Who Let the Dogs Out? - An Indonesian Confrontation Scenario

The date is October 1964.

The Royal Navy submarine, HMS Oberon, has failed to make contact whilst on patrol in the Kalimata Strait and is now overdue. A high altitude reconnaissance flight by a PR Canberra aircraft has detected floating wreckage and oil in the vicinity of the Montaran Islands but the aircraft was forced to evade Indonesian Air Force MiG-21 fighters that were scrambled to intercept. A search and rescue mission has now been launched, with two Rothesay Class frigates - HMS Falmouth and HMS Plymouth - and the Salisbury Class frigate - HMS Llandaff - dispatched to the area to assess the situation and to recover wreckage and rescue any survivors.

In this scenario, the three frigates are positioned anywhere within the central deployment zone, either in formation or spaced apart. They are not deployed as contact markers. They are able to manoeuvre freely once the scenario begins but may not leave the map. They are not equipped with Sea Cat but do have AA guns for air defence. They may provide mutual support to each other during attacks. The rules of engagement clear them to shoot down any hostile aircraft. The action takes place in daylight, the visibility is good and the sea state is calm.

At the start of each turn, the Indonesian player rolls a D10 to determine the type and number or aircraft attacking, and a D8 to determine the line of attack. The attack then takes place and air defence, hits and damage are assessed and applied. At the end of the turn, a D10 is rolled and the score subtracted from the turn tracker by ticking the corresponding number of boxes. When the box is full the scenario ends, as the Sea Vixens from HMS Victorious arrive to chase off the bombers.

The aircraft attacking are Il-28 Beagle light bombers, Il-28T Beagle light torpedo bombers and MiG-17 Fresco fighter bombers with rocket pods. Use the details for the Canberra (Il-28) and Hawker Hunter (MiG-17). They are armed with different weapons according to the mission table and will have different stand off ranges as a result (bombs 0cm / rocket pods 6cm (counts as a guided 250lb bomb) / unguided torpedoes 6cm). The base score to hit a frigate with bombs or rockets is 6+ but due to a lack of training and experience the Indonesian pilots will need a 7+ to make a successful hit.

To win a major victory, all three frigates must survive the scenario with only light damage. To win a minor victory, all three must survive but may have heavy damage in addition to any light damage. If one frigate is sunk, it will be a minor defeat, but if more than one frigate is sunk it will be a major defeat. The Indonesian player must aim to sink all three but at least two of the Royal Navy frigates to win the scenario. Any other results will be a draw.