts that follow I hope to present after action reports (AARs) for each of the scenarios in the campaign, similar to previous ones that I have done.  Be advised: there will be spoilers galore.

Some of the AARs will be longer and more detailed than others, as some scenarios (fleet actions and air operations) might be be more conducive to narrative writing than scenarios that are pure anti-submarine warfare (ASW).  Either way, I hope that the AARs to follow will give you a taste for what it's like to play COMMAND.  

Northern Inferno (Description below is from the item description on the Matrix Games website)

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The year is 1975, the Cold War is omnipresent and beneath the veneer of détente the tension between the two superpowers irreversibly escalate towards the ultimate confrontation.

As an at-sea "accident" results in the sinking of a Royal Navy frigate and the Warsaw Pact is mobilizing, events rapidly spiral out of control. The world is plunging towards another global conflict - but this time, there will be no post-war recovery, only nuclear disaster.

Do you have what it takes to stand up to Soviet/WP forces and avert Armageddon?

Command: Northern Inferno is a stand-alone game that uses the latest version of the Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations (CMANO) engine. It also serves as a DLC for existing CMANO owners.

For the first time after the release of the most realistic and accurate modern warfare simulation, the developer, Warfare Sims, has created a fully-fledged campaign expansion that encompasses 15 scenarios across one of the most thrilling and intense moments of recent history.

While the campaign is fictitious, every single part of this electrifying set of scenarios has been meticulously researched to deliver an entirely new experience to please both novice players and experts.

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