New Campaign in the works

[D-Scythe]

Just thought I'd give the head's up. Currently, an A/A version is nearing completion and hopefully in the near future a mud-moving one will be completed. The first campaign will use Caretaker's LOMU (which is much more convenient in terms of randomizing campaigns than LMR) to hopefully increase replayability a bit, although it would not be random to the extent of a mission designed from the outset with LMR.

 

The campaign will also be playable without LOMU, as only basic randomization features have been incorporated at this point.

 

Here's the campaign backstory:

 

Iran Strives To Regain Military Might; Rearmament Drive

Aims to Restore Gulf Balance

 

Publication Jane's International Defense Review

 

As the Cold War drew to a close, Iran entered into a military relationship with the Soviet Union. Although this event marked a period of growing Western interest in Iran’s arm-procurement policy and its military and security alliances, it was not until Iraq – the region’s strongest force between 1980 and 1990 – was defeated in the 1990-91 Gulf War that this interest became of major concern to Western powers and their regional allies.

 

In particular, the types and quantity of advanced weapons systems being added to Iran’s arsenal, as well as the level and degree of training offered by suppliers, were alarming observers in the West. Concerns focused on the impact of Iran’s new military hardware on its offensive-operations capability, the technical and technological sophistication of its armed forces, and how these enhancements might aid Iran’s non-conventional weapons capability.

 

 

Contrary to some Western perceptions, it is important to consider the reasons behind Iran’s rearmament drive. The war with Iraq ended Iran’s military superiority in the region, it depleted the country’s arsenal to an alarming extent and it created a technological gap between Iranian forces and those of other Gulf states.

 

In the absence of Iraq as a countering influence in the area, Iran’s strategy – and its impact on the Gulf region’s military balance – is of great concern to Western defense analysts.

 

From Russia, Iranian purchases have included: aircraft; tanks and armoured vehicles; artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems; air-to-air, air-to-surface, surface-to-air (SAM) and surface-to-surface missiles (SSMs); munitions; electronic-warfare equipment; submarines; and airborne early-warning platforms. Iran already possesses over 50 F-7 (MiG-21 equivalent) and 12 F-6 (MiG-19 equivalent) fighters and interceptors, in addition to 260 T-59 MBTs and SAMs from China.

 

In view of the political and military importance of Russia to Iran (notwithstanding Russia’s political importance to Ukraine), neither Tehran nor Kiev appears prepared to jeopardize relations with Moscow for a short-term arms deal. Such concerns naturally inhibit the growth of Iranian-Ukrainian military relations.

 

Two sticking points remain, however, in Iran’s rearmament drive:

1. the deployment of three Russian Kilo-class submarines, the largest submarine capability in the Middle East (with 2 500t surface displacement). This deployment has been a long-time ambition, reflecting the rising influence of Iran beyond its southern borders in East Africa, the Red Sea (Port Sudan in particular) and around the Indian Ocean; and
   
2. the deployment of advanced missile systems, including SSMs, SAMs, anti-ship and ship-based missiles.

 

Iran’s arms imports may not pose an immediate and serious challenge to its southern neighbors, or to Western interests in the region. Nonetheless – leaving the unpredictable issue of Iran’s nuclear program aside - the continuing build-up of Iranian armed forces, its military operations in the Gulf, its military preparations along its borders, and its sustainable supply of weapons from sources not open to US control, have provided sufficient cause for the US to intensify its containment strategy towards Iran.

[D-Scythe]

Azerbaijan’s Oil to Flow

 

Publication Jane's Foreign Report

 

The so-called “Contract of the Century,” a $10-billion scheme to bring oil from beneath Azerbaijan’s bit of the Caspian Sea to western markets, will start soon. When going at full speed, it will alter the world’s energy map and help to make Azerbaijan and Georgia financially independent of Russia.

 

The idea is to start to pump “early oil,” which is easy to exploit, by next summer. It will take two routes. One will be north by pipeline to the Russian Black Sea oil terminal at Novorossiysk and thence, via the Bosporus, to overseas markets. On its way to Novorossiysk, it will pass through Grozny, capital of war-torn Chechnya, where installations have been damaged but not put out of action. Since the pipeline already exists, it should be possible to use it as soon as oil is pumped in fairly large quantities; the maximum for “early oil” is about 100,000 barrels a day.

 

 

The second route will be through Georgia to the Black Sea terminal of Poti. An old pipeline along part of the route needs to be refurbished, and a new pipeline has to be built along the rest of the route. It should be ready by 1998. The oil pumped to Poti may be shipped across the Black Sea to Romania (for countries on the Danube-Rhine waterway by barge), Bulgaria (for Greece), Ukraine and through the Bosporus. This oil is now being marketed for long-term buyers.

 

The Big One

 

When the oil is produced at full speed at more than 700,000 barrels a day, however, a bigger pipeline and terminal will be needed. These have not yet been chosen by the BP-led consortium. However, we predict that it will choose a route from Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, through Georgia and Turkey to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan (where a terminal already exists for Iraqi oil). This would take up to two years to build.

[D-Scythe]

CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND

 

Note** Much of the campaign story traces its roots from the Jane's F-15 Iranian Campaign, Longbow 2's Azerbaijan campaign and Falcon's Korea campaign. So you could think that they are all happening together :)

 

Despite the fall of Iraq, the turn of the century has not brought much change to the Middle East. Most Arab states still harbor a strong anti-American sentiment, and Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have fallen under conservative rule. Intense pressure from Islamic religious leaders has compelled even these key U.S. allies to question an American presence in their territory.

 

To further complicate matters, much of the American military has been occupied with peacekeeping duties in Iraq. Battling the invisible threats of suicide bombings and terrorism, hundreds of U.S. soldiers have been killed and thousands more injured. The situation is exacerbated by the strained relations between the U.S. and NATO, with the leaders of many European nations refusing to support American anti-terrorist initiatives in the Middle East.

 

In contrast to the fading Western presence, Iran has now become a very real threat to Gulf security. Obscured in the limelight of U.S.-Iraqi and U.S.-North Korean tensions, Iran has spent years bolstering its military forces with tanks, aircraft and technical expertise. Increasingly offensive training exercises remain unchecked due to a lack of a watchdog force.

 

Tensions in the region heightened dramatically in 1995 when several key U.S. oil companies joined an oil consortium with Azerbaijan. It is a fact that beneath Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea lie billions of dollars of underground oil reserves; bordered by Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Iran and Russia, the sea is land-locked, making it impractical to maneuver oil tanks into the region. This consortium was to serve the purpose of protecting and extracting these oil reserves among other things. However, the consortium alienated Iran, whom was excluded under American pressure on Azerbaijan.

 

To exacerbate the already-existing regional tensions, recent territorial disputes between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia over the Nagorno Karabakh region have brought about civil unrest. Both countries want sole ownership of the Karabakh territory, and light-arms skirmishes are daily occurrences despite a series of shaky cease-fire agreements.

 

In spite of this instability, the oil consortium already has plans to extract and pump oil through existing pipelines to Novorossiysk and the Russian Black Sea. Shortly after, construction is scheduled to begin on additional pipelines through Georgia and Turkey. It is hoped that these pipelines through areas with more political solidity and access to open sea will minimize conflicts in the region.

 

Unfortunately this is not the case. The region grows more susceptible to conflict after world attention is drawn to the Far East, where border conflicts break out along the de-militarized zone between North and South Korea. The increasingly brash incursions are viewed as North Korea’s desperate attempt to right its falling communist regime. Viewing this delicate situation as a preamble to war, U.S. and other allied military forces deploy to the area. Most units transfer from the Middle East, where a regional conflict is considered highly possible, but not imminent.

 

Iran seizes this opportunity in an alarming string of events and flexes its military might – first there’s an attempted assassination of Azeri President Heydar Aliev, then the Iranian government is overthrown by conservative clerics that proclaim the Iranian military to be “the Sword of God.” Fears that Iran might use its new political position to invade its ill-armed neighbors turn out to be valid when Iranian tanks are seen rolling north towards the Azerbaijan border.

 

Diplomatic attempts fail, and several U.S. troops in Iraq are attacked directly by fighter jets and SCUD missiles. Confrontation between the U.S. and Iran seemed inevitable, and on 25 August, 2002, the stand-off is finally broken as U.S. bombers flying from Iraq deliver stiff retribution. From the north, French and German fighter jets engage Iranian MiGs over Azerbaijan, their more advanced missiles allowing them to shoot their opponents well before they can retaliate.

 

The conflict escalates when Russia is dragged into the conflict, Tehran no doubt using its military and economic incentives to lure its much larger neighbor to war. Fighting breaks out along the northern borders of Georgia and Azerbaijan, and the disputed area of Abkhazia as Russian troops launch a full-scale military offensive.

[Yellonet]

It sounds interesting, are you making it yourself?

And what about the map?

[AMVI_Surgeon]

It seems very interesting!:icon_supe

when the campaign will be available for download?

who are the developers?

[Witchking]

wow!! its deep.:D

[Gazehound]

Excellent to see you are using a randomizer!

[Silent Warrior]

An' I'm thrilled to see a new campaign. Whee! :D

[Dusty Rhodes]

Ah finally!!!! An in depth Hog Campaign. I have also started work on one, but I don't know how long it will take. Are you going to make a Multiplay version also?

[MBot]

Very interesting. What Lock On needs most since it's beginning were more missions and campaignes. I am looking forward to it.

 

Will Iran apear directly in that campaign trough a country mod ? I would love to see the iranian F-14As in action :)

 

 

I am working on a campaign myslefe right now. For the Su-25 it will be.

[D-Scythe]

Thanks guys. So far, it's just me, and I've been working on this for a while now.

 

Will Iran apear directly in that campaign trough a country mod ? I would love to see the iranian F-14As in action

 

So would I, but unless Azerjaiban, Armenia, and every part of Georgia except Sukhumi was taken over, it wouldn't be terribly realistic to have Iranian F-14s in the Abkhazia region. Believe me, MiG-31s will suffice ;)

[D-Scythe]

New briefings and campaign story will hopefully be in PDF format, in the same way the Lock On FC Manual is. Hopefully, I can make a campaign manual, with more detailed briefings and the full campaign story, for this and Black Sea Ops, if T-bone is interested. Anyway, here's what the pages are going to look like.

 

Obviously, ignore the red-underline for errors in spelling :)

 

 

 

[Starlight]

Which terrain are you using for this campaign?